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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Prydain series is one of my favorite children's series. I love the development of the main character, Taran, from an immature glory-seeking kid to a mature adult. Plenty of adventure and humor. The whole series is well worth reading.
Sadly this is one of the books that Disney totally slaughtered when they animated it. They tried to merge the first novel in the series, "The Book of Three", along with "The Black Cauldron" in a mere 90 minutes. Also, they totally changed many of the characters as well as situations that made (to me at least)these stories great. It is one of the worst book to movie adaptations I've seen to date.
Sadly this is one of the books that Disney totally slaughtered when they animated it. They tried to merge the first novel in the series, "The Book of Three", along with "The Black Cauldron" in a mere 90 minutes. Also, they totally changed many of the characters as well as situations that made (to me at least)these stories great. It is one of the worst book to movie adaptations I've seen to date.
if I talk long enough, how much I love this series will come up. so so endearing and enjoyable with characters who will hold space in my mental landscape for a long while. it does what it should do. lord of the rings lite, but no skimping on kindness and heart.
I picked this up again for a couple reasons a) one of my reading challenges had a reread prompt b) my library discarded their books of CD so I grabbed it for my holiday traveling. It has been forever and a day since I read this and I think in many ways this book is better than #1 since so much time isn't needed to introduce the characters. Back, of course, is Taran the assistant pig keeper (and our main character) Eilonwy, a princess who is living a simple life at Caer Dallben, Gurgi the not-quite-man creature, Dolbi the dwarf and Flamm, the king turned bard whose magic harp bursts strings when he lies.
Gwydion has called a meeting at Caer Dallben of all the kings, princes, fighters etc with a grand plan to stop Lord Arawn and his titular Black Cauldron, which takes corpses and turns them into deathless fighters. So destroying that is a good idea (and it doesn't take long to realize that some of these ambitious men might want it for themselves).
Taran finds himself on the mission with Prince Elodea who is a classist snob with a cruel streak and a bad temper. He has only a few friends to stand between him and the prince. Eilonwy chases after them and joins up (because girls would have been expected to do nothing when this was written so kudos for finding ways to include her).
Naturally things don't go to plan. Lots of hardship ensues. Not everyone will survive. And once they find the cauldron, what then?
This is not a book you can easily pick up if you haven't read #1. Yes they're both stand alone but Alexander expects you to remember the characters from the first book and that is one of the reasons this book moves better than the first. I still enjoy this series after all these years.
Gwydion has called a meeting at Caer Dallben of all the kings, princes, fighters etc with a grand plan to stop Lord Arawn and his titular Black Cauldron, which takes corpses and turns them into deathless fighters. So destroying that is a good idea (and it doesn't take long to realize that some of these ambitious men might want it for themselves).
Taran finds himself on the mission with Prince Elodea who is a classist snob with a cruel streak and a bad temper. He has only a few friends to stand between him and the prince. Eilonwy chases after them and joins up (because girls would have been expected to do nothing when this was written so kudos for finding ways to include her).
Naturally things don't go to plan. Lots of hardship ensues. Not everyone will survive. And once they find the cauldron, what then?
This is not a book you can easily pick up if you haven't read #1. Yes they're both stand alone but Alexander expects you to remember the characters from the first book and that is one of the reasons this book moves better than the first. I still enjoy this series after all these years.
Prince Gwydion announces it is time to make an attack against Arawn and his indestructible Cauldron-Born army by destroying the Black Cauldron from which they are made. Taran, Fflewddur, Doli, and a number of other friends of the prince join him in his quest, but it quickly proves to be more dangerous than expected and the friends are separated. It is up to Taran to decide how his group should proceed – go after the Black Cauldron, or go back to Caer Dallben and regroup with the others.
The second installment of The Chronicles of Prydain stands on its own right from the off. There is hardly any recap of the events from The Book of Three, but rather a reunion of old characters coupled with introductions of new characters and their goal – to destroy the Black Cauldron Arawn has been using to create an undead army.
While none of the characters have changed much between books, Lloyd Alexander still manages to give us new information about them and their backstories to help us understand them more. One such character is Taran’s guardian, Dallben. There is a lovely segment in which Taran finds out some information about Dallben’s childhood that comes as a bit of a shock to him. Also included is more information about the Black Cauldron and how Arawn came to possess it, which is a nice way of showing more of the Lord of Annuvin without actually bringing his character front and center. Having him remain in shadow is a nice way to build up to when the reader finally meets him (whenever that will actually be).
You can read the rest of my review at my blog: http://readerlymusings.com/2014/03/11/review-the-black-cauldron-by-lloyd-alexander/
The second installment of The Chronicles of Prydain stands on its own right from the off. There is hardly any recap of the events from The Book of Three, but rather a reunion of old characters coupled with introductions of new characters and their goal – to destroy the Black Cauldron Arawn has been using to create an undead army.
While none of the characters have changed much between books, Lloyd Alexander still manages to give us new information about them and their backstories to help us understand them more. One such character is Taran’s guardian, Dallben. There is a lovely segment in which Taran finds out some information about Dallben’s childhood that comes as a bit of a shock to him. Also included is more information about the Black Cauldron and how Arawn came to possess it, which is a nice way of showing more of the Lord of Annuvin without actually bringing his character front and center. Having him remain in shadow is a nice way to build up to when the reader finally meets him (whenever that will actually be).
You can read the rest of my review at my blog: http://readerlymusings.com/2014/03/11/review-the-black-cauldron-by-lloyd-alexander/
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It took me a while to get into this one, but after the Marshes of Morva, I was hooked. This was darker than the first book, and had more valuable life lessons. Again, I loved how Welsh legend was drawn upon, especially the cauldron-lore; this not only echoed the second branch of the Mabinogion and the Spoils of Annwyn, but also included elements of the third branch and Taliesin’s origin story.
Eilonwy didn’t shine quite as much in this book, which was disappointing, as she was my favourite character in The Book of Three. Still, the characters were engaging and well developed. A brilliant growing-up story through a high fantasy lens.
Eilonwy didn’t shine quite as much in this book, which was disappointing, as she was my favourite character in The Book of Three. Still, the characters were engaging and well developed. A brilliant growing-up story through a high fantasy lens.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wasn't sure what to expect out of this but i had so much fun listening to this!
It's classically the good vs. evil story in which our assistant pig keeper Taran finds himself on yet another quest beset from the first one, as he and his group consisting of Flam, Princess Eilonwy, Doli & Gurgi are looking for the cauldron before Death Lord Arawn can create more cauldron-born and have his own dastardly plans come true.
I love the new characters of the three witches, which I found to be funny and dangerous the way witches can be.
Absolutely plan to borrow the next one from the library soon to continue this adventure.
It's classically the good vs. evil story in which our assistant pig keeper Taran finds himself on yet another quest beset from the first one, as he and his group consisting of Flam, Princess Eilonwy, Doli & Gurgi are looking for the cauldron before Death Lord Arawn can create more cauldron-born and have his own dastardly plans come true.
I love the new characters of the three witches, which I found to be funny and dangerous the way witches can be.
Absolutely plan to borrow the next one from the library soon to continue this adventure.
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is by far my least favorite of the series. Ready to move on.