The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia #5) by C.S. Lewis
Lucy and Edmund, with their dreadful cousin Eustace, get magically pulled into a painting of a ship at sea. That ship is the Dawn Treader, and on board is Caspian, King of Narnia. He and his companions, including Reepicheep, the valiant warrior mouse, are searching for seven lost lords of Narnia, and their voyage will take them to the edge of the world. Their adventures include being captured by slave traders, a much-too-close encounter with a dragon, and visits to many enchanted islands, including the place where dreams come true.
Some of our favorite characters are taken back to the magical land of Narnia.
This book was all over the map! Okay, if you've read this book I just made a joke there, If you haven't... trust me, it was funny. The characters in this adventure are traveling all over the realm that contains Aslan's homeland as well as Narnia (and many other places!)As I was reading about Caspien interacting with Lucy I found myself totally shipping them. Have I been reading too many romance novels? Maybe.The big highlight of this book is Clive's (C.S. Lewis) ability to keep redeeming characters in his adventures! I don't know how he does it, but he just keeps on doing it!This was by far the most random book in the series. There is no antagonist in this book. It is super weird. But also kind of fun to read. Each chapter holds a different tale.
Okay Eustace sucks. I know, I know, I have beef with one character in every one of these books. But Clive can write some of the most annoying characters out there! You read it and you just keep saying "Are you serious right now?!" I mean, (kind of a spoiler but not really) Eustace eats a dragon. If that doesn't seem weird to you, trust me, it's super weird when you read about it.The sexism that is woven throughout these books is still going strong in this one.At the end of this book they explain exactly WHY the four children came to Narnia to begin with. I literally screamed at the book "THAT'S WHY?!"There are some heavier elements in this book- including being sold into slavery. This isn't something I disliked- but wanted to mention because people do tend to market these as children's books. Again, the sexism and slavery could easily go over a kids head and I am reading these books as a 30-year-old. But these aspects did surprise me so I feel they need to be mentioned? Did that sound like a posh English sentence or what?! I am totally channeling Clive right now.
Drink: Water. You never know when you'll be sucked into a long journey and need to be hydrated just in case! (A bookworm's version of survivalist prepping is drinking water in case you're summoned by Narnia)Listen to: The Planet Earth SoundtrackWatch: This movie! Did you know they made two Narnia movies? This was the second one that they made!