The Book of Three

The Book of Three

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Lloyd Alexander Published 1964-03-12 Type Fiction Genre Fantasy Themes Adventure, Coming of age, Fantasy Age Group Children

The Book of Three is a fantasy novel written by Lloyd Alexander and published on 1964-03-12. It is the first book in the The Chronicles of Prydain series and was followed by The Black Cauldron.

The book is set in the fantasy world of Prydain which Alexander based loosely on Welsh mythology and follows Taran, a youth who longs for adventure, but is stuck on a small farm looking after a pig that is supposed to have oracular powers, though Taran has never seen it do anything special. One day, the pig freaks out and runs away and Taran discovers she is fleeing from the Horned King, a powerful warlord who intends to capture her and use her prophecy for evil. Taran tries to find the big before the Horned King and meets helpful friends along the way.

Personal

Own?	No.
Read?	Anthology / Audiobook read by James Langton.
Finished	Anthology: 2003-05-21 / Audiobook: 2024-09-09.

I first heard about this book around age 18 when my high school girlfriend started reading it for one of her classes. I liked the cover art and her description of the beginning of the story, but I didn't read it myself. In my early 20s, a different girlfriend owned a The Chronicles of Prydain anthology and loaned it to me. I read this book from it, and, while I thought was a decent fantasy novel, I didn't like it enough to continue the series. Over 20 years later, I decided to read the book again, this time as an audiobook, and maybe continue the series.

Review

Overall:

Good

• The story has all the hallmarks of high fantasy. An underdog protagonist, a powerful evil villain, loyal but bumbling companions, a nice happy ending, etc.

Bad

• A lot of the characters bugged me. Gurgi, Fflewddur Fflam, and Eilonwy were all pretty obnoxious and I would have preferred they were each made less annoying. Fflam and Gurgi especially with their catchphrases were too over-the-top. Although, they are each endearing in their own ways, Eilonwy in particular, so I didn't totally hate any of them.
• Over all, the book was too childish for my tastes with too much silliness and not enough danger. How many times can a ragtag group of four successfully defend themselves from a trained war party without injury?

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

• 

  Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Eilonwy is intelligent and capable.
Bechdel test?	Fail	The only other woman is Achren, but she never speaks to Eilonwy.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	As far as I can tell, everyone is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Quotes

— This section contains spoilers! —

• Neither refuse to give help when it is needed,... nor refuse to accept it when it is offered.
• In some cases we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.
• There is a part of us in everyone else—you, of all people, should know that. From what I hear, you have been as impetuous as your friend Fflewddur; I have been told, among other things, of a night when you dove head first into a thornbush. And you have certainly felt as sorry for yourself as Gurgi; and, like Doli, striven for the impossible.

Adaptions

The 1985 Disney animated film, The Black Cauldron, was, despite its title, largely based on this book, as was the video game adaption of the film.

Links