The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander

Finally continuing with the Chronicles of Prydain series! The Castle of Llyr is the third book in the series and continues the story of Taran.

At the start of this book, Eilonwy is sent to the Isle of Mona to learn how to be a lady. As a kindness, Dallhen allows Taran and Gurgi to accompany her to Mona before returning. However, shortly after they reach Mona, Eilonwy is kidnapped (by Achren) and Taran must go with the incompetent Prince Rhun of Mona and rescue her.

Despite the fact that this story is centered around (and ends with) Eilonwy, she doesn’t really appear because she’s kidnapped for most of the book. It’s a pity because the more I se or Eilonwy, the more I like her. She’s a feisty outspoken girl who’s the complete opposite of the “damsel in distress”.

Instead, the story is about Taran and his feelings for Eilonwy. To be honest, I (and probably all the other characters) could tell that they liked each other in the previous book (The Black Cauldron), but Taran only starts to realise it in this book. And since Taran learns that Eilonwy is supposed to be betrothed to Prince Rhun at the start of this quest, the book is really about Taran trying to come to terms with his jealousy.

What I really liked about this book is that I can see that Taran has learnt from the previous books. He’s not the noble perfect hero yet, but he has come along way from the impatient boy in The Book of Three. It’s been awesome seeing him grow and it’s good to know that this growth isn’t temporary.

With each book of the series, I regret not reading it earlier. This is classic fun fantasy and I’m really enjoying it! I’ve got a couple of other books checked out, but once I’m done with them I’m very tempted to just get the last two books plus short stories to binge read.