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Summary: Amazing Adventures? Why, Yes!
Review: Looking for an adventuristic book? Well, this book is definitly one! Join Taran, Elionwy, Gwydion, Doli, Fflew Ffludor, and Gurgi on there're first adventure. Lloyd Alexander definitly overdid himself on this book! If you liked this adventure, I suggest that you read the rest of the PRYDIAN CHRONICALS. They're awsome!
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Summary: A THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING LISTENING EXPERIENCE
Review: As it's been nigh on to 40 years since The Book Of Three was first published, there is probably a whole new generation of young readers thrilling to the fantasy adventures found in the Chronicles of Prydain. How exciting it now is to be able to hear this saga so consummately read. Actor James Langton easily inhabits each of the characters, bringing them to full life while never missing a beat. His pacing is perfectly tuned to the story of Taran who yearns for adventure. As some know it's difficult for an Assistant Pig-Keeper to find much to become excited about, that is until his pig makes a fast escape. A chase ensues which takes Taran through the woods and into great danger.
However, in this classic tale of good vs. evil Taran meets a host of odd but wonderful companions who help him overcome the perils that have befallen him. A thoroughly entertaining listening experience. - Gail Cooke
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Summary: AMAZING!!!!!
Review: This book is one of the best that I have ever read, and I have read A LOT! It is an easy, fast read with a very catchy story that keeps you hooked until the end. The rest of the series is just as good, maybe even better. The characters are wonderful and the story unforgettable. For somone who loves fantasy, humor, adventure, or just wants a good book: this one is for you.
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Summary: Funny fantasy: A rare but appetizing treat
Review: Though J.K. Rowling may be remembered as one of the best fantasy writers to incorporate humor in her stories, she is by no means the first. Nor is Lloyd Alexander, but you will quickly forget this fact when you read his works. Endlessly exciting and amusing, "The Book of Three" is the first book in the well-known Prydian Chronicles. In it, Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper yearns for glory and honor as a warrior outside of his tiny province of Caer Dallben. While chasing after his incredible ocular pig, Taran meets with an array of interesting characters and must face the horrible Horned King. People enjoy making lists of "What to Read After You've Finished All the Harry Potters". This book and its series should top those lists. Alexander (one of the rare all-American fantasy writers) has incorporated Welsh myth with modern storytelling. The result is delightful. I originally read these books when I was ten or so, and though I'd forgotten more than I liked, much of these book stuck with me. Fflewddur Fflam and his breaking harp strings. Gurgi, the creature that is nothing so much as a hungry green Grover Monster from Sesame Street. And the delightful Eilonwy, whose very presence makes Taran even more awkward than usual. Eilonwy is particularly remarkable in that she is more than willing to fight, work hard, and help others without becoming wishy-washy or humorless. It is Eilonwy that clearly points out when Taran has failed to take the feelings of others into account. More interestingly, she is genuinely affectionate towards the awkard hero. As the aforementioned hero, Taran is interesting as well. Unlike some storytime protagonists, this boy is flawed from page one. Hot-headed, impatient, and imperceptive, Taran is only eventually brought to a slow understanding of what it means to be great. I've always enjoyed the fact that while every other character in this book is described from head to toe, Taran is never clearly described. Some have theorized that this is because author Lloyd Alexander wants his hero to be a sort of everyboy that can look like whatsoever the reader wants. Don't let that fool you. Though this series will appeal to boys, girls will adore it as well. While drawing on the same myths and legends of Susan Coopers "The Dark Is Rising" series and creating magic akin to Ursula Le Guin's "Wizard of Earthsea", Alexander has created something entirely unique. Appropriate for many many ages. The violence in this series is no worse than anything you'll find on kids t.v. today, and there is no swearing or suggestive behavior (oh la la!). Instead, you've got a pretty darn good piece of work that kids will gravitate towards regardless of gender or age (I can personally vouch for all the 25-year-olds out there).
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Summary: Changed the way that I read
Review: Whan I was in the fith grade I did not read at all but when I was reading every one of the books in the series I had to be told to put the book down in class and I missed my teacher explaining long division which is still a mystery to me two years later. I have read more than ten of lloyd Alexanders books including the five in this series. I is writed with such amagination and skill and at the end of the last book 50 different small actions and unsolved mysteries and everything about the book just comes all together and after reading a combined 1500 pages it is the most awsome thing. I have not met a person that has not liked it and now I read a lot. This is the first book and if you want your kid to get into reading then this is the book. Other ggod books of his are THE REMARCABLE JOURNEY OF PRINCE JEN, THE FOUNDLING, TIME CAT, THE TOWN CATS, WESTMARK, and anything writen by Lloyd Alexander
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Summary: The book of three
Review: This book is about Taran, an Assisstant Pig-Keeper who loses a mystical pig who has the answers to everything. Taran has to run after the pig. Along the way he meets Prince Gwydion. A man who was also seeking the pig. But, after a few days of tracking the pig, they are attacked by cauldren-born, taken to a dark castle, and imprisoned. After Taran escapes with girl called Eilonwy, they suspect Gwydion is dead... This is a great book with many cliffhangers (later revieled) and is very discriptive. I reccomend it to ANYBODY who likes mystical books.
