The books in the series are:
The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King
The main character in each of these books is Taran, Assistant Pig Keeper whose main task in live is taking care of a prophetic pig named Hen Wen. At least until one day the pig runs away and he sets off in search of her. So begins the tale of Taran who while young finds himself thrust into a battle between good and evil against the evil Arawn, possessor of the Black Cauldron that can create armies of the Undead.
Taran collects a crew of companions throughout his journey: Eilonwy, a girl with a few magical skills who tends to be the typical easily offended woman for the most part. Fflewddur Fflam, a bard with a harp whose strings break when he overexaggerates things, which is fairly common, and Gurgi, a hairy creature from the forest who is always eager to help out.
Taran's adventures provide a nice arc that include his growing up and seeking for the parents he never knew, along with the constant battle against the dark lord Arawn, all the while coming to know many of the magical and mystical peoples of Prydain. The High King, the culmination of the series won the 1969 Newberry Medal (given for the most outstanding book for children each year), and is a wonderful read, enhanced of course if you've taken the time to enjoy the first 4 books in the series. As you'll find is common with me, I was very sad to see this series come to an end.
The Book of Three and the Black Cauldron served as the basis for an animated Disney film titled the Black Cauldron.
9 comments:
so, are these pretty much for kids ala narnia, or could grown ups enjoy them too?
I would say they are more grown up than Narnia, more on a young adult reading level. I think grown ups could enjoy them.
I quite enjoyed The Black Cauldron film as a kid. Didn't realise that there were so many books in the series though !
We used to play the Black Cauldron computer game. I don't remember ever watching the movie though. I don't think I realized it was a book series too.
I remember there were free gifts with some Kellogs breakfast cereals here in the UK,the ads made a big deal about getting the Horned King figure !!
Is it true that these may be getting made into a series of Live-action films ? I'm sure I read it somewhere a while back !!!
I hadn't heard that. Although I guess if the Narnia books can be made into movies, these certainly could. I just don't think these books have the built-in audience that some of the other fantasy novels do.
There was a little talk on the forum feedback on IMDB about it,just rumours I suppose !! I wouldn't be suprised if Disney bought the rights to all of the books at the time they made The Black Cauldron
I think it would be cool. It just would surprise me given the relative lack of success of the animated film and that I don't think they are as widely known as LoTR and the Narnia books.
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