What The Magician’s Nephew is to the Narnia Chronicles, The Castle of Llyr is to the Prydain Chronicles - in some ways the weakest link. But also like TMN, TCL is by no means a poor book; it simply lags a bit in comparison with the other books in the series.

The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander is the third book in the Prydain Chronicles, a Welsh fantasy series for young adults. This time, instead of a conflict between Prydain’s warriors and Arawn’s forces, the story is about Eilonwy’s evil aunt and her plan to take over the kingdom of Prydain. Eilonwy and Taran have gone to the island of Mona, staying with the royal family there. Aunt Achren takes advantage of Eilonwy’s clueless curiosity to lure her to the castle of, what else, Llyr, where Achren then takes advantage of her niece’s magical abilities. Meanwhile, Taran and a group of other companions, including the clueless Prince Rhun, initiate a search for Eilonwy, but it will take far more than swords or spells to regain the enchanted princess.

There’s no denying that this series is fairly “interdependant,” as one reviewer put it; The Castle of Llyr, like the other chronicles, will be confusing if you’re picking it up without reading the first two books, The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron. You’ll be more interested in the story if you can recognize the characters and settings.

You may be shocked that I gave The Castle of Llyr three stars. Or you may be outraged that I gave it so high a rating. But I combined my first impressions of the book and my “now” impressions to create the rating. When I first read this episode, I was charmed, purely because it was another wonderful Prydain adventure. I was also in love with Taran, I think, and this book is chock full of him. Now, however, I’ve grown cynical, and I see TCL differently.

What don’t I like about this book? The story itself for one thing; I have a hard time believing and caring about the events of the story line. Eilonwy, who is exceptionally irritating in this book, decides she wants to play hooky and follow King Rhuddlum’s chief advisor, Magg, who is in the pay of Achren. How convenient. From then on, all the heroes that we love (or growl at, in the case of Prince Rhun) put their lives on the line to rescue this gallivanting princess. This bugs me.

Speaking of pests, do you want to hear me rant about how much Rhun gets on my nerves? He’s cocky (wow! The content filter let that one through!), thoughtless, careless, tactless, inconsiderate, and insensitive. I know he means well at heart, but he comes off as a real fool. I don’t blame Taran at all for disliking the prince. When he relents and apologizes to Rhun towards the end, you can almost hear me shrieking “NO! NO!!” somewhere in the dark recesses of the book world.

I feel guilty for nitpicking so much, because my misgivings about this book aren’t really that bad. But the shortcomings show up more garishly when contrasted with the other books in the series, all of which are five-star or nearly.


Plot

Why would Eilonwy FOLLOW the evil Magg instead of telling King Rhuddlum and having him send a squad of soldiers? It would have been a much more plausible plot if Eilonwy had been kidnapped (although I suppose with Eilonwy's act-first-thing-later attitude the plot may not be as implausible as it may seem). Perhaps Alexander was trying to illustrate that she chose to go with Magg, at least for a little bit, and thus with Achren, but it still doesn’t sit right with me.

Most of the book is comprised of the search from Eilonwy. Throughout the whole thing, I kept wondering, “What’s so important about Eilonwy that every man in the country would join the search?” It’s strange that people would care so much about her when all she does is get mad. But the events that occur during the search bring out the fullness of Taran’s and Rhun’s character qualities, making the rescue mission worth reading. In truth, there are some very funny and also very dramatic incidences that occur during the search. I won’t ruin it by describing them to you; it’s enough to say that these scenes liven up the story considerably, and keep the reader interested until it really gets good.

The final episodes and their conclusion are thrilling to the utmost. You’ll be surprised how much you truly care for Taran and Eilonwy when you witness the scene where she denies knowing anything about him or his friends. The decisive confrontation at the very end between Achren, Gwydion, Taran, and Eilonwy left me breathless and dying to know what happens.


