Book Review: The High King by Lloyd Alexander

The High King by Lloyd Alexander

After Taran finished wandering in search of his parents (which he never discovered) in the last book, he returns to his home, the farm at Caer Dallben. The homecoming is upset by more bad news--the Huntsmen of Annuvin have struck a grievous blow to Gwydion, High King of Prydain. They have stolen the black sword Dyrnwyn, a flaming weapon of ancient power that can only be wielded by those worthy of ruling Prydain. The Huntsmen have taken it off to Arawn, Lord of the Lands of Death, who is amassing a new army to subjugate Prydain. All the heroes work to raise an army and fight to regain the only weapon that can defeat the Death Lord.

Thus an epic war story begins the final Chronicle of Prydain. Taran and his friends work to avert the great disaster that looms over them all. The plot is a great way to revisit all the characters and places from previous books, allowing for further developments and epic confrontations. The war story is quite exciting with plenty of reversals of fortune to keep interest high. This book provides a great ending to Taran's story as well as the other characters. I highly recommend the whole series and can't wait to read it to J, who is just getting old enough for it.

Book Review: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander

Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander

The fourth book in the Chronicles of Prydain finds the hero Taran in a state of frustration. In the last book, he discovered his love for Eilonwy. She is now far away on the island of Mona learning to be a princess. He'd like to marry her but he does not know who his parents are. He fears he will be unworthy of her hand if he is lowly born. He sets off to discover whether he has noble or peasant blood in his veins. Thus Taran, assistant pig-keeper, is transformed into Taran Wanderer. He soon finds out that the Mirror of Llunet (forgotten somewhere in the Cantrevs countryside) reveals one's true identity. He hopes to discover a royal origin so he can marry the princess. But he will have many adventures on his way.

The book moves at a brisk pace from adventure to adventure, slowly building up Taran's character as he learns much more about the world he lives in and consequently about himself. The descriptions are delightful even if some of the names seem unpronounceable. The ending is satisfying except for one hanging plot thread which I hope is resolved in the final book, The High King. I was going to read something else in between but now I'm continuing on to the next volume.

Book Review: The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander

The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander

The Chronicles of Prydain continues in Book 3, The Castle of Llyr. Assistant Pig-Keeper Taran and his friends are going on another journey. This time, young orphan Princess Eilonwy is sent to the Isle of Mona where she will be taught the most difficult skill set she's ever had to learn: how to be a lady. The king and queen of Mona will teach her the courtly things every young princess must know. On the way, they meet the king and queen's son, Prince Rhun, who is a lot less competent than one would desire in the heir to the throne. He likes to be in charge but has no clue what he is doing. Very soon it is revealed that the king and queen intend to have Rhun and Eilonwy betrothed. All the while Taran discovers his true feelings of love for Eilonwy. But other plots are also going on. When Eilonwy is kidnapped, everyone must work together to save the princess from the evil enchantress Queen Achren.

The story is exciting and moves quite quickly along. The romantic intrigue is an interesting addition to the adventure. It is definitely handled in a very kid-friendly way. To make things more complicated, the king asks Taran to watch over Rhun as they hunt Eilonwy's captors. Rhun eventually admits his own incompetence and his desire to prove himself worthy. There's lots of good drama and character development. The story seems a little episodic at times. They fall into many misfortunes and distractions that do not seem connected until the end of the story. 

Like the other books, it is very kid-friendly and I can't wait to read them to Jacob and Lucy.

Book Review: The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain

The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

This collection of eight short stories is set in the mythical world of Prydain. They are all about events that happen before The Book of Three. Reading this before the rest of the Chronicles of Prydain will not spoil the novels (I've read the first two) though some minor secrets are given away. I started reading it as my "the kids are playing in the family room so I can read a paragraph or two before they ask me a question or want me to do something" book. The stories are short and quite memorable so putting the book down and coming back later is easy to do.

The stories all center around characters and places from the other stories. How Dallben became a great enchanter and Fflewddur Fflam became owner of an enchanted harp are told in tales full of mirth and wisdom. The stories are sometimes a little obvious though more often unexpected twists make for good (if not always happy) endings. The tale of the sword Dyrnwyn is particularly bleak but is so well written that it sweeps the reader along like a torrential river. All the stories are enjoyable.

