The pacing is much more smooth while still maintaining its fast, action-packed style. Darker subject matter, nastier villains, stronger plot and character development and so on.

Their struggles are intensified when they encounter three wicked enchantresses that seek to put a wrench in their plans.īetter than the first book in every way. Taran and his crew seek to weaken Arawn's forces by stealing his cauldron which he uses to empower his army. Taran and his newfound companions find themselves locked in a battle against the lord of the Land of Death Arawn and his legions of evil creatures. The books are short and easy to read so I’m willing to go through them. I didn’t like Taran and his companions at first, but I think they have a lot of potential to grow on me in future installments. The pacing is messy and a lot of characters and plot points come off as underwhelming and anticlimactic, but all in all it’s a fun little fantasy adventure with nonstop action and a bit of slapstick humor. Meeting unlikely companions along the way including the heroic Prince Gwydion and the sassy Princess Eilonwy, Taran finds himself wrapped up in a battle against the Death Lord Arawn and his legion of evil beasts while searching for Hen Wen. When his pig goes missing amidst the scene of a great battle, Taran just might have to become a hero whether he's cut out for it or not. He can barely manage to properly supervise his oracle pig Hen Wen. His Welsh accent is lovely and helps to keep younger readers or more difficult to engage readers engrossed in this incredible series.An ill-mannered farm boy named Taran dreams of being a hero, but he knows he's not cut out for that sort of life. I also recommend the audio books as you read along, narrated by James Langton. Fortunately, there is a pronunciation guide in the back of each book. And Welsh may be even more notorious than French in the realms of spelling versus saying. As it is based on Welsh mythology, there are Welsh names.

The High King brings us to the battle for all Prydain.Taran Wanderer follows Taran's journey to self-discovery.The Castle of Llyr takes us to the isle of Mona and the bumbling Prince Rhun.The Black Cauldron seeks to destroy the power of Arwn to create the deathless warriors, the Cauldron Born.

The Book of Three introduces the threat of the Horned King, a servant of Arwn, to the peace of the Prydain, and we meet Taran and the companions for the first time.

There are five books in the series, and each builds upon the adventures in the last. How can you improve on 'the standard of excellence in fantasy literature for children'? This series has everything you could want: comedy, courage, wisdom, foolishness, power, tragedy, and friendship.

The chronicles of prydain box set