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emromc's review against another edition
4.0
Better than the first! This is such a classic, timeless series so far. It reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia in its moral, sweet simplicity. Good vs evil, children growing up slowly to their true, good selves by facing down evil both inside themselves and out. Dashing heroes, purely evil villains, good people who make mistakes. Lovely.
ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read The Book of Three when I was twelve and am only just getting around to continuing the series now. I liked this one even more than my reread of book one and will be borrowing the rest from the library soon!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Animal death, and Suicide
Minor: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and War
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short review: Good continuation of the story. Essentially we are watching Taran grow up through out this series. Again he does some real growing in this book, primarily around the area of his desire to have honor and glory. Again this is a very good book as a read aloud for boys (although I am not a fan of the audiobook).
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/black-cauldron/
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/black-cauldron/
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Summary: A second adventure for Taran and his companions. Taran sees the problems of seeking glory and honor and the weight of leadership.
I have been in a bit of a reading rut lately. So many books I want to read theoretically, but I have been not finishing much while starting a lot.
I stumbled across The Black Cauldron because there was an update to the Kindle edition, which pushed it to the front of my kindle. Last weekend I read through it in two sittings. These children's books seem so much simpler reading them as an adult compared to my memory of them as a child. They are not simplistic, but the plots are much less detailed than some modern children's books like Harry Potter and certainly less than many adult fantasy books.
What I like most about Lloyd Alexander as an adult and I think what drew me in as a kid was how seriously he takes Taran and Eiloiwy. They are not just some kids, but they are unique individuals, and while they are flawed people, they can grow and change, be self-reflective, and do important things. Unlike some kids books that have the kids do big things because the adults are incapable, Alexander has kids and teens do extraordinary things because there are important things to be done. This isn't a rejection of adults, but part of the maturing process of becoming an adult.
I am about halfway through a book on discernment by Thomas Green (Weeds Among Wheat) that I am reading for my Spiritual Direction class. Green suggests that often when thinking about discernment, we believe God is either the puppet master, who controls all the things, so discernment doesn't matter. Or we think about God in deistic ways with God not being involved in the world at all. Green thinks a better social imaginary is God as parent of adult children. There are times that a parent of an adult will intervene and get involved, but there are times when the parent of adult children will allow their children to make their own decisions and live with the consequences as part of the process of growing up.
The Black Cauldron is filled with these types of discernment lessons, where Taran or other characters are choosing between several options, and theoretically, many of them could be acceptable. The story plays out as the story does, but Taran does not know the end of the story from his position in the middle of it. One of the reasons that I am looking forward to reading these with my children when they get older is that seeing others make decisions (both good and bad) can help kids learn about the importance of their discernment.
I realized last night as my kids were watching Tangled that my six-year-old had not understood that Ryder did not leave Rapunzel voluntarily. She did not know that the Mother Gothel character was setting up Rapunzel and gaslighting her into disbelieving that Ryder loved her. We talked through what was going on, and despite the many times that we have watched the movie, and my adult understanding of the interpersonal dynamics, it was above her head. Similarly, books can introduce children to interpersonal dynamics and concepts that they would not understand except through experience. And I do not want my daughter to be forced to experience gaslighting and false narratives experientially before she is introduced to the concepts theoretically.
Because I have Disney+ and I have never watched the Disney Black Cauldron movie, I put it on in the background while I was doing paperwork when the kids were at school. It merges parts of the Book of Three and The Black Cauldron while significantly altering other aspects of the story. I understand why it did not do well in the box office. It did not work well as a cohesive story arc. And it was not a very faithful translation of the book to the screen.
So I don't recommend the movie, and I don't recommend the audiobook. But I can now advocate the kindle edition. There are complaints about the formatting on Amazon, but any formatting problems that existed in prior versions of the Kindle edition have now been fixed.
I have been in a bit of a reading rut lately. So many books I want to read theoretically, but I have been not finishing much while starting a lot.
