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isaacblevins's Reviews (460)
This book took me FOREVER to finish - and that was listening to the audio version! I really like the characters, especially Strike and Robin...but the plot seemed entirely too crowded. There were so many characters and conversations that I found myself forgetting all the connections between them. By the time the mystery was solved, the revelation was more of an “oh, huh...okay” moment than a “wow, that was clever” one.
This is my third time reading this book, and with each reading my regard has continued to grow. What Lloyd Alexander has done in this first book of the Prydain Chronicles is breathe life into a world of characters both fantastic and touchingly honest. Prydain is a world where the deadly serious and the sublimely ridiculous exist side by side...much like in our own world. It is a place where an oracular pig can begin an adventure, where a king can leave his throne to become a bard - and carry a harp with strings that break whenever he lies. It is home to a self confident princess who rescues rather than being rescued herself, and to an assistant pig-keeper who longs to find meaning in his life.
I have read many reviews that dismiss this novel as being overly influenced by Tolkien or for bringing nothing new to the field of YA fantasy - but I disagree. Tolkien’s and even C. S. Lewis’s characters have a slight stiffness to them that set them apart from the reader. Their fantasies read as if the shroud of myth they create should be approached with a sense of awe and reverence. While such grand high fantasy has its place, the approachable, honest and flawed characters of Alexander seem far more sympathetic. Further, the plot and characters of Prydain seem closer to more modern fantasy such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. In fact, I would not be at all surprised to find Hermione Granger to be a direct descendant of Alexander’s Princess Eilonwy.
If you’ve never read The Book of Three or haven’t read it since childhood, pick it up. I think you’ll be surprised at what you find - and delighted by the characters you’ll come to love.
I have read many reviews that dismiss this novel as being overly influenced by Tolkien or for bringing nothing new to the field of YA fantasy - but I disagree. Tolkien’s and even C. S. Lewis’s characters have a slight stiffness to them that set them apart from the reader. Their fantasies read as if the shroud of myth they create should be approached with a sense of awe and reverence. While such grand high fantasy has its place, the approachable, honest and flawed characters of Alexander seem far more sympathetic. Further, the plot and characters of Prydain seem closer to more modern fantasy such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. In fact, I would not be at all surprised to find Hermione Granger to be a direct descendant of Alexander’s Princess Eilonwy.
If you’ve never read The Book of Three or haven’t read it since childhood, pick it up. I think you’ll be surprised at what you find - and delighted by the characters you’ll come to love.
