--- product_id: 19083839 title: "The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1)" price: "46.90 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/19083839-the-book-of-three-the-chronicles-of-prydain-book-1 store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1) **Price:** 46.90 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1) - **How much does it cost?** 46.90 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/19083839-the-book-of-three-the-chronicles-of-prydain-book-1) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The Newbery-winning fantasy series now available in gorgeous new paperback editions! Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper and his quest to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of characters that includes Eilonwy, the strong-willed and sharp-tongued princess; Fflewddur Fflam, the hyperbole-prone bard; the ever-faithful Gurgi; and the curmudgeonly Doli―all of whom have become involved in an epic struggle between good and evil that shapes the fate of the legendary land of Prydain. Released over a period of five years, Lloyd Alexander's beautifully written tales not only captured children's imaginations but also garnered the highest critical praise. The Black Cauldron was a Newbery Honor Book, and the final volume in the chronicles, The High King , crowned the series by winning the Newbery Medal for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." Henry Holt is proud to present this classic series in a new, redesigned paperback format. The jackets feature stunning art by acclaimed fantasy artist David Wyatt, giving the books a fresh look for today's generation of young fantasy lovers. The companion book of short stories, The Foundling is also available in paperback at this time. In their more than thirty years in print, the Chronicles of Prydain have become the standard of excellence in fantasy literature for children. This title has Common Core connections. Review: Brilliant Fantasy and Hero's Journey for All Ages Steeped in Welsh Folkore - *The Chronicles of Prydain* is a five-book high fantasy children's series by Lloyd Alexander. Since it's initial release decades ago, it has become a classic of children's literature. A few years back, I decided to give the first novel in the series a try, as the series is well-loved by some of my friends. *The Book of Three* opens with a young man named Taran, who is an Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben, in the fictional world of Prydain (based on Wales loosely). Young Taran thirsts for adventure, and wants desperately to be a hero, famous, *something* other than an “Assistant Pig-Keeper”. He gets his chance, but he may regret it. One day, literally out of the blue, the “oracular pig” Hen-Wen digs a hole and escapes her enclosure. A note that an "oracular pig" is exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak. It is an pig that is also an oracle that can prophesy information, so of course the bad guys want to get to her before she can be used against them. And there are bad guys, as we shall soon see. Despite Taran's best efforts, Hen-Wen flees, so the boy goes after her. That is when things go from bad to worse for him. He comes across an army led by the fearsome and evil Horned King. This malevolent and powerful warrior is the chief military commander of the forces of Annuvin, the realm governed by Arawn, an evil being based upon the god of death from Welsh mythology. Please note that much of the series is very loosely based on Welsh myths and epics. Emphasis on loosely as the author played around to make a good story. Anyways, Taran, while fleeing these forces, is discovered by Gwydion, Prince of Prydain, heir to the house of Don, which many years ago originally defeated Arawn. He seeks to warn his house at Caer Dathyl of the coming invasion. Taran ends up having to join Gwydion on his quest, but soon must take the quest upon himself when Gwydion appears to have perished. Our young hero is joined on this journey by Eilonwy, who can perform magic and is knowledgeable about many things. Unfortunately, she is also more than a tad stuck-up and an absolute motor mouth but Taran is a bit of an idiot at times and stubborn, so it balances out. Also joining Taran are the bard Fflewddur Fflam, who is not a real bard, but a one-time king who chose to be a bard and so travels the land attempting to act like one. He is brave, and wise, but tends to pepper his stories with exaggerations. They are rounded out by Gurgi, a strange half-man/half-beast creature who starts out very cowardly, but improves as Taran treats him with kindness and respect. Their quest is one of danger and a mix of really bad and really good choices on Taran's part. In the end, though Taran feels everyone else did well but him, he is told he is not correct. He lead the quest ably, kept everyone together, and did the right thing in a hard time. He did well, in other words. I can't really say much more about it from a critical standpoint when it comes to how the myths are handled. From what I've read, they appear to be handled well by Alexander in his reinterpretation of them, but my knowledge of