Customer Reviews

Taran Wanderer (Chronicles of Prydain)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a little guy when I first came across the Prydain Chronicles. I had long since lost the books and had forgotten that they even existed. And then one day I saw "The Black Cauldron" on sale for 25 cents at a Garage Sale. Right away my mind jumped back to my youth. Needless, to say I bought the book as well as the complete set. Now that I am an adult I am amazed at how inspiring the books are. There is so much behind the words written in these books and I am grateful that I took the time to re-read them 15 years later! I think the idea of Taran searching for his history is reflective of many things in the lives of all people - young and old! There is a magic to these pages that I hope will not become a rarity in books written by todays authors. Alexander doesn't write books, he creates visions. I'm just glad that he decided to share his visions with many others.

Taran Wanderer, the fourth book of the Prydain chronicles, is, in my opinion, the best book in a wonderful series.

All four books focus on the character of Taran of Caer Dallben, an orphan who is raised by a wizard (Dallben). The plot of Taran Wanderer focuses on Taran's quest to find out who his parents were. Taran hopes that he will find that he has the "noble" blood that he believes would give him the right to ask the Princess Eilonwy to wed him.

Needless to say, he does not have an easy time, wandering the length and breadth of Prydain searching for parents he does not know, who can barely remember him.

The book's joy, however, does not lie only in its plot, but also in the development that Taran undergoes through the course of the book. In Taran Wanderer, more than any other book, Taran grows into manhood. The trials he passes through temper and shape him, as he journeys through both familiar and strange lands. His experiences teach him lessons, but he learns even more from the people he meets.

Make no mistake. This is not a pure novel of character. Taran travels from one end of Prydain to the other, meeting kings and wizards, and also farmers and tradesmen. Along the way, he has many adventures and faces many hardships. As said earlier though, the solid plot is not the highlight of this book. The characters are. The myriad of people Taran meets in his travels provides a welcome break from the pattern of the other Prydain chronicles, where almost everyone seems to be either a king, a bard, or a magician (or some combination of the three). After so many books walking the heights, Taran finally returns to earth.

For those who have read the earlier books, you will see many familiar faces, including faithful Gurgi, the (not quite) bard Fflewddur Fflam, King Smoit, and even three old friends from the Marshes of Morva. You'll also be intrigued by new characters, some of whom have had hidden influences on characters you already know. And through it all, the beautiful tapestry of plot that Lloyd Alexander has woven will captivate you.

Taran Wanderer is a great book. I recommend it to readers of all ages.

This book is definitely the most unique of all the Prydain Chronicles. Instead of urgent quests to find magical pigs, destroy evil cauldrons or rescue a beautiful princess--with good constantly pitted against the forces of evil--this volume is instead focused on Taran finding out about himself.

Instead of a quest resolved in a matter of weeks or months, this story covers a couple of years, years in which Taran travels from one end of Prydain to the other, first in search of his parents and then in search of his own place in the race of men.

His motivation lies in a desire to be worthy of the Princess Eilonwy's hand in marriage; she's absent from the story, still on the Isle of Mona, so Taran's only constant companion is the loyal creature Gurgi.

Old friends Fflewddur and Doli make brief appearances, though the bulk of Taran's time is spent meeting new people: the old farmer Aeddan and his wife, who fight for survival on a land impoverished by the Death-Lord Arawn; Goryon and Gast, petty lords whose bark is worse than their bite; Morda, the enchanter who despises the race of men in its entirety; the outlaw Dorath and his men; the shepherd Craddoc; and the people of the Free Commots: Llonio the lucky, Hevydd the smith, Dwyvach the weaver, Annlaw the potter, and Llassar the farm boy.

The lessons Taran learns in his travels aren't always obvious or profound for the casual reader, and the limited amount of swords, sorcery and peril may be unusual for some. However, the transition Taran makes into manhood is handled convincingly and realistically with each step he takes.

