Book #80 of 2021: The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander A fine but largely unremarkable collection of prequel tales to author Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain (which I just realized I finished reading two years ago today). It’s an early look at a few familiar characters like Fflewddur or Dallben, coupled …
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Book #60 of 2019: The High King by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #5) This children’s fantasy series hasn’t always had the most even storytelling, but the last volume is a proper finale that escalates the conflict, delivers some stirring emotional resolutions, and brings back many familiar characters along the way — including the …
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Book #22 of 2019: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #4) I like the section near the end of this book when the hero apprentices under a series of artisans who sneakily give him life lessons along with crafting skills, but as a whole it’s a bit too meandering for my tastes. …
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Book #230 of 2018: The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #3) This third novel in author Lloyd Alexander’s fantasy version of mythical Wales is a bit of a step down from the first two volumes, reducing the sole female hero from a fellow adventurer to a passive macguffin for the …
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Book #201 of 2018: The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #2) I like this second adventure through the land of Prydain even more than its predecessor, perhaps because it has more twists and turns (some easy to predict, others not) and a greater focus on characterization over plot. But there’s the …
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Book #173 of 2018: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #1) Somehow I missed out on this series when I was growing up, which is a shame, since this first novel has turned out to be an excellent classic of children’s fantasy literature. The tone is somewhere between J. R. …
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