I stumbled across The Black Cauldron because there was an update to the Kindle edition, which pushed it to the front of my kindle. Last weekend I read through it in two sittings. These children's books seem so much simpler reading them as an adult compared to my memory of them as a child. They are not simplistic, but the plots are much less detailed than some modern children's books like Harry Potter and certainly less than many adult fantasy books.
What I like most about Lloyd Alexander as an adult and I think what drew me in as a kid was how seriously he takes Taran and Eiloiwy. They are not just some kids, but they are unique individuals, and while they are flawed people, they can grow and change, be self-reflective, and do important things. Unlike some kids books that have the kids do big things because the adults are incapable, Alexander has kids and teens do extraordinary things because there are important things to be done. This isn't a rejection of adults, but part of the maturing process of becoming an adult.
I am about halfway through a book on discernment by Thomas Green (Weeds Among Wheat) that I am reading for my Spiritual Direction class. Green suggests that often when thinking about discernment, we believe God is either the puppet master, who controls all the things, so discernment doesn't matter. Or we think about God in deistic ways with God not being involved in the world at all. Green thinks a better social imaginary is God as parent of adult children. There are times that a parent of an adult will intervene and get involved, but there are times when the parent of adult children will allow their children to make their own decisions and live with the consequences as part of the process of growing up.
The Black Cauldron is filled with these types of discernment lessons, where Taran or other characters are choosing between several options, and theoretically, many of them could be acceptable. The story plays out as the story does, but Taran does not know the end of the story from his position in the middle of it. One of the reasons that I am looking forward to reading these with my children when they get older is that seeing others make decisions (both good and bad) can help kids learn about the importance of their discernment.
I realized last night as my kids were watching Tangled that my six-year-old had not understood that Ryder did not leave Rapunzel voluntarily. She did not know that the Mother Gothel character was setting up Rapunzel and gaslighting her into disbelieving that Ryder loved her. We talked through what was going on, and despite the many times that we have watched the movie, and my adult understanding of the interpersonal dynamics, it was above her head. Similarly, books can introduce children to interpersonal dynamics and concepts that they would not understand except through experience. And I do not want my daughter to be forced to experience gaslighting and false narratives experientially before she is introduced to the concepts theoretically.
Because I have Disney+ and I have never watched the Disney Black Cauldron movie, I put it on in the background while I was doing paperwork when the kids were at school. It merges parts of the Book of Three and The Black Cauldron while significantly altering other aspects of the story. I understand why it did not do well in the box office. It did not work well as a cohesive story arc. And it was not a very faithful translation of the book to the screen.
So I don't recommend the movie, and I don't recommend the audiobook. But I can now advocate the kindle edition. There are complaints about the formatting on Amazon, but any formatting problems that existed in prior versions of the Kindle edition have now been fixed.
scheu's review against another edition
5.0
It always amuses me to recall how little the Disney movie had to do with the original book. What an odd choice for them in the first place! It would never be "fluffy" enough for a Disney audience, and the original story would have had three or four too many characters for them. Thankfully, it's been over 25 years now, and kids can just read the books and enjoy them for the rich and entertaining stories they are. With no cutesy Gurgi.
sqeeker's review
5.0
- Another epic adventure in Prydain! I love this series!
- Our friends set out to complete an impossible task, and new characters are introduced, some good, some bad.
- Gurgi's endless bag of food would be really handy. I wish I had one...but with an endless supply of money!
- Ellidyr was an interesting fellow. His character development was my favorite. He was probably the deepest person in the story.
- Adaorn reminds me of the Lord Yupa from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I don't know why, but he does. Perhaps it is his wisdom.
- Taran is a natural leader. He doesn't really ask to lead, but he naturally does it, and his friends follow him diligently. I hope my friends are as loyal as Taran's.
- There were some tender moments in this book. The characters grieved and made difficult decisions.
