It's funny how my opinion of this book has changed. When I was a kid, it was one of my least favourite of the series. I think I thought it rather dull, though I did appreciate it having the best line of all the Narnia books: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." I thought that was hilarious as a child and I still do.

I'm currently rereading Narnia, though, and I picked this up with "Ho hum, the Dawn Treader, well at least it will be over quickly". And what do you know? I found myself enjoying it so much more than I did as a kid. I still roll my eyes at the religious bits, but the imagery throughout caught my attention so much more now than it did then. The different islands, the golden pool, the lilies floating on the ocean... perhaps I just appreciate stories about sea journeys more now than I once did.