Name: The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain)
ISBN: 9780805080520

Lloyd Alexander

The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain)

Wynter

So much better than The Chronicles of Narnia. Why is Lloyd Alexander not a household name?

Jenna T.

I went into this book series knowing nothing whatsoever. Except for a few vague memories of having seen the infamous Disney film adaptation once or twice as a kid, well over twenty years ago, I had no idea what to expect from the original story. I suppose I assumed that it was going to be a bit silly, a bit nonsensical, and overall a fun, if shallow, read.I was correct on all except the final point.Starting out, there is a fair amount of silliness and a fair amount of nonsense. Our leading gentleman is no Chosen One, no prince, no hero, not even a simple squire: we start out with young Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper, whose primary solemn duty is to mind Hen Wen, a so-called oracular pig. And along the way we meet ever sillier folk: Fflewddur Fflam, a bard whose constant lying causes his harp strings to snap; Princess Eilonwy, a sassy but harebrained daughter of enchantresses; Gurgi, a strange creature whose sole desire and aspiration in life is his next meal; and Dallben, a powerful sorcerer who seems to spend most of his time napping or ruining Taran's hopes of ever becoming anything more than an Assistant Pig Keeper. Other folk are less silly but no less ridiculous: the cantankerous, embittered dwarf Doli; Coll, the warrior-turned-turnip farmer who assists Dallben in dashing young Taran's dreams; and Gwydion, a wandering warrior prince, who looks more like a vagrant than royalty.Throughout the next few books, we meet other fun and silly characters, like the royals of Mona, including the airheaded Prince Rhun, the boisterous King Smoit, and the dolorous Gwystal, as well as a handful of wicked and sinister folk like Achren the enchantress, Dorath the mercenary, and Magg the traitorous steward.
But for each seemingly absurd caricature, for each ridiculous character trait, for each trope and cliché, there is a thrumming heart behind every single one of them. Though seemingly flat, one-dimensional, and frivolous, each character is driven by wants and fears, and is tied to the rest with complex bonds of friendship, loyalty, admiration, and love, as well as betrayal, heartbreak, hatred, and in some cases, grudging acceptance and friendship. The way these characters are written, they at once fix themselves in your memory with their peculiarities, and then fix themselves to your heart with their deeds.The overall tapestry of the story leaves no thread loose, no stitch unfinished; even the smallest events from the very first book have repercussions that echo all the way through to the very last book, which, as a reader, was immensely satisfying to witness. I'm writing this review on the last book because I don't think I can separate the story out into its individual threads or the individual plots of the preceding books; even though they stand apart, and even though some were slightly better than others, they are all woven together on the same loom.The fourth book (Taran Wanderer) and this, the fifth and final book, were my two favorites of the lot, mostly because Taran—who, despite remaining an Assistant Pig-Keeper throughout, has always been a hero since the first page—does a lot of growing up, maturing, and learning within their pages. He makes mistakes, he loses people close to him, and he nearly loses himself, but in the end... Well, I'll let you read it for yourself and find out!The final thing I have to say is that the messages of the story are truly beautiful, and I was thoroughly pleased with the way they played out in the very end. Alexander casts a heavy shadow of doubt on a few of them, but in the end, the way the main plot and the character arcs resolved was the stuff of legend. This book was the only one in the series to earn the Newbery Medal, but I like to imagine that all five books won them, for only with the context of the journey taken from page one of The Book of Three does the larger story of The Chronicles of Prydain have its full impact.Children's books? Yes, certainly! But also human books, transcending the limitations of age.

Daryl Houston

A nice conclusion to the series. My kids liked the series, and I found it mostly pretty enjoyable.