The Book of Three

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper and his quest to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of characters that includes Eilonwy, the strong-willed and sharp-tongued princess; Fflewddur Fflam, the hyperbole-prone bard; the ever-faithful Gurgi; and the curmudgeonly Doli–all of whom have become involved in an epic struggle between good and evil that shapes the fate of the legendary land of Prydain.

The Good

Taran tries to undo his mistakes and noble takes up the quest to find a magical pig named Hen-wen before the Horned King can invade Caer Dallben and all of Prydain.

The Bad

You might get this book from the library instead of buying it. The cover on the copy the libraries have has an awful picture on the front (not the cover shown). My mom immediately sent it back to the library without reviewing it. But, it’s really not a super scary book. It’s similar to Lord of the Rings in this way: the good is very, very good, and the evil is very, very evil. The book itself is not graphic or gory at all. There are some weird creatures in it, like magical pigs, a sorceress, evil birds, Cauldron people, and magicians.

Ages

Ages 10+ is good for this book.

My Take

I enjoyed The Book of Three. Gurgi is one of my favorite characters, similar to Gollum from Lord of the Rings, but he’s not evil. I expected a little bit more action and evil judging from the cover we got, but it wasn’t what I expected. It was funny. To say it like our friend Gurgi, I enjoyed it with some crunchings and munchings!

Review by Kaitlyn