The Utter East

Continuing with my annual Narnia re-read I have just completed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VDT).  While the first book (LWW) will always hold a very very very special place in my heart, VDT is hands down my favorite in the series. I think this book is responsible for my love of the open ocean and exploring places unknown.  A quick synopsis (quick being relative because a lot happens in this book)

We open with Lucy and Edmund the youngest of the four original children to travel to Narnia attempting to stay out of the way of their annoying cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb.  While up in Lucy's attic room the three come upon a picture of a ship that comes alive and transports them to Narnia.  Lucy and Edmund are overjoyed to find out that the ship is inhabited by an older King Caspian and his crew who have vowed to set sail until they have found the seven missing lords or avenged their deaths.  Eustace is miserable and has a hard time accepting that they are no longer in their own world.  The adventures start in the Lone Islands, a
place that is supposedly ruled by the King of Narnia, but since no one has been out there in many years it is mostly ruled by a regent governor and the slave traders.  Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep the Mouse are all captured by slavers.  Caspian is bought by what turns out to be one of the Lords he is looking for because of his face and is informed of all the going on's in the islands.  Caspian pretends to have a huge fleet instead of the only one ship and takes back the island installing the Lord as Duke of the islands.  This is the farthest that any known maps go so from here on out the voyage is into the complete unknown.  The ship barely survives a storm and lands on an island to be fixed and resupplied if possible.  While trying to avoid work Eustace stumbles upon a dragon hoard and while wearing an enchanted bracelet falls asleep only to awaken as a dragon.  Eustace is miserable, but finds that he can be useful for once.  The biggest concern of course is how
to bring a dragon with them on their voyage, he obviously won't fit on the boat, and feeding him would quickly become a problem. Eventually Eustace has an encounter with Aslan that results in him becoming human once more.  After this Eustace is a generally better chap, much easier to get along with and much more helpful. It is also discovered that the bracelet that Eustace had belonged to one of the lords they were searching for, so they are able to take him off the list.  Off the explorers go, they discover an island that is all burnt up and one with a pool that turns everything it touches to gold, including it seems the third lord they are searching for.  They name the island Deathwater and vow to never tell anyone what is on the island for fear of greed and war.  They also encounter a rather large, but dumb sea serpent who does significant damage to their ship, they limp along until they come across another island.  This island is different as it appears to be civilized with manicured lawns, kept gardens and a beautiful huge manor.  The crew discover that the island is inhabited by invisible beings who along with being absolutely hilarious want Lucy to sneak into the manor which is the home of a magician and undo the invisibility spell they put on themselves.  Lucy agrees and up she goes.  She finds the book and starts
exploring the pages, this is probably my favorite part of this book, because I too would get totally enthralled by a book like the one Lucy reads.  She eventually finds the correct spell and the inhabitants become visible along with the magician.  The magician is actually very kind and helps the crew repair and resupply the boat.  The invisible beings turn out to be dwarf like creatures with just one huge foot they jump around on like a giant spring.  They eventually call themselves Dufflepuds.  The Dawn Treader continues on and encounters a dark island where dreams come true, not nice daydreams but terrifying dreams that you cannot escape.  The crew pick up the fourth lord who had been trapped on the island for a while and are led out by a white bird.  They eventually land on a final island where they discover the last three lords in an enchanted sleep.  The lady of the island says to break the enchantment they must sail to the end of the world and leave one of their members there.  Reepicheep volunteers as this was his goal in the first place.  As they sail the water becomes sweet and still and a dream
like state comes over the crew.  Aslan tells Caspian that he must let Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep leave in the rowboat to complete the journey, while he returns to rule Narnia after gathering the sleeping lords.  The children and Reepicheep take the boat until they reach a perpetual wave marking the end of the world (this world if flat, not round like our own).  Reepicheep takes his little coracle right up to the wave and is taken up, presumably to Aslans country.  The children meet up with Aslan and Lucy and Edmund are told they will not be coming back.  They are then sent back to their own world, this adventure over.
Whew that was a doozy, and I did not even do this amazing story justice!  Like I said earlier I absolutely love this book.  I love the idea of risking everything just to discover something new.  I love the idea that every new place you go could contain anything!  I love the idea that their might still be places and things left to discover.  One of my favorite things about this book is the sheer variety of adventures that they encounter, each island is vastly different and the beings, things, and spells they find keep things interesting.  I just really love this book.  I feel like I could keep talking and talking about this book, but I would pretty much just be repeating myself over and over so I will end this here and let you go read it for yourself.

What book has inspired you to go explore?  Do you like all of the subtle nods to other epic voyages in this book?  Where do you go to the bathroom on an ancient boat?