The Chronicles of Prydain
The Chronicles of Prydain follow the adventures of Taran, an orphan and lowly Assistant Pigkeeper of Caer Dallben. Thankfully as interesting as it might sound, Assistant Pigkeeping accounts for a relatively small percentage of the story, before too long Taran is lead astray by a most mercurial pig and before too long finds himself caught up in the battle between The Sons of Don (protectors of Prydain, who showed up one day from a distant land) and Arawn’s forces (a bit of a bad dude). Of course this is just the first step in many adventures, throughout which Taran collects an assortment of faithful companions, a princess, a bard, a dwarf, a crow, and a sort of grubby, fluffy, er, thing. Each book builds on Taran’s story, culminating in the excellent The High King.
I first read these as a child, I loved them then and I still love them now. Re-reading these books, which I do at least every couple of years, is like visiting cherished childhood friends, but better because they haven’t grown up and they don’t bang on about their demonic kids or their dull job, in fact who needs friends with books like these!
- The Book of Three (1964) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Black Cauldron (1965) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The Castle of Llyr (1966) – Amazon – Book Depository
- Taran Wanderer (1967) – Amazon – Book Depository
- The High King (1968) – Amazon – Book Depository