Characters

I’ve never liked Eilonwy so little as in this book. She has very few redeeming moments of charm, and comes off most of the time as either annoying or stupid. Of course, the fact that she spends half the book under Achren’s spell doesn’t help either.

Taran, on the other hand, is brilliantly executed. (No, his head’s still on his shoulders.) He has to deal with both his feelings for Eilonwy (the big question: WHY?!) and his distaste for the feckless fool Prince Rhun, who is betrothed unofficially by his parents to Eilonwy. These two struggles for Taran to overcome make him a deeper, more complex character and expand beyond the “struggle for honor” idea that can get a little boring after a while. He also is undeniably the hero of the story, which of course warms the cockles (I’m really on a role with this content filter!) of my heart.

The other supporting characters in the small group of friends haven’t changed a whole lot, but there’s a couple more additions to the group. First, Kaw, a crow given to Taran by a character in the last book. Kaw can talk and is a delightfully jaunty if uneffusive member of the little band. The other new character to join them is Llyan, a huge mountain cat with a fondness for harp music. She has a charming personality once she gets over the idea of having the guys for dinner. She and Fflewddur become fast friends (although she never talks except through purrs and growls).

And the villains? I don’t really like Magg – I know, I’m not SUPPOSED to like him, but I mean as a villain. He just doesn’t have that delicious villain quality. Achren, however, is superb. She is icily malevolent, proudly disdainful, and even a little bit sultry. She steals the show at the end of the book, and I can’t help feeling very slightly glad that she lives (because that means she’ll show up again in another book).


Storytelling

As I expect from Lloyd Alexander, the writing is subtle and layered, with a lot of emotion and depth. Although the plot weighs the storytelling down a little, you will still find the writing in The Castle of Llyr to be the intricate, powerful style that flows through each Prydain story. His inflection is subtle and rather medieval, and the dialogue sports the usual Alexandrian flair.

What I’ve come to appreciate more and more about Alexander’s prose is its vividness and freshness. An author that can use a creative word instead of a tired one, while still making the sentences flow effortlessly, is a rare and wonderful author indeed. You can tell he’s not just sitting with his thesaurus beside him, looking up synonyms for “said” or “walked.” He selects exactly the right word to use and gracefully weaves it into the storytelling. It’s the difference between clunky and stylish writing; The Castle of Llyr, like all the other books in the series, has a smooth and natural style that’s also cultured and sophisticated.

It’s said that Taran Wanderer is the preachy book in the Prydain Chronicles; but I found the messages of The Castle of Llyr more obtrusive than those of TW. For instance, Taran’s judgment of Rhun as a feckless fool. (I just have to smile every time I read the word “feckless.” It reminds me of Shakespeare and Jane Austen.) You can hear Alexander shaking his finger at the reader, saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover!” Didn’t I learn that as a four-year-old watching “Beauty and the Beast”? No one can blame Taran for responding the way he did to Rhun, because every single one of us would respond the same way.

The author seems to be on a “cliched proverbs” role in this book, because another theme that seems to be expressed is “Curiosity killed the cat.” Or in this case, an enchanted princess. Well, most of us don’t have a curiosity that would lead us to track an obviously evil man and get captured by an evil aunt. There’s such a thing as the real world. But I couldn’t find a “universal” theme in The Castle of Llyr, such as the ones that run through the other chronicles: finding one’s true self, learning what it means to be a hero, etc. Perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough, but expansive themes appear to be missing from this book. So if you want a break from life maxims, here’s your opportunity!


Final thoughts

This novel is a mixture of good and bad qualities; still worth reading in the series, but certainly inferior to the other books. However, most readers will be able to overlook its shortcomings and see the truly good book that’s inside. Be sure to read the first two before The Castle of Llyr; there’s no need to tell you to read the ones AFTER it! The best way to read this book is to get out the big hardback that has all of the stories, titled simply The Prydain Chronicles. Or, enjoy them invidually if you'd like.

The Prydain Chronicles

The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King


Recommended: Yes