Taran, who we met as a boy in The Book of Three and whose splendid adventures we breathlessly followed in The Black Cauldron and The Castle of Llyr, decides to find himself and his past in the fourth marvelous Prydain Chronicle by gifted storyweaver Lloyd Alexander. An orphan raised by the wise Dallben, he has none of the history and connections that come from parents and family. Now, he off alone to find some answers - hopefully noble ones - so he can be "worthy" of his royal love.

If you're like me, you didn't love Taran automatically - he could occasionally be sullen, petty, and prickly during his "growing up" phases in Books 1 to 3 (necessitating Eilonwy's great put-downs and quips). Continuing his growth, Taran Wanderer marks his first journey into adulthood. This is the one where my respect for this character solidified and I really began to care for him. This is the least "heroic" of the books, and yet, I believe this is one where Taran is most admirable.

He explores the land he has been fighting for by connecting to the common people as well as kings and wizards. We are introduced to more excellent characters (besides some old ones) and a deeper understanding of Prydain with the intricate ties that bind all of them together. On a quest for the Mirror of Llunet, Taran roams old and new territory from the Marshes to the Free Commots doing everything from making pottery to facing off against kingly challenges. The change is how he sees the world, with its ugliness and beauty, as he searches for his place in it. Along the way, he learns about himself: humbly, intelligently, honestly, and courageously.

As it closely builds on the last book in particular, and is in general an evolution of his maturity, reading the books in order is strongly recommended. (Considering how wonderful the others are, this is no chore.) It's a relatively quiet book compared to the rousing chases of the previous ones, but Taran Wanderer is ultimately more powerful and moving.

Taran Wanderer was not given the Newbery Award like it's successor The High King; nor was it awarded a Newbery Honor medal such as it's predecessor The Black Cauldron. However, Taran Wanderer is the most complete book in the Chronicles of Prydain. Lloyd Alexander deftly tells the tale of Taran's quest to find his parentage in hopes of being decendant from noble blood. Gurgi, Taran's faithful sidekick journeys with him through far off parts of Prydain. Along the way, old friends and faces reappear such as Fflewwder Fflamm the bard/king, Doli of the fair folk, Kaw his hijinxing bird, Llyan the giant cat who Fflewwder now rides as his mount and King Smoit whose army rescued Taran and his companions at the end of The Black Cauldron. Taran's journey to find himself takes him to a number of different trades such as metallurgy, weaving, farming and pottery. He also meets his fair share of adventure and enchantment along the way. At 254 pages Taran Wanderer is the longest book in the series but it reads the fastest because there is so much action and uncertainty in what Taran will finally find out about himself. The Chronicles of Prydain still stand as some of the greatest fantasy stories ever written and Taran Wanderer is the BEST book in the Chronicles of Prydain. Highest Recommendation.

Unlike many of the older readers reviewing the Prydain chronicle, I have never stopped reading them. The series was almost permanently taken out in my name from the childrens' library in town for about five years, from second or third grade on. Finally I broke down and bought paperback copies of all five, which are now dogeared and mangled, the biding broken. Not from mistreatment; from my sheer love of the books. These are the "Star Wars" of books for me; I've read them countless, countless times.

While all five books are excellent in their own personal way, Taran Wanderer, I believe, is my favorite. It didn't used to be; as a child I liked The High King, which was admittedly more action packed. I think the switch came around adolescence; Taran Wanderer was then less a boring filler between books and more a boy's journey to adulthood and to find himself. Somewhere along the line I began to appreciate this for what it was, and what the other books, though infinitely wonderful, were not. There is subtle poignancy in Taran's friendship with Gurgi, mediation between Gast and Goryon, attempts to peaceably deal with Dorath, and most of all his finding of value and nobility in even the common folk of the Free Commots, where he proves to himself that he doesn't necessarily have to be a hero to be a man.

You don't have to have gone through adolescence to appreciate the beauty of this book. Maybe not the most action-packed of the Prydain chronicles, or the most climactic, but so much more than filler: literary wonder.

I read it at six. I read it at sixteen. I read it at twenty-six. I read it at home. I read it wandering. At all times and all places, I have identified with Taran Wanderer more than any other literary character. I'm not excluding Shakespeare, the classics or modern novels.

