Lloyd Alexander and the Prydain Chronicles

Two of my favorite books growing up [well, they're still two of my favorite books, who am I kidding?!] were/are "The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen" and "The Arkadians" by Lloyd Alexander.

The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen chronicles the life of one Prince Jen, who gets caught up in a fantastical adventure set in medieval China.

The Arkadians is a goofy book, combining Greek and Roman myths in a hilarious jumble.

I tried reading Taran Wanderer [4th book in the Prydain Chronicles, but I didn't know that]but didn't really understand what was going on [understandably], so I put it down and said that I liked Lloyd Alexander but only some of his books.

At that point in my life, my parents frowned upon reading too much fantasy [well, they still do, who am I kidding?!] and I didn't read any of his other books after that.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday I had all morning to myself. It was lovely. I printed out a large amount of piano music [most notably the Pink Panther theme, which I can now play almost perfectly], practiced for 45 minutes, and then went to the library to wander around and find some reading material.

As always, I went to the children's section. I've read all the Nancy Drews...I've read the classic children's books of our generation, like Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins, J. Craighead's Julie of the Wolves, Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Egypt Game, etc., and I wasn't having much luck. I spotted A String in the Harp [I forget the author], a story about Taliesin, the most famous bard of Wales, and then I looked up on the shelf above and spotted the five books of the Prydain Chronicles. I took them out and sat down in the brown beanbag chair in the corner and flipped through all the dust jackets to get a feel for the books.

What I found sparked my interest. A medieval fantasy tale, an idea that came from reading Welsh mythology? The story is his own, to be sure, but he loved Wales and the stories that came from it and that sparked the Prydain Chronicles: The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron [yes, the book the cartoon is based on and no, I haven't seen it], The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, & The High King. I decided to give it a second shot and checked them all out [I love when a whole series is out and I can feast upon the entire thing at once].

I read The Book of Three & the Black Cauldron yesterday, and started The Castle of Llyr. They are quite good.

I believe that Lloyd Alexander's fantasy novels belong to another era. Children today don't know about these books, or if they do, they struggle to figure out how to say Eilonwy, Gwystyl, and wonder how on earth someone came up with the name Flewddur Flam...and then put the book back on the shelf. I recall people my age and older loving the Prydain Chronicles, but haven't heard of them recently.

Not that it's outdated - his style simply reminds me of a bygone era of children's fantasy. After C.S. Lewis, before J.K. Rowling.

Whatever era the books are in, I would recommend these. They are something all their own, and the characters are as memorable as they are loved by the faithful readers of Lloyd Alexander.

If you'd like to sample his writing style, try The Arkadians or the Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen. The Prydain Chronicles would remind you of the language of King Arthur, so it's a bit different but still definitely Lloyd's voice. I must try to read some of his other books now.

I'm also interested in reading Susan Cooper's fantasy series [which includes The Dark is Rising and The Grey King] and Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books. Anyone read those?