Welsh folklore is much too small to judge the book on this area. I will say that the story and land being based upon Welsh folklore and Wales itself was quite neat. How often do you find tales from that region of the UK in stories anymore? That was a plus for the series by itself. As a character, Eilonwy fascinates me. I am only half-joking when I say that Lloyd Alexander must have had some Japanese fans who based their "tsundere" character type on her. She just so perfectly encapsulates this trope/character type. A tsundere is one who is harsh on the outside and loving on the inside to some target, be it friend, love interest, so on. They will badmouth someone while being absolutely fond of the in their hearts. This is Eilonwy's dynamic with Taran in a nutshell. The story also has a nice subplot of watching Taran grow up somewhat. He underwent (the first of several, I hear) a “hero's journey” to use a somewhat cliched term. The reader saw Taran go from someone who is impatient, sometimes rude, and blames others for his mistakes, to a boy who can still be headstrong and rude, but is much more kind and understanding, has developed leadership skills, and takes responsibility for his mistakes (and even for those mistakes that were not his). What made this so enjoyable is that Alexander did not hit you over the head with any of this. This “growing up” plot did not overtake the story, but progressed naturally and organically. He also realizes that simple living is what matters, not battles or adventures. As someone who sees a necessity to sometimes using force, but wants to avoid it and values peace and joy over a desire for war, I like this part a lot. *The Book of Three* is an excellent adventure that will keep you engaged and cheering for the good guys, as well as groaning and laughing at their faults, and enjoying their character development. It was well-worth my time to read. Highly Recommended. Rating: 5/5 Stars Review: A more lovable and hilarious group of heroes will you rarely find, as they rush to stop the evil Horned King and King Arawn - This is a wonderful book. It reminds me of Tolkien's, "The Lord of the Ring" triology. The setting is the land of Prydain, which is loosely based on the area of Wales. Some of the characters are based on Welsh mythology, but many are creations just for the fictitious Land of Prydain. The main character is Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper to Dallben, a mysterious wizard like figure, who owns and consults "The Book of Three." When Dallben reveals to Taran that his book is showing a disturbance coming to Caer Dallben, and to Prydain itself, the bees begin to swarm, the chickens fly away, and Hen Wen, the oracular pig runs away. Taran goes into the woods to find Hen Wen. There he meets the famed good King Gwydion, and encounters the Horned King that is sent by King Arawn, the Lord fo Annuvin, land of the dead. King Gwydion and Taran join together to discover what the Lord of the Dead is up to. They are captured and separated. Taran meets a tomboyish princess named Eilonwy, who leads him to safety, and reunites him with Gwydion, whom turns out to be the King's cousin, Fflewddur Fflam. They are joined by Gurgi, an hairy creature, who acts as spy for food. Believing King Gwydion to be dead, these four set out to go to Caer Dathyl, the kingdom of King Gwydion, to warn the Sons of Don that the Horned King is coming to destroy them. They are a cast of hilarious characters, who face many adventures and constant danger, as they try to outdistance themselves from the evil army raised by King Arawn. They journey to strange places in this fast paced adventure story. Sometimes in front of, sometimes behind the Horned King's army, you won't be able to put this book down until its conclusion. This book is a classic. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #34,145 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #408 in Fantasy for Children #618 in Children's Action & Adventure Books (Books) #1,997 in Children's Literature (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,095 Reviews | ## Images ![The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81LlfZS8nmL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brilliant Fantasy and Hero's Journey for All Ages Steeped in Welsh Folkore *by M***N on September 11, 2013* *The Chronicles of Prydain* is a five-book high fantasy children's series by Lloyd Alexander. Since it's initial release decades ago, it has become a classic of children's literature. A few years back, I decided to give the first novel in the series a try, as the series is well-loved by some of my friends. *The Book of Three* opens with a young man named Taran, who is an Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben, in the fictional world of Prydain (based on Wales loosely). Young Taran thirsts for adventure, and wants desperately to be a hero, famous, *something* other than an “Assistant Pig-Keeper”. He gets his chance, but he may regret it. One day, literally out of the blue, the “oracular pig” Hen-Wen digs a hole and escapes her enclosure. A note that an "oracular pig" is exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak. It