Taran is a boy trying to become a human (it applies to girls just as much.) This is the beginning of all great mythology, as the late Joseph Campbell would have agreed. This boy travels through a world of magic swords, undead warriors and medieval villages. It is an escape. Or is it? Taran deals with truth, the true worth of himself and others, the search for meaning in a career and in life, the excitement and high price of violence and love. I AM Taran in 1997, as much as he is in an imaginary world. I bet a lot of you are, too.

Alexander never talks down to you, whether you are young or old. It is fun and meaningful. This fourth book of a wonderful five-book series is an excellent encapsulation of the entire series. This is not a book for adults or children. It is a book for people. A great one.

In essence, the entirety of the Prydain Chronicles is a journey, Taran's journey from boyhood to manhood. Well, "Taran Wanderer" traversed a mile of the journey with a single bound.

After "Castle of Llyr," we know that Taran is pretty obviously bonkers-in-love with Eilonwy, but since he's an Assistant Pig-Keeper and a Princess, he doesn't plan to ask her until he can discern who he is, in terms of rank and birth (she'd probably think he was nuts to think this, and make some amusing comparison, but she sadly doesn't appear in person in this one--warning to Eilonwy fans).

Taran first travels to the Marsh of Morva to ask for advice, then sets out on his journey with Gurgi, who shows the levels of his faithfulness in this story. He comes face-to-face with amorality, selfishness, greed, and various other human failings. But Taran manages to handle them all with grace and wisdom...

... until he meets a crippled shepherd who might just be his father.

After he meets the shepherd, Taran's journey becomes far more mature. He is forced to face his own failings and his own beliefs about whether he would be worthy for Eilonwy, as he tries to change his life. Is Taran a prince? Or a prince among men? And which matters more?

Such favorites as King Smoit (a personal fave of mine--his last scene with Taran is wonderful), Doli of the Fair Folk, and Fflewddur Fflam appear in this book, but it's really Taran's story, with a good dose of Gurgi thrown in.

This takes all but one step toward adulthood--the last step is taken in "High King." Taran is one of the most unique and sometimes haunted heroes in fantasy literature, for children or adults. His journey of self-discovery is amazing, truly amazing.

Why this book never won a Newbery is beyond me--it doesn't have a lot of swords clashing or involved battles. It's a journey of the heart, and possibly one of the finest books I've ever read.

Taran Wanderer is perhaps the most personal of all the Prydain Chronicles, as the story focuses on Taran searching for his lineage. Taran is an orphan, raised by the wizard Dallben, and he wondered for a long time who his parents really were. Now he has an intense urge to find out if he is of noble line, because he wants to marry Eilonwy, enchantress and princess of Llyr. Of course he didn't tell her his feelings, as he is not sure that he worthy to ask and also because Eilonwy is not in Prydain throughout the story of Taran Wanderer. As a result, this Chronicle has a distinct feel from the other Chronicles. Taran roams around Prydain, looking for clues and having his own personal adventures, and the book really shows that he is clever and intelligent. There's a part that ties the third Chronicle in very good with this one. Taran finds out many different things about himself, but what he set out to look for yields surpising results. A good book, but a bit slower than the others in the series. It has many life lessons though, and it's still interesting despite not having large battles; it has personel encounters and small skirmishes. However, Lloyd Alexander more than makes up for that in the last Chronicle, The High King.

As a child, the Chronicles of Prydain were among my favourite books. One summer, between 5th and 6th grade, I read each book of the series over and over again, perhaps 8 times each...except for this one. Taran Wanderer, I could only read once. Although I love all the books in the series, this is the one that has bore a hole in my heart.

At the age of 11, when I read these books, I felt much pressure to grow up and become "a young lady," but I wanted to remain a child forever. Reading of Taran's powerful and painful transformation from a young person to a bonafide adult was "proof" for me that life beyond childhood was abhorent.

Over the years, I had no choice but to grow up, and the memory of Taran's journey always guided me.