- These books have something for everyone. I think no matter gender or age, these books will entertain and excite you!
- Our friends set out to complete an impossible task, and new characters are introduced, some good, some bad.
- Gurgi's endless bag of food would be really handy. I wish I had one...but with an endless supply of money!
- Ellidyr was an interesting fellow. His character development was my favorite. He was probably the deepest person in the story.
- Adaorn reminds me of the Lord Yupa from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I don't know why, but he does. Perhaps it is his wisdom.
- Taran is a natural leader. He doesn't really ask to lead, but he naturally does it, and his friends follow him diligently. I hope my friends are as loyal as Taran's.
- There were some tender moments in this book. The characters grieved and made difficult decisions.
- These books have something for everyone. I think no matter gender or age, these books will entertain and excite you!
hidekisohma's review against another edition
3.0
So after reading "The book of Three" a few weeks ago, i decided to jump right into the 2nd book "The black cauldron". Seeing as this is the titular title the disney movie was based off of. and...it was...fine?
Funnily enough, i have to say that i really liked the first book more. There were a bunch of extraneous characters in this one that weren't really necessary and i didn't really care about.
The story to the film in terms of the group has to get the black cauldron before someone evil can use it and have to get it from some witches. that stays the same, but pretty much everything else is different. The reason they're getting it, their journey to GET the cauldron, who wants to use it, etc. Since there's no horned king in this one, they have to go for the big baddie (who we don't see in this book).
Pretty much everyone from the first book returns and we see Taran starting to develop as a character as he's getting a bit older. We see he has to really overcome his pride and sense in this one, and you can tell the author was going for a "growing up with every book" thing.
There really wasn't a "we need to fight a big baddy" at the end of this one as there was in the previous one as it really is all about getting that titular black cauldron. Without too many spoilers i'll say, there is SOME action, but the action definitely is NOT the focal point of the story.
the bard, princess, gurgi, and taran are all back to form and they're all recognizable from the previous book and their banter made the book interesting enough. as i have the remaining three books in the series, i'll definitely be reading them.
all in all, not bad. not great, but not bad.
3 out of 5.
Funnily enough, i have to say that i really liked the first book more. There were a bunch of extraneous characters in this one that weren't really necessary and i didn't really care about.
The story to the film in terms of the group has to get the black cauldron before someone evil can use it and have to get it from some witches. that stays the same, but pretty much everything else is different. The reason they're getting it, their journey to GET the cauldron, who wants to use it, etc. Since there's no horned king in this one, they have to go for the big baddie (who we don't see in this book).
Pretty much everyone from the first book returns and we see Taran starting to develop as a character as he's getting a bit older. We see he has to really overcome his pride and sense in this one, and you can tell the author was going for a "growing up with every book" thing.
There really wasn't a "we need to fight a big baddy" at the end of this one as there was in the previous one as it really is all about getting that titular black cauldron. Without too many spoilers i'll say, there is SOME action, but the action definitely is NOT the focal point of the story.
the bard, princess, gurgi, and taran are all back to form and they're all recognizable from the previous book and their banter made the book interesting enough. as i have the remaining three books in the series, i'll definitely be reading them.
all in all, not bad. not great, but not bad.
3 out of 5.
stellarae2000's review against another edition
5.0
This book popped off and I’m really enjoying my reread of this series.
helenafaustina's review against another edition
5.0
A thrilling story! The character development of the main character, Taran, is beautifully gradual. I love the theme, that although taking pride in who you are is a noble thing, do not seek it out and try to be a hero in dishonorable ways. The chemistry of the main characters makes you long to be a part of their group, and the book is so well written that you do feel that way! After the first book, [b:The Book of Three|24780|The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain, #1)|Lloyd Alexander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405184012l/24780._SY75_.jpg|1149593], which leaves you wanting more, this following book satisfies you and excites you for the rest of the series! I would highly recommend it!