Getting to the end of writing reviews around the Prydain Chronicles doesn’t feel too different from getting to the end of the Prydain Chronicles. The experience is bittersweet, my love of these stories remains complete. The High King opens with an intense moment, as Gurgi and Taran returning on the road are waylaid by their friend Caw the crow who reports danger along their way. They rush back to Caer Dallben, to find a council in place to determine how to finally end the threat […]

This is my favorite of the Prydain Chronicles, no question. It is character development from start to finish, which in my opinion is when you get the best stories. Fresh from leaving Eilonwy on the isle of Mona, Taran is restless, tormented by thoughts of the romance he left unfinished with her and feeling aimless and unsure of his destiny. To solve this, he decides to seek out his parentage and hope to learn his name and what he will be aside from an assistant […]

The Castle of Llyr, in addition to having the most Welsh name in the Prydain Chronicles, introduces one of the best characters in the book series: the gigantic mountain cat, Llyan. You can always tell when an author loves cats and is writing from their own experience, including terrible, willful behavior peppered with affection that is almost lethal. Diana Wynn Jones is another classic author for this sort of thing. The story begins at Caer Dallben, when the Princess Eilonwy gets the worst news imaginable: […]

The second book in the Prydain Chronicles is also the name by which 90% of people are familiar with this story and the characters, because it shares the name with a Disney movie. The Disney movie in question is considered one of the blackest sheep in the entire library, because hooboy is it dark and scary. The villain is the Horned King, borrowed from the Book of Three and turned into a non-comical Skeletor. The Horned King’s dungeons, weird sidenote, are a marvel of background […]