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Summary: A review of the first installment of Lloyd Alexnder's series
Review: Mason Souza 11/30/03
The Book of Three, Llyod Alexander
Has something ever happened to you that seemed small at first, but then snowballed into a major problem involving many people? That is exactly what happens in Lloyd Alexander's fantasy epic, The Book of Three. In the land of Pyrdain, Taran is a nobody living in a small, sleepy village called Caer Dallben. One day the psychic pig, Hen Wen wanders off. Taran tries to find her, but instead meets Lord Gwydion who tells him about the Horned King who plans to take over the land of Pyridaian. This book was very good and very easy to read. It changed very frequently which made it easy to move along. It was easy to concentrate on the story because you were sometimes given a vague description of a certain place, like if the characters were in a dark cave or grotto. This made you pay more attention to details than with other books and that is why I like that particular writing style. There were also surprises that you had to keep reading to find out about. All of this helped keep it from getting boring. And even though the story wasn't incredibly original, it did offer some unique twists that set it apart from other books. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy and doesn't want anything to be revealed too early in the story. I also think that fans of series like The Lord of the Rings should get this book, or even a realistic-fiction fan that is looking for something a little different.
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Summary: A quick but excellent read
Review: This book is one of those rare gems that people either read when they were younger and don't really remember now that they have "grown up" or never had at all because it is listed as a children's fantasy.
But I would recomend this entire series "Chronicles of Prydain" to any adult out there interested in reading good fantasy. In fact I would recomend it over at least 3/4 of the more adult oriented fantasy novels I have read over the years.
Alexander, being in part inspired by the masterful Tolkien, creates a world based on the landscape and mythology of Wales. The story and scopeseem very simple and it is a quick read, but I feel it is an important work nonetheless. In an era where fantasy is rarely original or is just written to make money (or Both), this is a nice bit of fresh air. Written at a time when fantasy as a genre was just beginning to take hold, this is a story that was written out of a love for his characters.
Which is what this book and series is really all about. The evils they fight and the quests they take are shown to be not nearly as important as the characters learning from them and growing.
Throughout this book much emphasis is placed on Tarans being an Assistant Pig-Keeper. But by the end, even though he has retained that title, it is seen how important he was as a leader, even though at the time his choices did't seem right, they were the right choices in the end.
While with Taran we see how Choices build the character of a man, with Gurgi, an odd, scared shaggy half-man half-beast, we learn what it takes to be a human.
My favorite character is Fflewddur Fflam. Spiky, yellow haired charcters always seem the coolest. He is always embelishing his stories which are kept in check by a rather unique harp. But you have to love him because he does not embelish to be deceptive, but because he gets caught up in the heat of the moment telling the story.
One of the best things about this book is that it is full of lots of little truths. Which is something most fantasy books never touch upon. They are just full of war, death misery, joy and adventure, but they rarely touch upon what these things mean or how they can develop a person.
Anyhow, I strongly recomend reading this book if your looking for a change of pace from mainstream fantasy novels.
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Summary: A Quick and Engaging Read
Review: This book is the first of the 5 books which comprise the Prydain Chronicles. It introduces the reader to Taran, Caer Dallben's assistant pig-keeper, and his quest to recover Hen Wen, a pig with oracular powers. Through the course of the tale, the reader is introduced to the characters which accompany Taran on his adventures in the subsequent Prydain Chronicles. These books draw on Welsh myth for a large part of their names, background, and to a lesser extent, events. This is similar to Tolkien's use of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic legends to provide atmosphere to his tales set in Middle-Earth. I personally have always felt that this practice privided greater depth to their stories than fantasy novels which spring entirely from the imagination of the author. Now, caveat emptor: adults should be aware that this series is written for a young audience, with situations and dialogue aimed at that demographic. While the series is similar to Tolkien in spirit, it does not approach the depth of his tales set in Middle Earth. All together, it is lighter fare. I was somewhat disappointed that the maps present in the earlier editions were not included in the current printing. Yes they're primitive, but do help provide some perspective. IMO, no Fantasy library would be complete without the Prydain Chronicles.
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Summary: vonderful
Review: The Book of Three is first in a series of five books by Lloyd Alexander that explain the adventures of Taran, a young boy. I liked this book because it has magic, adventure and action. It has sword fighting and that's a thing that I like to read in a book. If you like that kind of book then you will like The Book of Three. The other four books are as good as the first.
The story begins with Taran, the main character, wanting to do something more than making horse-shoes. Taran is an interesting main character because he wants to do everything and "take over the world." That is one of the things that make this book interesting. Dallben, his master, needs to use a pig named Hen Wen, to get counsel from, because there evil about. To get counsel from her he uses letter sticks that she points to. Hen Wen gets away and Taran runs after her to catch her and bring her back. Taran runs around Prydain trying to find Hen Wen, and not be killed by the evil that is in Prydain. Overall this is one of my favorite books that I have ever read.
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