By Patrick Edinger
Lloyd Alexander, author of more than forty titles, was a product of World War II. During his service, he was stationed in Wales which led him to write many stories inspired by Welsh culture. Of them, the high fantasy pentology the Chronicles of Prydain may be the most notable with memorable characters like the Assistant-Pig-Keeper Taran and his companions Gurgi, Elonwy, and Fflewddur Fflam. As the story unfolds in a grand adventure, this rag-tag group fights to defeat the Lord of Death, Arawn of Annuvin before the world’s freedom is seized.
As a child, I remember reading the first book, The Book of Three, in the Chronicles of Prydain series for literature class. For years, that book has remained in my brain to the credit of my instructor. Her passion for the stories—enacting the main cast’s individual voices, demonstrating their actions with a small toy foam sword she’d brought in—was inspiring. Because of that, I tore through the pages of the series fast enough that I’d completed it before the end of my first year of middle school. Those wonderful memories and that amazing teacher (whose name I tragically can’t remember) convinced me that I should do her efforts justice and rank the books in the series. Who knows? Maybe I’ll shed some light on this old gem of a series for someone else as was once done for me:
#5: Book Three: The Castle of Llyr
With a story that tackles many questions that were asked and left unanswered in the first two installments, The Castle of Llyr set up the audience for an emotional, explorative, and informative journey. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver on all fronts. With a large chunk of the story’s plot heavily depending on Elonwy, there is a detrimental lack of Elonwy in the story as she vanishes for most of the book. Due to her disappearance, most of the tension of the book is deflated before it gets the chance to build. That aside, with mythical inspirations from Homer’s Odyssey to fantastical expansions on Elonwy’s heritage, the book’s worldbuilding is a stand-out feature. However, as much as I wanted to enjoy the book, worldbuilding alone is not enough to make up for the immensely subverted expectations. This book was, of the five, the most unfocused of the series which is why The Castle of Llyr rightly claims the bottom rung.
#4: Book One: The Book of Three
Next in line is the first book of the series which is well crafted, but lacks early pacing. The beginning of the book takes a long time to establish the primary plot and cast of characters which makes it difficult to establish momentum. The story does deviate from this issue as the story picks up around the mid-way point and does so brilliantly. But by that time, the story needs to lead into its concluding act. This issue doesn’t leave the phantasmal world of Prydain enough time on the page to flourish and drags the first half of the book down. As is the curse of the opening book in a series, with so much being established at once, it can be difficult to establish good pacing or to cover every detail. Which is why it is challenging to place this book any higher despite being the most nostalgic of the five. If I was allowed, I’d tie the first and second books together in third place as they are both very similarly structured stories, but then I’d have to fill the fourth-place gap with one of the later titles—which would be a criminal act.
#3: Book Two: The Black Cauldron
This book, unlike the first installment of the series, takes no time at all to develop the plot and toss the main characters into conflict. From beginning to end, the story submerges the characters in mature and complex situations where they either sink or swim. It tackles the coming-of-age theme of the series with a stranglehold, which is exemplified through Taran’s first glimpse at the blood-soaked world of men. The plot does drag in places, especially when it comes to the middle chapters. By the end, there are many questions left unanswered and many plots left open-ended, which benefits the series but does the individual book a disservice. Its focus on the themes of the series and development for the characters, new and old, makes up for the story’s shortcomings enough to balance it out. Thus, this book’s placement—directly in the middle of the series—is appropriate for what it provides.
#2: Book Five: The High King
As the final book of the series, The High King wraps up the entire story nicely. It’s a conclusion to a long and arduous journey where Taran, Elonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, and Gurgi all reach their fullest potential as characters. The pacing is perfectly balanced with the author’s willingness to end the lives of important characters—making this the darkest installment of the series. There is one primary issue with this book and it was discussed previously in regards to The Castle Of Llyr, and that is the lack of other character’s perspectives. It limits the audience’s ability to view the story from multiple angles and makes many of the emotional moments less impactful than if they were presented from different points of view. This comes to a head with the deaths of notable characters where they die “off-screen” because Taran was not around to see it happen. This style removes the audience from those personal and emotional aspects of the story and lessens the emotional impact of the narrative. While this style of storytelling is consistent throughout all of the books, its application in this story is detrimental to the audience’s investment. That issue puts this very well crafted conclusion to the series in second place.
#1: Book Four: Taran Wanderer
This installment of the series is, above all, the most adventurous and thematically embodied book of the pentology. What the third book promised but failed to do for Elonwy, the fourth book successfully did for Taran. It focuses on Taran’s character, both written and observed, that shapes him from the impatient child at the start to a mature adult. Though the plot is developed well as the story revisits old characters and builds on the main cast in preparation for the fifth and final book, there is one major drawback: the plot feels tangential. It has the same issue the third book had which is that the events of the story do not directly progress the overarching plot of “defeat the evil sorcerer”. This book does set up the fifth and final installment by giving Taran much needed character development, but it does so as a side story. Structure aside, the themes are powerful and compelling with strong points of relatability that make this book very enjoyable to read. Match that with the well realized “coming-of-age” plot thread of the entire series, Taran Wanderer takes the number one spot on this list.
