I never read this as a child, and now that I have just finished it, I'm not crying, you're crying, shut up.

The Prydain Chronicles deserves its place in history as a classic children's fantasy series, although I wonder just how well-known it truly is. It is certainly not at Narnia-level recognition, and I was not really aware of it until I started perusing the children' fantasy section at the library starting at 'A' and reading about the history of fantasy publishing, but that may have been solely my own ignorance. Regardless, I now know this to be a timeless tale of bravery, duty, honor, nobility and sacrifice. I hope my own children will read it in the coming years, and the voices of the characters (as they sound in my head) cry out for a read-aloud some day.

I loved how Taran struggles to become the noble man that he becomes. Ultimately he exemplifies the aforementioned qualities of nobility, bravery, and goodness, but never without frequently battling fear, jealousy, pride, and guilt. As is stated in these books, all men's hearts contain both good and evil, and it is how they face that fact that determines the person they are.

The High King provides a beyond-satisfying finale to the series. Every character has an ending, every question is answered, and not everyone survives. It is definitely heavier in tone and content. There are several unexpected heartbreaking moments throughout the book, in which I felt the losses as deeply as Taran did. There was even the threat of rape at one point, which was very shocking in this setting, although handled very delicately and, I think, should not scar younger readers who won't understand this implication. And rightfully,

Spoiler

the offender gets his throat ripped out immediately

.

Overall, the strongest books in my mind are books 2, 4 and 5 ([b:The Black Cauldron|24784|The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain, #2)|Lloyd Alexander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405377996s/24784.jpg|1122077], [b:Taran Wanderer|24782|Taran Wanderer (The Chronicles of Prydain, #4)|Lloyd Alexander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406315774s/24782.jpg|2628], and [b:The High King|24781|The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain, #5)|Lloyd Alexander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407209964s/24781.jpg|1561725] respectively), if it is allowable for 60% of the series to be my favorite, although books 1 ([b:The Book of Three|24780|The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain, #1)|Lloyd Alexander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405184012s/24780.jpg|1149593]) and 3 ([b:The Castle of Llyr|24779|The Castle of Llyr (The Chronicles of Prydain, #3)|Lloyd Alexander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405714238s/24779.jpg|3007213]) are great too. The first book was only weaker in comparison to the rest since the beloved characters were already established in the sequels.

My only mild reservation is that the series skews very boy-heavy in both characters and interest. There is nothing preventing girls from enjoying this book and gaining the same lessons as a boy might, but as a father and a feminist, I always hope to see more and better representation of females in the books that I would like to expose my children (both girl and boy) to. Now, Eilonwy is no slouch. She brooks no fools, unabashedly refuses to be left behind or kept out of action, is revealed to harbor great power, and has many of the best quotes arising from her creative similes. But, she is the only female in "the companions", and the other women in the series are not quite positively relatable; Achren is vicious and mad (mostly), while Orwen, Orddu and Orgoch are... not human. Ah, I almost forgot Dwyvach the weaver, who is fine but a very minor character. So, needs more girls. In the grand scheme this is a minor complaint against an otherwise highly positive series.