My only objection to the book would be that it's a little slim (barely 100 pages) for a $6 paperback. If you buy the Prydain box set, it's a nice bonus to have.

Book Review: The Black Cauldron

The second novel in the Chronicles of Prydain series is The Black Cauldron. In the first novel (reviewed here), the cauldron was in the possession of Prydain's big bad, Arawn, who used it to build an army. He'd take dead people, put them in the cauldron, and they would come back as soulless slaves that did his every bidding. Fearless and deathless warriors are horrific opponents. They obeyed Arawn and his minions with alacrity and severity. After the defeat of Arawn's champion warlord, the Horned King, his forces retreated to his kingdom Annuvin to plan his next move. Thus far the story goes in the first novel.

The second novel opens with a summoning of Prydain's good warlords by Prince Gwydion to Caer Dallben, the farm where the story's main hero, Taran, is the Assistant Pig-Keeper. The prince presents a bold plan: mount a large assault on Annuvin while a small group sneaks into the Arawn's castle to steal the cauldron. It will then be brought back to Caer Dallben to be destroyed. The heroes gathered agree and the adventure begins.

Taran's mission is to guard the "back door" where those who steal the cauldron will come on their way out of Arawn's kingdom. He is partnered with a haughty young prince named Ellidyr and they are under the command of Adaon. All the characters from the last story are involved: Gurgi goes with Taran's group; Princess Eilonwy follows Taran's group at a distance, getting involved when the action starts; dwarf Doli uses his invisibility power to infiltrate Arawn's castle.

The story is full of wonderful adventures in imaginative settings. Plans go awry when someone else steals the cauldron first and everyone goes in different directions. We follow Taran into the Marshes of Morva as he and Ellidyr vie to recover the cauldron first. The end of the story was a little predictable but satisfying nonetheless.

The characters are well-drawn just as in the first book. I especially enjoyed the similarities and contrasts between Taran and Ellidyr, both ambitious and pig-headed (pun intended) but not entirely competent. I'm looking forward to the next book, The Castle of Llyr.

Book Review: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

The Book of Three is the first book of the classic children's adventure fantasy The Chronicles of Prydain written by Lloyd Alexander. He drew inspiration from the myths and legends of Wales but he states quite clearly that they are an inspiration for only some parts of the story. The world and its geography are unique as is most of the story and plot elements.

The story starts with the boy Taran who is stuck on a farm where he tends the prize pig (who is an oracular pig, meaning she can foresee the future and has special hidden knowledge) and is learning smithy work. We meet him learning to make horseshoes, while yearning to make swords. Like many youths in fantasy, he longs for adventure and excitement. When the pig escapes and he chases after it, he begins the adventure of his dreams, meeting a prince, a bard, a plucky princess and a grumpy dwarf along the way.

Readers of The Lord of the Rings will associate some of the characters from The Book of Three with Tolkien's characters (the prince is gruffly attired as Aragorn is when first met and another character is quite similar superficially to Gollum). It was only a minor distraction for me. The characters are well drawn with interesting quirks that are played out throughout the story.

Taran grows throughout the story by making many mistakes and seeming mistakes. He is impulsive, not seeing the big picture. The trait is endearing because of his good-heartedness. Even as he thinks he's failed, the goodness in his acts comes back to reward him and other characters in the story.

This novel is a great read by itself and seems to be the start of a fine epic. I'm looking forward to the next book, The Black Cauldron.

Also, I can't pass up the chance to mention zombies. The bad guy in the story, King Arawn, uses a cauldron to create his army, known as the "Cauldron-Born." Check out this description and tell me they aren't zombies!

"Are they not men?" Taran asked.
"They were, once," replied Gwydion. "They are the dead whose bodies Arawn steals from their resting places in the long barrows. It is said he steeps them in a cauldron to give them life again--if it can be called life. Like death, they are forever silent; and their only thought is to bring others to the same bondage.
"Arawn keeps them as his guards in Annuvin, for their power wanes the longer and farther they be from their master. Yet from time to time Arawn sends certain of them outside Annuvin to perform his most ruthless tasks.
"These Cauldron-Born are utterly without mercy or pity," Gwydion continued, "for Arawn has worked still greater evil upon them. He has destroyed their remembrance of themselves as living men. They have no memory of tears or laughter, of sorrow or loving kindness. Among all Arawn's deeds, this is one of the cruelest." [pp. 34-35]