Just Finished Reading (Again) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

In my reexamination of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, I just finished reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, his third written and published of the series and the fifth in the chronological order of the ongoing narrative.  In this book, Edmund and Lucy find themselves visiting their spoiled, selfish cousin Eustace...and are all suddenly sucked up through a picture of a sailing ship in the bedroom. The next thing they know, they are back in the company of King Caspian of Narnia, this time on the open sea as he is sailing eastward with his crew on a boat naturally called "Dawn Treader" on a quest to find and return seven loyal lords of his father who had fled when his usurping uncle had murdered him and assumed the throne.  Also, it has been rumored that beyond the very end of the world, which lies at the edge of this sea, stands the Lion Lord Aslan's kingdom where his subjects can live throughout eternity with him.  Reepicheep, a talking Narnian mouse, who is known for his bravery and chivalrous honor and was introduced in the previous book Prince Caspian, is on the Dawn Treader for this expressed purpose. They encounter a number of adventures on their quest, including being captured and sold into slavery (and subsequently rescued by one of the lords they are looking for).  Eustace learns a lesson about selfishness, greed, and caring for others on an island when he walks away from the others and eventually finds himself in a dragon's lair in a hidden valley.  This story-within-the-story, of Eustace and the nature of the dragon he "encounters" upon awakening there is my favorite section of the book.  Hint: Aslan figures greatly in the resolution of the adventure and Eustace's safe return to his companions on their trip.  For most of the rest of the voyage, they engage in a sort of island-hopping, meeting up with peculiar situations and people (including a young woman with whom Caspian becomes enamored) as they eventually account for the remainder of the missing lords.  The most memorable of these visits is on a mysterious island populated by invisible people who demand that Caspian and his friends find, in their magician lord's book of spells, a way to make them visible again.  Lucy bravely undertakes this task and then undergoes her own personal temptations, for which Aslan suddenly appears to help her deal with.  They meet the magician, who turns out not at all as sinister as the Dufflepuds, who are what those invisible strange folks call themselves, had been claiming. The spell is reversed, the Dufflepuds are rendered visible once again, and their true appearance is, well, quite a surprise.  As well as is the true identity and origin of that magician.

At the very end of Dawn Treader, they suitably reach the very end of the world, and Reepicheep sees his opportunity.  Aslan is there, too, and he has sobering news for Caspian, Edmund and Lucy. But I'll leave all that to you, the reader, to discover for yourself.

When I first read through The Chronicles of Narnia a few years ago, I decided then that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite of all the books.  I still like it a lot, but now I prefer The Horse and His Boy. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has also been made into a movie (I hear that it didn't do too well at the box office).   I'd like to watch it sometime if, nor no other reason, than to see how the movie treated the written versions of Eustace's dragon adventure and the account of those strange characters, the Dufflepuds...