This book is a return to a previous world as The Castle of Llyr is the third book in The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. It opens on young Taran being told that his friend Eilonwy must go away to learn how to be a proper princess, something that she is unable to do at Caer Dallben. Naturally, this news both distresses and mystifies young Taran as he is upset she is being sent away and confused as to why she needs to learn to be a princess. Taran and Gurgi are appointed as escorts to help Eilonwy arrive safely at the Isle of Mona. However, upon arriving things quickly end up becoming dangerous when Taran receives a mysterious warning from Prince Gwydion about an unknown danger to Eilonwy. Tasking with protecting her, he starts keeping an eye out only to become suspicious of one of the councilors for the local king. Before he is able to prevent it, Eilonwy ends up under a dangerous spell and spirited away. Taran teams up with his old friends Gurgi and Fflewdur Fflam as well as the local prince in order to try and find Eilonwy before it ends up being too late.
This is a good book and a great addition to The Prydain Chronicles series as it does a good job continuing the adventures of Taran, the assistant pig-keeper. More specifically, it continues chronicling how Taran is growing up and maturing over the course of his adventures. At the beginning of the series he was a hot-headed and impetuous youth who was consistently getting in trouble due to his search for adventure and glory. He is still consistently getting himself in trouble but he no longer seeks it out. Taran has slowly started realizing there is more to life than to be the hero. This has never been more evident than in the events of this book. Taran is desperate to recover Eilonwy safely, probably due in part to his growing realization about his feelings for her, but he repeatedly is able to step back and let others take the credit for various heroic things. He also frequently swallows any number of potentially negative things he thinks about saying. Taran is finally working on holding his temper, though Eilonwy still seems able to make him lose it no matter what. This aspect of the books is a large part of why I think they are such a good series for kids as readers are able to see the characters overcome some of the same problems and issues that they may have. These books are also just the right length for a kid to sit down and read during a rainy afternoon when they are unable to go outside. They are not too short and not too long and have a language style and vocabulary easily suitable for younger readers. I may also be slightly nostalgic as I read these when I was a kid. Let’s get back to this particular book though. This book continues the adventure but it also circles back to the beginning of the series as we finally learn more about how Eilonwy first ended up with Achren before her escape. It also provides more background on Eilonwy’s family and why she is destined to be an enchanter like Dallben and Achren. Overall, a great book and a fine addition to a good series. In my opinion, a good four out of five stars.
This is a good book, as I’ve previously stated, and one that I would recommend to younger readers. However, I would also point out that it is an older children’s book and the style is probably quite different than what they are used to. This is the case with the whole series actually. I don’t think this is detrimental to their enjoyment but it may take some adjusting before they are comfortable with the book. This is also a book that is heavily fantasy and would appeal more to kids who enjoy that genre which is also something to keep in mind. I also would like to point out that due to the relative simplicity of this book and this series, that I am not sure how well it would appeal to older readers. If it sounds like something you would enjoy than I suggest that you try it anyway but I also know that this may dissuade some readers as well. Either way it is a good series and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.