Tag: Narnia

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis

Genre – Middle-grade, Christian fiction, fantasy

Series – 3rd in The Chronicles of Narnia series

Rating – PG for fantasy violence and mild language

Synopsis –

Edmund and Lucy are sent to stay with their aunt and uncle for the summer. They are both dreading it as their cousin Eustace is a brat. Surprisingly, during their stay there, they are transported to Narnia. Edmund and Lucy are rejoiced to meet up with King Caspian, who they met on their previous trip to Narnia. Caspian is out searching for the 7 lost lords who were banished in Miraz’s reign. Will the Pevensie’s be able to help Caspian find the missing lords?

My thoughts –

This is one of my favorite books in this series. Its filled with adventure, fantastical creatures, and redemption. In my opinion this book has faster pace compared to the previous two books. It is packed with a lot of adventures in a short book. Prince Caspian, on the other hand, is focused more on developing the characters.

There is a myriad of different characters. More so then in Prince Caspian. I remember when my mom read this years ago, loving the Dufflepuds. I still thought the Dufflepuds were hilarious during this reread!! I also remember loving Eustace’s character arc. Eustace is one of my favorite characters. For some reason I really like him as a character more so then the Pevensies. Plus there are dragons!! Who doesn’t love dragons!!

The plot is quite a bit different from the movie. I do like the movie, but is cuts some of the best scenes and messes with the timeline of events. Yet, I think they cast Eustace perfectly. Will Poulter nailed the complaining, whining, and selfish cousin. The way the movie pulled off his development was great. Especially the end! 😉

I loved how Eustace’s redemption showed that we cannot save ourselves, no matter how hard we try. He needed Aslan to do the hard work of cleansing him. Very reminiscent of a believer accepting Christ and the transformation that follows. Despite being cleansed by Aslan, Eustace would still sometimes revert back to his old self. This is just like a Christian’s walk. We are eventually going to mess up. We are not perfect. Anyway, I just thought this was a good reminder.

Violence –

Very little, a slave trader captures some characters and endeavors to sell them. (He treats them well). There are a couple sword fights, no real injuries. A character gets sea sick. 3 characters are put to sleep after trying hurt one another. A sea monster attacks the ship. One character falls overboard.

Language – Roughly 5 uses of mild language. Same word used.

Innuendo – None, a mention of a character getting married.

Conclusion –

It has been so much fun to go back and reread these books!! It makes me want to go back and re-watch the movies. I love the characters in this book and the whole adventure on the high seas feel to it. Adventures are funny things. You never know where it will take you or where you will end up. I highly recommend The Chronicles of Narnia to anyone!

Have you read these books? If so, which one is your favorite? Do you like Eustace?

Anna

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

Genre – Christian fiction, Middle-grade, fantasy

Series – 2nd book in the Chronicles of Narnia

Rating – PG for mild peril

Synopsis –

This book picks up 1 year after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie children are preparing to leave for their various schools. When suddenly, they are pulled back into Narnia. They find it a much wilder place since they last left. They find out that the rightful king (Prince Caspian) is on the run from his uncle Miraz who is trying to kill him. Caspian is assembling an army of old Narnians at the stone table. Will the Pevensie children be able to aide Caspian in taking back his throne?

My thoughts –

It has been a long time since I actually read the Chronicles of Narnia. Last spring I reread the Lord of the Rings, so I figured now that I have some extra time, why not reread Narnia. I started with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and was surprised to find that the movie (which I have seen like a billion times) stayed pretty close to the book. So this week I picked up Prince Caspian. I had forgotten a lot of the little pieces in this one.

It was wonderful to get back into the stories that I loved as a child. Not gonna lie, but Prince Caspian felt soo much shorter then what I had remembered. There were several characters that I was drawn to: Edmund, Doctor Cornelius, and Reepicheep. I have always loved Reepicheep. So no surprise there. 😉 I was surprised to see how much Edmund had grown since the last book. Susan got a little on my nerves, and I could see the start of her disbelief in Narnia.

The plot moves along at a good clip, but I didn’t realize how long it took the Pevensies to get to Caspian. They didn’t meet him until like 3/4s of the way through the book. There is not a lot of action per say, but Lewis incorporates word building masterfully as to build his world, but also to keep things moving. Although, this is not my favorite book in the series, it has many good themes. I would probably say that The Silver Chair is my favorite, especially with all the character development that occurs.

One theme I picked up on was faith. Although the word is never used, you could tell Lewis was weaving the concept throughout the whole book. A couple examples is the old Narnian’s belief/nonbelief in the high kings/queens. Or Lucy’s ability to see Aslan while the older children cannot. Later on Aslan performs a few miracles similar to a few miracles that Jesus performed. Anyhow for some reason I always thought The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as having the most Biblical themes, but Lewis incorporated it in all of his books.

Language – One use of mild language.

Innuendo – None

Violence –

Lewis keeps these books pretty clean. There are a couple sword fights. A few characters get cuts or draw blood. There is a scene where a werewolf and a hag attack a few characters. Several characters die, not in detail. There is a battle where characters fight one another.

Conclusion –

Its fun to go back and reread book. I always pick up things that I had missed when I read it as a kid. The Chronicles of Narnia is a wonderful series that I cannot recommend enough. It is definitely a classic that deserves to be read, especially if you are a Christian. Glad I took the time to reread Prince Caspian!!

Have you read this series? If so, what is your favorite book in the series? Is it Prince Caspian?