The Book of Three

Image credit: Wheelers Books

Opting this week to engage in more ‘research’ for my own children’s novel, I curled up on The Couch and got lost in a world of heroes, darkness, battle, and fantasy. Having completely missed this series during my childhood, indeed I had never heard of it at all until my partner brought it up, I found myself transported back to being at an age of wonder and personal achievement with the turn of every page. This week, I read Lloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three.

This introductory tale tells the story of a young lad named Taran who lives as a pig-assistant, but yearns for adventure. He gets his wish when his master’s oracular pig, Hen-Wen, runs away and he travels into the perilous woods to find her. Once away from Caer Dallben, Taran is thrown into the adventure of a lifetime as he becomes the companion of royalty, spends time in an enchantress’s dungeon, gets captured by Fair Folk, and battles with one of Prydain’s most fearsome foes: The Horned King.

The Book of Three serves as a perfect introductory tale for a series, establishing its central characters and then outlining their first stage of development beautifully. A classic reluctant hero’s tale, the book is easy to read with crisp and clear prose that perfectly describes the world without becoming too verbose. Perfect for young readers and people like me who like to keep a book review in reserve each week.

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While the story treads the boards of traditional fairytale and hero’s quest, with recognisable characters and narrative arcs, it does have a lot in it that is fresh. Modelled on Welsh mythology, it is also a lovely bildungsroman series, following Taran from youth to maturity with all the important social lessons thrown in.

As an introductory story, The Book of Three does spend a fair bit of time finding its feet, but regardless of this it’s a wonderful story that is inclusive to all readerships.

Author: Lloyd Alexander, 1964

Published: Holt, Reinhart & Winston.

The Book of Three is the first book in Alexander’s pentalogy, The Chronicles of Prydain.