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Culture

The Chronicles of Prydain is the greatest fantasy series ever written

by David Roberts<br>Updated Nov 3, 2017, 12:07 PM UTC<br>Share<br>Gift

From the cover of the 1990 Dell Yearling edition of The High King. (Jody Lee)

It was announced in Variety in March 2016 that Disney had acquired the movie rights to The Chronicles of Prydain book series. Since then there’s been no news of any director or stars named to the film project. Periodically, hoping to move things along, I re-publish my paean to the books, which you should definitely read before any movies are made.

Let me tell you about the best fantasy/adventure series ever written for young people.

Nope, it’s not about Harry Potter. Don’t get me wrong, I like Harry Potter just fine. I read all seven of those books aloud to my kids, which, believe me, takes some dedication. And I’ve read and loved dozens and dozens of other sci-fi and fantasy books for youngsters over the years, including the ones with the Hobbits and the ones with the dragons (no, the other one with the dragons).

But one fantasy series will always come first in my heart: The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander. Published in the late ‘60s, it was one of the first true high fantasy series written by an American, and the first to rival the British greats like Tolkien.

Loosely based on Welsh myths, the books tell a fairly conventional story: A young boy bored with his ordinary life sets off on a series of adventures, learns some lessons, confronts a great evil, becomes a man, and assumes a place of leadership. It’s all squarely in Joseph Campbell territory.

Lloyd Alexander.

What makes it an enduring delight is Alexander’s absolute command: his narrative economy, lyrical prose, indelible characters, and deep humanity.

The boy in question is Taran, an Assistant Pig-Keeper living on a small, isolated farm under the care of the (seemingly) daft old wizard Dallben. He itches for adventure, which arrives in the form of wolf-eyed warrior prince Gwydion, whose ancestors, the Sons of Don, came to Prydain years ago and drove the evil Arawn back into Annuvin. Arawn, it seems, is eager to retake Prydain. And so it begins.

I have probably read the five Prydain books together more than I’ve read any other single book in my life. Both my brothers have read them dozens of times as well. My little brother once wrote a fan letter to Alexander (who sent a gracious note in response). They are the closest thing my family has to Official Books, and reading them aloud to my kids was something I’d been looking forward to ever since I was a kid myself. They are, in short, The Best. Here are five reasons why.

1) They are square

The Prydain books are exactly the kind of fantasy books George R. R. Martin was subverting with A Song of Ice and Fire -- the PBS to his HBO. They turn on the classical virtues of loyalty, courage, and wisdom, and those values are ultimately rewarded. Good triumphs over evil. No one’s head is chopped off; no one is raped; no one is flayed.

Don’t get me wrong: Taran loses people he loves, he experiences pain and betrayal, he makes mistakes and fights despair. If there’s an overarching theme to the books, it’s that becoming a man — or, more broadly, discovering the adult you want to be — is a difficult process and, often as not, filled with sadness and regret. As Alexander says in the author’s note before The Black Cauldron (the second book in the series):

Although an imaginary world, Prydain is essentially not too different from our real one, where humor and heartbreak, joy and sadness are closely interwoven. The choices and decisions that face a frequently baffled Assistant Pig-Keeper are no easier than the ones we ourselves must make. Even in a fantasy realm, growing up is accomplished not without cost.

But things work out for the best in the end. The Prydain books contain plenty of darkness, but they are not dark books. They are square, old-fashioned.

There are plenty of ways to do square wrong. There’s nothing worse than books for young people that are preachy or reactionary. (Read those Narnia books lately?)

Alexander is obviously a humanist and at least somewhat progressive. Eilonwy, the fierce princess who plays a key role in Taran’s adventures, is as capable, independent, and free-thinking as any Katniss Everdeen. At pivotal moments, Taran learns it is...