psc@lzwi.UUCP (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (09/19/85)
THE BOOK OF THREE tells of Taran, a boy who dreams of adventure,
honor, and glory. "I'm not even anything at Caer Dallben!", he cries in
frustration. "Very well," says one of the men who raised him, "if that
is all that troubles you, I shall make you something. From now on, you
are Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper." Such a title, even when the pig is a
very special one, is not much of an honor, and Taran wishes for more.
He gets it; an evil wind blows through the farm, the pig digs its way
out of its pen, and Taran chases after it into the worst threat to
trouble Prydain since the coming of the House of Don stopped Arawn
Death-Lord from taking the land. Taran is joined by a motly crew:
Gurgi, a not-man, not-creature who is uncomfortable among humans and
animals alike, searching even more desperately than Taran for a place in
life. Eilowyn, a princess without a family, sent to learn sorcery under
the second most evil soul in Prydain, Achren, former consort of Arawn.
Fflewddur Fflam, a king of a small kingdom on the outskirts of Prydain,
who wants to be a bard instead. Doli, a dwarf whose inability to turn
himself invisible makes him an outcast among the Fair Folk. The
"Companions" come face to face with the Horned King, Arawn's hand
picked, hand corrupted war lord.
A special note about THE BOOK OF THREE. Just this past weekend, I
finished reading it aloud to my nine-year-old. He probably could have
handled most of it by himself, but he enjoyed listening, and I enjoyed
reading it aloud. This book would make a good cassette; it would make a
great few weeks of bedtime reading. Read it yourself first, work out
the jawbreaker-looking names, pick a voice for every character, and
enjoy. After the first five chapters, every other chapter has a cliff
hanger ending you can't leave, so plan on reading two chapters a night.
Leave enough time to read the last four chapters in one sitting.
<note for net.kids: The remaining four books in the series are equally
good; I've posted reviews to net.sf-lovers. If you'd like to see them
in net.kids, send me *mail*.>
--
-Paul S. R. Chisholm The above opinions are my own,
{pegasus,vax135}!lzwi!psc not necessarily those of any
{mtgzz,ihnp4}!lznv!psc telecommunications company.
(*sigh* ihnp4!lzwi!psc does *NOT* work!!! Use above paths.)
"Of *course* it's the murder weapon. Who would frame someone with a fake?"