The Book of Three

The Prydain Chronicles, Book 1

By: Lloyd Alexander

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Taran dreams of adventure, but nothing exciting ever happens to an Assistant Pig-Keeper, until his pig runs away. A chase through the woods leads Taran far from home and into great danger, for evil prowls the land of Prydain. With a collection of strange and wonderful friends whom he meets on his journey, Taran finds himself fighting so that good may triumph over evil, and so that his beloved home will not fall to a diabolical fiend.

Don't miss the rest of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles.

©1964 Lloyd Alexander (P)2004 Random House, Inc, Listening Library, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A very funny adventure tale set in an imaginary kingdom." (Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books)

"James Langton enables the listener to enter this fantastical world. Langton's presentation of each character has a depth that brings heightened compassion.... Langton cares deeply about each character, and so will the listener!" (AudioFile)

Excellent

This was simply excellent, great fantasy for young and old

super

all super .
popping .God like.
I like it a lot. super duper duper duper cool.

Important lessons learned for young ones

My 9 year old chose this book from her reading list this summer and to my surprise became one of our families favorite. This book teaches some very important lessons about growing up and learning to find ones own identity in a world that when young seems so large and exciting, but when the time comes to step outside ones comfort zone only makes us realize there is no place like home.

awesome

I read this once as a kid, favorite book ever. The Narrator was awesome. Recommend!!!!

Is Adventure What you Think?

What did you like best about this story?

This is the first book of a series in which we are introduced to wonderful characters, the primary of which is Taran, a young boy who longs to be a hero. But adventure isn't what he imagines it to be. I enjoy seeing him learn as he journeys and the entertaining companions he aquires along the way. The messages in the text are relevant to adults as well as the young adults who are the primary audience. The only thing I wonder about is the title since the Book of Three doesn't play a very large part. Maybe Assistant Pig Keeper would have been better.

Although I enjoy this series, I've given this part of the story 4 stars because there are a lot of times the author reverts to writing that things are best left unsaid and sometimes the urgency is slowed down by too much discussion.

What does James Langton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have read the book. Listening to it instead taught me how to pronounce all the names. I feel that James Langton's depiction of the characters was true to how I imagined them when reading.

Hard to find anything better

I have read a truckload of post 2000 YA and low teen fantasy novels, very few are as engaging as this series. I come back to classics like this periodically just to refresh my senses of what a good story is like. Of course, the princess would be more to the fore in a modern story, so just deal with that. It is the 1960s, not the 2020s.

FIRST READ THIRD GRADE!

STILL GOOD! CLEAN, YOU CAN IMAGINE. GREAT NARRATION. READ THE ENTIRE SERIES! GREAT FOR KIDS!

wonderful book

I have forgotten how fun this series is. It brings me back to my childhood.

Thrilling Adventure

What a great adventure. I read these as a kid and the adventure was nostalgic yet still thrilling for adults.

One of the most underrated stories of our time.

My mom read this book to me when I was a kid and never forgot about it. If you like Star Wars, J.R.R. Tolkein, Harry Potter etc. you MUST read this book.
I can't believe I never hear anyone talk about it.
This is my second time reading it, and as soon as I stared it, I couldn't stop. The story and the characters are exciting and smart.