I made a quick jump from Prince Caspian to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Book 3 (or 5) in the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.  I remembered this one fondly, and happily found my memory correct–this was absolutely excellent, from “There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it” all the way to the end.

This is the third (and last) book focused primarily on the Pevensie children, though in this case it’s only the younger ones, Edmund and Lucy.  They and their cousin Eustace are swept through a picture to find themselves on The Dawn Treader, King Caspian’s ship sailing into the far and mysterious East.  A few years have passed since their last trip to Narnia, and Caspian is ruling over a peaceful country.  He’s set out in search of seven lords who were friends of his father, and disappeared into the East years before.  Their journey takes them through a series of islands and adventures, searching for the lords–and, perhaps, Aslan’s Country.

Journey-focused stories can be engaging or aimless, and this is one of the good ones.  Interesting adventures are frequent, and though each island has little connection to each other, the ongoing quest keeps the story moving forward.  There are wonderful adventures, from Eustace’s transformation into a dragon to the hilarious Dufflepuds to the terrifying, darkness-enshrouded Island Where Dreams (nightmares) Come True.

The adventures are good and the characters are excellent.  Lucy and Edmund uphold the Pevensie banner just fine without Peter and Susan, and Caspian is splendid and noble while still able to be young at times too.  And there’s the boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb…  For all that I like the plucky, capable Pevensies, I also enjoy a character who does not handle magical adventure well.  S/he among you who would not be upset by a lack of indoor plumbing, throw the first stone at Eustace.  And while too much of Eustace would have been, well, too much, Lewis begins his redemption process early, and so he grows throughout the book.

(A sidenote–you may recall my issues with The Magicians by Lev Grossman, mentioned in an earlier Narnia review.  Try to imagine traveling through Narnia with six Eustaces who never learn anything.  That’s kind of how The Magicians felt to me.)

Perhaps the best character of all, though?  Talking mouse Reepicheep, the bravest and noblest of them all, despite his diminutive size.  We met him in Prince Caspian, but we get much more of him here.  Reepicheep is fearless, unswervingly devoted to honor, and fierce as a lion.  Reepicheep is hugely comical even while being genuinely noble, an impressive blend.

All in all, an excellent installment in the series, and the first rival to The Magician’s Nephew for status as favorite.  Next up, The Silver Chair, which I also remember particularly fondly, so I’m looking forward to it!

Author’s Site: https://www.cslewis.com/

Other reviews:
The Bookworm Chronicles
Bookwraiths
Living on Literary Lane
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Remember my re”reading” of the Narnia series via audiobook?  Today we’re on to Prince Caspian, book 2 (or 4, depending how you count it).  This is the second book focused primarily on the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.  They make their second trip to Narnia, only to find that hundreds of years have passed during, for them, the intervening year.  They eventually join up with Prince Caspian, rightful heir to the throne, who has gathered an army of Old Narnians (fauns, talking animals, dwarfs and the like) to fight his wicked uncle, King Miraz.

This was an interesting one for getting to know the Pevensie characters better.  Peter had a bit of lordly leadership to him, but I wound up feeling pretty neutral on him, neither liking or disliking him much.  Susan was quite frankly a wet blanket.  Edmund and Lucy emerged as the most interesting and complex of the group.  Edmund has grown much more likable since his nastiness of the previous book, while that past history gives him…well, a history!  There’s still the sense that he has shadows to overcome, and that doing the right thing is, not a struggle, but perhaps a conscious choice.  Lucy of course is lovely, heart always in the right place and often having beautiful moments, but never too perfect either.

I think it was really Caspian that I liked best, or at least his story.  The Pevensies’ adventure was good, but I particularly enjoyed the flashback story of how Caspian learned the stories of Old Narnia, fled from his uncle, and met wonderful, magical creatures in the process.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about the Pevensies’ adventure in some ways…I enjoyed it, and it was thought-provoking, which is good–except that I don’t feel like Lewis explored a lot of those thoughts!  The children return to Narnia to find the crumbling, abandoned remains of the castle where they had once ruled as Kings and Queens, during the Golden Age.  They ruled for years and years, and for them all those memories are only a year ago.  To return and find that hundreds of years have gone by and the Golden Age has most decidedly past…well, it ought to prompt all kinds of sorrow about lost friends and lost times, and reflections on the meanings of our deeds, and the changes of the world.  I had some of those thoughts, but I would have liked to see the characters have more of them too!

All the same, there were some wonderful characters in here–and Aslan, of course, was a delight.  Big and solemn and immense, naturally, but we got to see him be a bit more playful now and then too. 🙂

Next on the list, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is one of my favorites!

Author’s Site: https://www.cslewis.com/

Other reviews:
The Bookworm Chronicles
The Overstuffed Bookcase
Living on Literary Lane
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Prince Caspian

After listening to The Magician’s Nephew on audiobook, I continued my adventures through Narnia with The Horse and His Boy.  It’s the third book, chronologically, but I reread The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe relatively recently, so I jumped on ahead.

The Horse and His Boy is set during The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe–or during the reign of High King Peter, in in-universe timeline.  This book centers on new characters, with the characters from the previous book only in supporting roles.  This is the story of Shasta and talking horse Bree, who flee the oppressive empire of Calormen, trying to reach the free kingdom of Narnia.  They join forces with Aravis, a Calormene aristocrat fleeing an arranged marriage, and her talking horse, Hwin.  Their mission takes on new urgency when they overhear Calormene plans to conquer Narnia and neighboring Archenland.

This one started a little slow for me, though I’m not sure why.  It may have just been me, but it took me a while to get involved with the characters.  I found it picked up right around the same time the Narnians first arrived in the story.  I don’t know if that was because of them, or because the threats from Calormen became more pronounced then, or if I’d just been listening long enough to get engaged.  After that, the book has more momentum as it becomes a desperate race to warn Archenland and Narnia before invading forces arrive.

As in The Magician’s Nephew, I found the supporting characters highly engaging.  The talking horses were particularly good, as Narnian exiles both eager and anxious about going home again.  Bree is decidedly arrogant, while Hwin is sweet and altogether too self-effacing.  I also liked the glimpses of Lucy, Edmund and Susan as adults…although it adds hugely to the tragedy of the previous book, when they’re pulled out of Narnia and sent home to be children again!!  They had amazing lives in Narnia–how do you go home after that?  But that’s classic children’s fantasy for you…

I liked Shasta and Aravis well enough too, if not extraordinarily.  Perhaps a little context on that comment, though…  When I reread The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it was because I had just read The Magicians by Lev Grossman, which made me desperately want to run back to Narnia.  So now any time I feel at all disengaged from characters in Narnia, all I have to do is remind myself–I could be reading about Quentin and his friends from The Magicians–and then I’m very happy to be with Lewis’ characters instead!  So take “disengaged” as a relative term…

Although I enjoyed the Narnians so much, it was also fun to see a different country in this world.  Calormen has Middle Eastern elements, and was very richly described.  Archenland was less developed, but I really liked the bits in the Epilogue about Archenland’s history.  Seeing multiple countries, with their own governments and cultures, gave a much more grounded feel to the magical country.

All in all, this isn’t my favorite installment of Narnia (so far Magician’s Nephew is still holding title) but it was a good ride!

Author’s Site: https://www.cslewis.com/us

Other reviews:
The Bookworm Chronicles
The Daydreaming, Candy-Eating, Redheaded Bookworm
Here There Be Books
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Horse and His Boy