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theanswerisbooks 's review for:
The Book of Three
by Lloyd Alexander
The Book of Three is not the most impressive book on first reading, even despite there being some things that set it apart, first and foremost its Welsh-inspired settings and characters of myth and legend. Mostly, it seemed a bit like a Tolkien clone with a plot barely even trying to be anything more: Collecting the group of adventurers. The beyond evil bad guy. Swords and sorcery, kings and princesses and princes. Wizards who commune with animals.
Right away The Book of Three did demonstrate a contradictory and rather cheeky sense of humor, with the main quest (at least for our main character, Taran) being a search for his white pig, Hen Wen, rather than the defeat of some evil lord or other (although that is a side benefit for Taran). Taran is an Assistant Pig-Keeper (a title that will follow him with persistence all the way through book five and beyond). It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that Hen Wen wasn't just any old pig that evil beings wanted to kidnap. She is an Oracular Pig--she can tell the future. So yeah, let's rescue her.
On his quest, Taran picks up many companions (and this is the bit that felt most like Tolkien): Gwydion, the Prince of Don, a warrior who looks very unlike the royalty he is; the bard Fflewddur Fflam, a former king who 'gave all that up', and whose harp has strings that break whenever he stretches the truth (which is quite a lot); Gurgi, the strange beast that is not an animal nor yet a man, who speaks in the third person and has obsessive tendencies about food and such (Gurgi especially felt like a Gollum clone to me at first, though he distinguishes himself--not necessarily for the better--pretty quickly after the first book); Doli the Dwarf, the obligatory member of the fair folk, who complains while doing anything; and of course, the Princess Eilonwy, who is a complete delight from the first moment we meet her. She's probably the best thing that Lloyd Alexander ever created.
This is very much children's literature, and the first book is the roughest of the five. Alexander has a tendency to give his characters one or two traits and have them stick to them like mad, but luckily Taran and Eilonwy especially are wonderfully fleshed out. In fact, after this book, Taran's inner journey and growing characterization is the highlight of the series. The ending is also pretty sudden and felt rather convenient. No idea why it's called The Book of Three, as that titular book--owned by the enchanter, Dallben, who is also Taran's guardian--actually gets more focus in future volumes than it does here.
So, not the best beginning of the series, with as much predictable fantasy cliche usage as there is turning of those cliches on their heads, and as much cutesy-wutesy character stuff as there is genuinely insightful inner development. I definitely recommend reading further in the series if you liked this one even in the slightest.
[3.5 stars]
Right away The Book of Three did demonstrate a contradictory and rather cheeky sense of humor, with the main quest (at least for our main character, Taran) being a search for his white pig, Hen Wen, rather than the defeat of some evil lord or other (although that is a side benefit for Taran). Taran is an Assistant Pig-Keeper (a title that will follow him with persistence all the way through book five and beyond). It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that Hen Wen wasn't just any old pig that evil beings wanted to kidnap. She is an Oracular Pig--she can tell the future. So yeah, let's rescue her.
On his quest, Taran picks up many companions (and this is the bit that felt most like Tolkien): Gwydion, the Prince of Don, a warrior who looks very unlike the royalty he is; the bard Fflewddur Fflam, a former king who 'gave all that up', and whose harp has strings that break whenever he stretches the truth (which is quite a lot); Gurgi, the strange beast that is not an animal nor yet a man, who speaks in the third person and has obsessive tendencies about food and such (Gurgi especially felt like a Gollum clone to me at first, though he distinguishes himself--not necessarily for the better--pretty quickly after the first book); Doli the Dwarf, the obligatory member of the fair folk, who complains while doing anything; and of course, the Princess Eilonwy, who is a complete delight from the first moment we meet her. She's probably the best thing that Lloyd Alexander ever created.
This is very much children's literature, and the first book is the roughest of the five. Alexander has a tendency to give his characters one or two traits and have them stick to them like mad, but luckily Taran and Eilonwy especially are wonderfully fleshed out. In fact, after this book, Taran's inner journey and growing characterization is the highlight of the series. The ending is also pretty sudden and felt rather convenient. No idea why it's called The Book of Three, as that titular book--owned by the enchanter, Dallben, who is also Taran's guardian--actually gets more focus in future volumes than it does here.
So, not the best beginning of the series, with as much predictable fantasy cliche usage as there is turning of those cliches on their heads, and as much cutesy-wutesy character stuff as there is genuinely insightful inner development. I definitely recommend reading further in the series if you liked this one even in the slightest.
[3.5 stars]