is an pig that is also an oracle that can prophesy information, so of course the bad guys want to get to her before she can be used against them. And there are bad guys, as we shall soon see. Despite Taran's best efforts, Hen-Wen flees, so the boy goes after her. That is when things go from bad to worse for him. He comes across an army led by the fearsome and evil Horned King. This malevolent and powerful warrior is the chief military commander of the forces of Annuvin, the realm governed by Arawn, an evil being based upon the god of death from Welsh mythology. Please note that much of the series is very loosely based on Welsh myths and epics. Emphasis on loosely as the author played around to make a good story. Anyways, Taran, while fleeing these forces, is discovered by Gwydion, Prince of Prydain, heir to the house of Don, which many years ago originally defeated Arawn. He seeks to warn his house at Caer Dathyl of the coming invasion. Taran ends up having to join Gwydion on his quest, but soon must take the quest upon himself when Gwydion appears to have perished. Our young hero is joined on this journey by Eilonwy, who can perform magic and is knowledgeable about many things. Unfortunately, she is also more than a tad stuck-up and an absolute motor mouth but Taran is a bit of an idiot at times and stubborn, so it balances out. Also joining Taran are the bard Fflewddur Fflam, who is not a real bard, but a one-time king who chose to be a bard and so travels the land attempting to act like one. He is brave, and wise, but tends to pepper his stories with exaggerations. They are rounded out by Gurgi, a strange half-man/half-beast creature who starts out very cowardly, but improves as Taran treats him with kindness and respect. Their quest is one of danger and a mix of really bad and really good choices on Taran's part. In the end, though Taran feels everyone else did well but him, he is told he is not correct. He lead the quest ably, kept everyone together, and did the right thing in a hard time. He did well, in other words. I can't really say much more about it from a critical standpoint when it comes to how the myths are handled. From what I've read, they appear to be handled well by Alexander in his reinterpretation of them, but my knowledge of Welsh folklore is much too small to judge the book on this area. I will say that the story and land being based upon Welsh folklore and Wales itself was quite neat. How often do you find tales from that region of the UK in stories anymore? That was a plus for the series by itself. As a character, Eilonwy fascinates me. I am only half-joking when I say that Lloyd Alexander must have had some Japanese fans who based their "tsundere" character type on her. She just so perfectly encapsulates this trope/character type. A tsundere is one who is harsh on the outside and loving on the inside to some target, be it friend, love interest, so on. They will badmouth someone while being absolutely fond of the in their hearts. This is Eilonwy's dynamic with Taran in a nutshell. The story also has a nice subplot of watching Taran grow up somewhat. He underwent (the first of several, I hear) a “hero's journey” to use a somewhat cliched term. The reader saw Taran go from someone who is impatient, sometimes rude, and blames others for his mistakes, to a boy who can still be headstrong and rude, but is much more kind and understanding, has developed leadership skills, and takes responsibility for his mistakes (and even for those mistakes that were not his). What made this so enjoyable is that Alexander did not hit you over the head with any of this. This “growing up” plot did not overtake the story, but progressed naturally and organically. He also realizes that simple living is what matters, not battles or adventures. As someone who sees a necessity to sometimes using force, but wants to avoid it and values peace and joy over a desire for war, I like this part a lot. *The Book of Three* is an excellent adventure that will keep you engaged and cheering for the good guys, as well as groaning and laughing at their faults, and enjoying their character development. It was well-worth my time to read. Highly Recommended. Rating: 5/5 Stars ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A more lovable and hilarious group of heroes will you rarely find, as they rush to stop the evil Horned King and King Arawn *by S***E on May 11, 2016* This is a wonderful book. It reminds me of Tolkien's, "The Lord of the Ring" triology. The setting is the land of Prydain, which is loosely based on the area of Wales. Some of the characters are based on Welsh mythology, but many are creations just for the fictitious Land of Prydain. The main character is Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper to Dallben, a mysterious wizard like figure, who owns and consults "The Book of Three." When Dallben reveals to Taran that his book is showing a disturbance coming to Caer Dallben, and to Prydain itself, the bees begin to swarm, the chickens fly away, and Hen Wen, the oracular pig runs away. Taran goes into the woods to find Hen Wen. There he meets the famed good King Gwydion, and