| $@%&! level: None “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Low Back Cover: “The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, their cousin Eustace, and Caspian to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World.” |
There is the character development, though, and that's an excellent story right there. It's all about Eustace. (Speaking of which, I'd have to say that this book has one of my all time favorite opening sentences. Pure brilliance.) In a little bit the same way that Edmund went through a complete turn around the first time he came to Narnia, Eustace has to do a lot of learning and growing before he turns into a person anyone would like to spend time with. And he certainly does grow...and then shrinks again. It's actually one of my favorite passages, Eustace turning back into a human boy. Given that the whole thing is him telling Edmund what happened rather than the narrator giving a third person account, that's pretty impressive.
Here's an interesting side note. The story about the Island Where Dreams Come True has two different endings depending on which edition you read. They're not much different, but it was enough to surprise me a little when I picked up a different version from the library once.