The Chronicles of Prydain, Books 1 & 2

By: Lloyd Alexander

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Chronicles of Prydain, Books 1 & 2:

Book 1: The Book of Three:

Taran, The Assistant Pig-Keeper, longs to be a hero.

He begins his journey with a strange assortment of companions on a dangerous mission to save his beloved land, Prydain. Packed with action, humor, romance, and gallantry, Taran's adventures chronicle his beloved Prydain and his battle with the forces of evil.

Book 2: The Black Cauldron

Peace reigns in Caer Dallben, where Taran works as Assistant Pig-Keeper, but evil threatens the rest of Prydain. The diabolical Arawn’s army grows every day, and his terrible warriors never die. They are born in the Black Cauldron from the stolen bodies of slain soldiers. If evil is to be defeated, the cauldron must be destroyed. Taran volunteers to travel to Arawn’s stronghold and assist in the destruction of the dreaded cauldron. With his faithful friends reassembled, Taran marches off to face great danger with a courageous heart.

©2014 Lloyd Alexander (P)2014 Listening Library

A Childhood Favorite Now an Old Man's Delight

So glad to re-experience Taran's tales with the guidance of the narrator's excellent application of British Isles accents.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Thoroughly Enjoyable Adventures With A Pig Keeper

Taran the assistant pig keeper and his adventures kept me amused and entertained. Definitely a young adult book/series for the entire family. I love all the characters, the chivalrous knight, the princess, the old warrior, the talking pig. Both books use medieval imagery to tell subtle stories about the destructive sides of pride, desire, ignorance, and envy. I look forward to more of the series.

James Langton is an excellent narrator.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

A story of heroes

So many of today's novels are of dystopian societies. Lloyd Alexander's novels are also stories of good and evil, and there is treachery and deception, but there is honor, which I find lacking in too many of today's novels. In Alexander's novel, the weak become strong through necessity, and even those that waiver between good and evil are redeemed in the end. I prefer this view of humankind, and hope that it will carry over from fantasy books into the hearts and actions of the readers in the real world.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good story

I have listened to all the series and enjoyed it very much. There were a few things I was annoyed with. One was the accent the narrator used for some of the main characters and the other was how Taran treated Eilonwy even to the end. I hoped he would grow to be more respectful to her as he grew to adulthood and to realize his love for her, but he generally underestimated her and said hurtful things to her. And even in the end she was portrayed as a twit. It could just be a reflection of the times the Author was living in or how women were treated in the times set in the book. He showed more kindness and love to Gurgi than to the woman he supposedly loved.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Great, absolutely great.

Great story, very well written with great characters and exciting circumstances. very well narrated. A rather enjoyable listening experience.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Love this series and how you see Taran grow

love this series and how you watch as Taran grows into the man he will be

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Family friendly and engaging for all ages

Interesting tale of bravery in a kingdom far away. Quests and Heroes and Villians. Good triumphs over evil in the end but there are heavy losses.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Oh my dear god, the accents!!

I love the story,,but the accents are beyond atrocious. The next volume features Eilonwy, and I'm dreading it.

5 of 9 people found this review helpful

Memorable

When you can drive down the highway the next day smiling and chuckling in recall of a character
Imbued expressively with life by nothing more than a narrators voice Then you know you’ve been treated to a special performance.

Such is the James Langton Gurgi .

And his performance is certainly not limited in excellence to that one character I just think it stands out above the others.

Almost 45 years since I read this book as a child and maybe 25 years since I read parts of it to my daughter Which refreshed it a bit

In an era of far less idealistic fantasy dramas like Game of Thrones parts of this seemed Simplistic And lacking for those more complex characters that are strewn between the poles of good and evil however truly human chords were still struck here in profound ways Unexpected be sneaking up on you in some wonderful moments of prose

Some of the action was difficult to call believable yet still set the characters for the readers to ponder quite well

Langton did a highly professional job of separating characters by voice and made it easy to envision Landscapes and keep easy track of the different characters making this a very enjoyable listen high marks for it’s Imperfect perfection

great book!

I Love this series sooooooo much.I didn't love the narrator. I felt the performance was a little dull, and some of the voices and accents were just strange and out of place
the narrator did an okay job though, and the story is good enough that you are entertained despite the lack-luster performance.
Lloyd Alexander is a master and this series is my favorite of all his work. if you like fantasy, this is a series for you! unique, yet somehow timeless- and familiar, but full of unexpected turns.