A review by juushika
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

4.0

Swept back into Narnia with one unwelcome companion--their difficult cousin Eustace--Edmund and Lucy find themselves pulled aboard the Dawn Treader, which Prince Caspian sails to the Eastern edge of the world. This is my favorite of the Narnia books. Eustace delights me: I wish more correlation were made between his flaws and Edmund's, but his flaws are balanced by realistic yet transformative growth and ultimately sympathetic representation; he's always been the Narnia character I remember and love best. As for the rest, the book is numinous: the Dawn Treader travels through waters which are striking, surreal, and evocative; the book is emotionally rich, transportive, and vast. Its travelogue format limits its plot, thus it's not the most memorable or iconic of the Narnia books; it also has its low points, like the ineffective comedy of the Dufflepuds and the explicit, subtlety-destroying Christian allegory of the last page. But more often than not, it is the very best of what it is: a journey into the wonders of the unknown, leaving both character and reader forever changed. I love it beyond measure, and of course recommend it--although, for a first-time reader, the series is best read in order.