The Castle of Llyr: The Chronicles of Prydain, Book 3 Kindle Edition

Alexander prefaces The Castle of Llyr by stating that, "For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are. And this holds true for princesses as well as assistant pig-keepers." You'd think that with The Castle of Llyr being focused on Eilonwy, and my being female, this book would be my favorite. Yet except for The High King, the tales are all seen from Taran's viewpoint making The Castle of Llyr still a boy's read. Second, for much of the time, the story centers around the attempts of her friends to protect her. You see, Achren has returned and is seeking revenge. Well, actually, it turns out that Eilonwy is the last princess of Llyr. She alone has the power to invoke the magic devices and potent spells of the House of Llyr. And so Achren actually is seeking Eilonwy so she can control that power and rule the Prydain kingdom. Third, although I love Eilonwy as much as the other major characters, in many ways Eilonwy fits the stereotype of girls in traditional fantasies. Her societal role is to dress up, chatter, cook, and serve men, but she rebels against it by wearing men's garb, wielding swords, and demanding rights as an equal. In the sense that she refuses to become a respectable princess, Eilonwy serves as a role model. In other ways she doesn't, for she regularly thrusts herself into the forefront as one of the guys. For all these reasons, The Castle of Llyr is not my favorite book.Yet I still like it. For within its pages, we meet the Prince of Rhun. He reminds me of a younger version of the inept and impatient but honorable and likeable Taran. I enjoyed how easily vexed Prince Rhun could make Taran. When Rhun introduces himself, he realizes to his shame that he forgot to ask anyone's name. Now he has to repeat his whole greeting. In telling about himself, Rhun proudly talks about how easy it is to command a voyage: "All I have to do is tell the sailors...." Thankfully, the sailors know how to do their job and quietly go about their tasks without paying heed to Rhun, who has no idea how a ship is really run. Unfortunately, his lack of knowledge doesn't stop him from trying to take his hand at steering, any more than it once kept Taran from trying to make or brandish a sword. Under Rhun's control, the ship lurches so violently that Taran is thrown against the bulwark where he receives a nasty bump on his head. Still, when Eilonwy disappears and is suspected of being in danger, Rhun is among the first to join the search party. Despite all impending doom, he refuses to turn back but vows to find her. Through Prince Rhun and other new characters, Alexander instills humor into a sometimes dark story.

The Castle of Llyr is a book about the challenges as characters learn to be ladies (as with Eliowany's case) grow to be adults as with Taren's case, and learn that previously killed villains where maybe not as killed as they thought they were, the book follows the characters as the jorney through the island of Mona countryside as they look along with Prince Rhun as they look for Eliowany who had been stolen by Maggs, the chief steward, who was secretly working for Achren (the villain who had the castle in the first book and was thought to be dead (she also held Eliowany captive for most of her younger years)) As they race thought the countryside the fine many things, a giant cat who take a liking to one of the companions, a bard and is a willing mount for the other two books after. They also find a giant who had been confined to a cave for years and had gone slightly crazy, and last but definitely not least, a abandoned stronghold of magic that the villain Achren had been holed up in.The third book in the series, the book is by no means inferior to it's other series mates. The book is not hard to read however and ages 8 and up can read it easily, any gender can enjoy it as long as you go into it not thinking that you will not enjoy the book. This book is written in roughly the same way as the first book, remember, do not read these books out of order! The books are easy to enjoy and read, and if you want, reread. If you see the book, you should grab it, but read the first two books first.

Lloyd Alexander's five-part "Chronicles of Prydain" is essential reading for anyone, regardless of age, gender or reading preferences. Although they are classed as both fantasy and children's literature, these books can be enjoyed by everyone, not just for its fantastical elements and the broad good vs. evil conflict, but for their gentle humour, loveable characters and vindication of humanity over, not just fantasy-evil, but the more base qualities of greed, ignorance, spite and pride. At their core, the books are a coming-of-age story for our protagonist Taran, as he journeys from boy to man in troubled times, acquiring wisdom, humility, kindness and responsibility as he goes. The best part is that this process is gradual, but not stagnant. In each book, Taran has grown, and yet there's always more to learn on the path to becoming a man.As such, this third volume of the series "The Castle of Llyr," concerns Taran's developing feelings for his friend and companion Princess Elionwy, who is being sent to the Isle of Mona in order to become a proper lady. The enchanter Dallben, with whom the young people live with, has himself ordered it. Neither are particularly pleased with the decision, and Taran is even less pleased to discover that Elionwy's new guardians have plans to betroth her to their son. Prince Rhun of Mona is hapless and clumsy, and jealousy rears its ugly head when Taran becomes acutely aware of his position in life as an Assistant Pig-Keeper.And yet all that must take a backseat when Elionwy is kidnapped, and Taran must work with Rhun, along with harpist Fflewddur Fflam and the faithful Gurgi, in order to bring her safely home. Their journey takes them into subterranean caves and across mysterious islands, only to find that the object of their adventure has been bewitched by the evil enchantress Achren who plans to use the Princess's latent powers to reclaim control over Prydain.As well as this, there are other familiar faces, such as the warrior Gwydion and the talkative crow Kaw, (though sadly, Doli doesn't make an appearance) and several other characters that play a part in the action both here and in stories to come: Glew, the "smallest" giant in fiction, the beautiful cat Llyan (who Alexander called "the prototype of cat-greatness") and Prince Rhun, whose clumsiness is offset by his endearing cheerfulness and awareness that he isn't quite the prince he should be. We learn more about Elionwy's heritage, particularly the purpose and nature of her glass bauble, though the full story of her people won't be fully explained until Taran Wanderer (The Chronicles of Prydain). And of course, we get the first romantic overtures between Taran and Elionwy that are both poignant and typically awkward, as you'd expect from adolescents.The entire series takes place in the land of Prydain, which is heavily influenced by the mythology of Wales, as found in The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics). Though it sounds like your typical fantasy-setting, there is a particular charm to this series, born out of Alexander's love and respect for life, his wit and wordplay, and the wisdom that he manages to infuse into his story without ever sounding preachy or pretentious. These five books, and the companion anthology of short stories set in Prydain's past, are essential reading for any child, to be put on the shelf right next to The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-6).