Other books- The Book of Three - Chronicles of Prydain

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "xcpublishing"
<xcpublishing at y...> wrote:
> Steve, thanks for the listing of other "kids" books. I recently read 
> Artemis Fowl and it was fabulous - very intelligently written with 
> more adult concepts than many adult books I've read.  ...  I also 
> want to recommend "The Book of Three" by Lloyd  Alexander. I read it 
> over the weekend and can't wait to grab the rest of the series.  
> ...edited...
> 
> Nicky Joe

bboyminn:

For those who don't know 'The Book of Three' by Lloyd  Alexander is
part of the "Chronicles of Prydain" which includes -

- The Book of Three
- The Black Cauldron
- Castle of Llyr
- Taran Wanderer
- The High King

(To the best of my knowledge, listed in order.)

'The Book of Three' was copyrighted in 1964, so the series is quite
old, and all books are available in paperback and most likely in most
libraries. All are available in audio editions.

On Amazon.com 'The Book of Three' has 197 reader reviews with an
average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. All very positive and strong
reviews. 'The Black Cauldron' has 89 review with an average of 5 stars.

Example:

(5 Stars)"There are books that you don't want to see come to an end.
... There are books that rattle in your brain, heart and soul, and
stay with you, never to be forgotten. ... Lloyd Alexander's
magnificent series falls into these categories. ...This series was the
first that I did not want to see end. " [P.J.M, Stamford, CT first
read at age 13, reread at age 35]

(5 Stars) "Lloyd Alexander's fantastic five-part Chronicles of Prydain
begins with "The Book of Three", which is required reading for anyone
who considers themselves a fantasy fan and/or a lover of children's
literature - or in fact anyone who love a darn good book. ...It sounds
like a standard fantasy-fare, but Alexander infuses his work with
delightful humour and wit, the afore mentioned shadow of Welsh
legends, and colourful characters that are instantly taken to heart.
Furthermore, he often puts more emphasis on the everyday vices and
struggles of mankind rather than the more epic figures of good and
evil, making the books more intimate and personal." [R.M.F. - New
Zealand - Adult reviewer]

WOW! Those are some pretty seriously strong recommendations, and all
the reviews continued along the same lines. Remember the average of
197 reviews was 4.5 Stars out of 5.

I'm wondering if others here have read these books, and if you too
would give them the same high recommendation? I think I can trust the
opinions of this group more than I can random strangers posting at
Amazon.com.

As a side note, and somewhat of a complain about both publishing
companies and Amazon, it's not always clear what order the books fit
in the series. I was, long ago, interested in reading the Harry Potter
Series (three published at the time) but wasn't sure which book was
first and in what order they were published, so I put it off until one
day in a book story, I found an HP paperback that listed the books in
order. Since then I've seen other series that I might be interested
in, like Artemis Fowl, but couldn't determine the proper order to read
them. Just a little something that annoys me.

Back to "Chronicles of Prydain", it seems odd that there could be such
an outstanding and highly recommended, as well as old, series of books
that I've never heard of.

I'm open to any opinions on this series.

Steve/bboyminn