#Lloyd Alexander

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Trisha Clansi

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“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.” ― Lloyd Alexander

[cosmicretreat]

These were the editions of The Chronicles of Prydain I checked out of the library and read as a kid.

[whistlecat]

The Book of Three

To me, the Horned King was more creature than man. A being that instilled fear in the people. In the first book, Taran as a young boy, freezes in fear in the shadow of the Horned King. "It is not the trappings that make the prince," he said gently, "nor, indeed, the sword that makes the warrior." - Gwydion Mar. 1st. HAPPY NATIONAL PIG DAY!! To: Hen Wen, my favorite oracle pig. I freckled her little back with stars ✨

bsky // twitter

[highqueenofprydain]

Custom bookmarks, front and back, commissioned by the spouse of a big fan for her Christmas set of the anniversary editions. Bonus lenticular bookmark for The Black Cauldron.

[vintagerpg]

The five-volume Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander, began in 1964 with The Book of Three, and saw new entries — The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer — appear annually until finishing with The High King in 1968. They’re set in a fantasy version of Wales, and draw from Welsh mythology, but the story is very much the tale of an assistant pig-keeper named Taran who, as he grows from boy to man, seeks adventure, finds responsibility and learns the terrible cost of glory. It’s one of the first works of fantasy I read as a kid and honestly, I don’t think any others, except Earthsea, have measured up in terms of emotional weight (and their refusal to indulge in power fantasy or other cliché). I re-read them recently and that remains true. You ought to read them if you haven’t. They’ll change you, I bet.

Anyway. My editions as a kid were the ‘80s Dell Yearlings with the gorgeous cover art by Jean-Leon Huens. I have a deep love for the first cover and its depiction of the Horned King (and am eternally jealous that Tony DiTerlizzi owns the original). The others are pretty great, too. I love that the giant cat is basically a house cat and I love those alien-looking Cauldronborn on the final book’s cover. The Black Cauldron cover is rather new for me; my original had the movie poster for the god awful Disney movie (beautiful, yes, but still awful and utterly lacking the emotional heart of the books). I’m pleased Huens shows Eilonwy, but now I am a little bummed he never painted the bard, Fflewddur Fflam.

[majestativa]

My blood rises above my ruins.

— PAUL ÉLUARD ⚜️ Uninterrupted Poetry: Selected Writings, transl. by Lloyd Alexander, (1975)

[knoxrobbins]

The spirit of the vengeful king inside the cauldron probably isn't pleased to be used as a concoction bowl.

A Black Cauldron piece had been on the back-burner for a while. Disney's most notorious (full-length) animated movie based on Lloyd Alexander's book series, which if you proposed a live-action update today everyone wouldn't be against it. I leaned a little into early production and development designs for the characters while keeping them familiar.

[lakecountylibrary]

Read what the librarian is reading!

Here's Kate's current TBR pile:

Honey Lemon Soda (volume 3) by Mayu Murata

Taran Wanderer (book 4 of the Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander

Sweet Valley Twins Volume 4: The Haunted House by Nicole Andelfinger

Uprooted: A Memoir about what Happens When Your Family Moves Back by Ruth Chan

Noodle & Bao by Shaina Lu

Twenty-four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds

Ditching Saskia by John Moore

Thief of the Heights by Son M.

This Land is our Land: A Blue Beetle Story by Julio Anta

Girlmode by Magdalene Visaggio

The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr

Wingborn by Marjorie Liu

Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan

The Terrifying Tales of Vivian Vance by Josh Ulrich

See more of Kate's recs

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[the-way-we-were]

We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.

Words by Lloyd Chudley Alexander

[ofliterarynature]

TBR TAKEDOWN: GOODREADS, WEEK 18.a

The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain #1) by Lloyd Alexander

I'm trying to trim down my tbr list(s) and I'm asking for your help! Descriptions and more info under the cut. Please reblog and add your thoughts!

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Taran is desperate for adventure. Being a lowly Assistant Pig-Keeper just isn't exciting. That is, until the magical pig, Hen Wen disappears and Taran embarks on a death-defying quest to save her from the evil Horned King.

His perilous adventures bring Taran many new friends: an irritable dwarf, an impulsive bard, a strange hairy beast and the hot-headed Princess Eilonwy. Together, they must face the deathless Cauldron-Born warriors, dragons, witches and the terrifying Horned King himself. Taran learns much about his identity, but the mysterious Book of Three is yet to reveal his true identity.

The Book of Three is the first in The Chronicles of Prydain, a classic epic full of breathtaking action, humour, valour and excitement .

Date added: 2019

Goodreads: 3.98

Storygraph: 3.86

PRO:

Classic of children's fantasy

The entire series is available from the library in my preferred format (audiobook)

The books are fairly short! Would take about a day of listening at work.

CON:

Is juuuust old enough I might not enjoy the writing style. But who knows.

Not sure if this is a con, but the Black Cauldron movie adaptation terrified me as a child 😅 not sure I had any actual ideal what was going on.

[wait-still-rendering]

Suddenly!! Suddenly!! I remember the first book series I ever finished as a child and now I have to reread it as an adult!!

It was the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. I found it on accident when I was in 4th grade and looking for a book for my book report and I just picked it up because we were going to leave the school library soon.

At first, I thought I'd never finish The Book of Three. Then I got to Eilonwy's introduction, and I was hooked. I wrote my book report and then read the remaining four books over the course of that year.

[pigeonprey]

Can you maybe draw Taran please🥺🥺

I love drawing Taran......................

Here's a sketch of him +Kaw I did in Ms Paint! :)

I took the liberty of making Kaw a hooded crow because that's the most common type of crow where I live!

[chernobog13]

Jean-Leon Huens' cover for the 1980 edition of The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander.

This was the first of five books in Alexander's excellent The Chronicles of Prydain series. The series is influenced by, and utilizes characters from, Welsh folklore and mythology. Though aimed at younger audiences, the tales are great reading for any age, and I still enjoy them to this day.

Unfortunately, if most people know anything about this series it's due to the lackluster Disney animated film The Black Cauldron. That film was based on the second book of the series, and used elements from other books as well, but it's best forgotten.

The books, however, are very highly recommended.

[highqueenofprydain]

A Fflam being fflamtastic is a new comic page worth a Tumblr.

[kivrin]

...wait why are the bulk of Lloyd Alexander's papers at BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY? He donated a bunch of papers to the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1995 - this makes geographical sense, because he lived nearby in Drexel Hill, PA, for most of his life. But after his death in 2007, his surviving family (son-in-law and grandchildren I guess because his wife died shortly before he did and their one child predeceased them both) donated the rest of his papers to BYU in 2008.