encounters the Horned King that is sent by King Arawn, the Lord fo Annuvin, land of the dead. King Gwydion and Taran join together to discover what the Lord of the Dead is up to. They are captured and separated. Taran meets a tomboyish princess named Eilonwy, who leads him to safety, and reunites him with Gwydion, whom turns out to be the King's cousin, Fflewddur Fflam. They are joined by Gurgi, an hairy creature, who acts as spy for food. Believing King Gwydion to be dead, these four set out to go to Caer Dathyl, the kingdom of King Gwydion, to warn the Sons of Don that the Horned King is coming to destroy them. They are a cast of hilarious characters, who face many adventures and constant danger, as they try to outdistance themselves from the evil army raised by King Arawn. They journey to strange places in this fast paced adventure story. Sometimes in front of, sometimes behind the Horned King's army, you won't be able to put this book down until its conclusion. This book is a classic. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Good Series, Best Approached with Modest Expectations *by J***R on April 22, 2011* If I'd read this series back in 1970 when the final book was published and I was eleven, I probably would have loved it without reservation. But I've grown up a bit since then and so has the young adult fantasy genre, and, I think, the tastes of young readers. I think my daughter, who reads everything, will blaze through these books and quickly forget them, and my son, who reads only what is most rewarding, would find the first few books too dull and impenetrable to win his attention. The five books, together, plot the hero's journey of Taran, Assistant Pig Keeper. He's accompanied by a collection of companions, each defined by a few character and speech quirks that rather quickly grow dull. In the first three books they go on fairly conventional quests, which they succeed in by luck and happenstance rather than by any particular virtue of their own. Many curious elements are introduced, but nothing seem to come of them. The first book is titled "The Book of Three" and there is a "Book of Three" in it, but it plays no particularly important role in the story and you learn nothing about it. There's an oracular pig, who doesn't deliver much of anything in the way of oracles. There's a good wizard, who does no magic, but seems instead to spend all his time napping. An army of immortal evil warriors is introduced, but not confronted. It's all a bit perplexing, but it goes well enough with a hero who fails to be all that heroic. The plotting frequently seems rather clunky. You can see that the author needed something to happen, so he contrived some excuse for the characters to do it. Events don't really flow very naturally. It isn't until the fourth book, really, that the series begins to gain interest. In "Taran Wanderer" our hero seeks to find himself. He manages to shake off most of his annoying companions, and the book veers rather daringly into parable, generally the best possible way to be boring, but Alexander pulls it off. and the lessons Taran learns are deep and unusual. In the fifth book, "The High King" we finally get all the payoffs that were missing in the first three books. The oracular pig delivers an oracle, the wizard wakes up and does some magic, and so forth. The book is just payoff after payoff, and it is rather satisfying. So the long slog is rewarded in the end for the reader who persists. There is something of an issue with the female character, Eilonwy, who undergoes a backwards hero's quest. She starts as a half-trained sorceress and steadily loses power through the entire story, being trimmed more and more back to respectable femininity as the series progresses. Eilonwy's fading magic is partly standard 1960's sexism, but it's also reflective of the general distrust of magic in this series. You can find more magic on one page of Harry Potter than you'll find in this whole series. There's a lot more thumping people with swords going on than magic, and the magic is generally sternly disapproved of. It's a grim kind of fantasy that doesn't dare to have any fun with magic. That may have been the key attitude shift that led to the young adult fantasy explosion - celebrating magic instead disapprovingly stomping it down. So, it's a worthy series, but a touch dated, with many flaws, a slow start, and many dull and repetitive parts. It is not, by any means, going to be an automatic hit with most Harry Potter fans, but there are bits of it that are wonderful. I give "The Book of Three" four stars mainly because it is the start of a worthwhile journey. On it's own, I'd probably give it two. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain Book 1) - The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain, 2) - The Castle of Llyr: The Chronicles of Prydain, Book 3 (The Chronicles of Prydain, 3) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/19083839-the-book-of-three-the-chronicles-of-prydain-book-1](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/19083839-the-book-of-three-the-chronicles-of-prydain-book-1) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-09-26*