The Book of Three
The Castle of Llyr
The Black Cauldron
Taran Wanderer
The High King
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. Book One in the Prydain Chronicles
Taran is making horseshoes at the forge of Caer Dallben, a farm nestled in the faraway kingdom of Prydain. But what he really wants to make are swords. He fears that his duties as assistant pig keeper will doom him to live an adventureless life and to remain an orphaned nobody in the world. But strange things are happening in his world. When Hen Wen, the fortune telling pig, escapes from her pen to hide in the nearby forest, Taran must go looking for her. What seems like a simple search for a lost pig turns into a perilous mission when Taran is overrun and almost killed by the Horned King and his murderous war band. Saved from death by Lord Gwydion, a noble warrior of the Sons of Don, Taran learns that Gwydion, himself, is looking for Hen Wen. Only Hen Wen can tell Gwydion what the evil Arawn, Death-Lord, is planning. Gwydion believes that Arawn is gathering an army under the Horned King to wage war against the Sons of Don and conquer Prydain. Gwydion must consult Hen Wen, but first they must find her.
Sensing that this is the adventure he is looking for, Taran convinces Gwydion that he can help in the search. Their hunt for Hen Wen goes awry when they are captured by the evil Queen Achren and imprisoned in her Spiral Castle. Taran manages to escape with the help of a seemingly scatter-brained girl named Eilonwy, but the collapse of the castle during his escape seems to have buried Gwydion alive, and Taran laments his death. Separated from Gwydion, Taran and Eilonwy decide to continue the search for Hen Wen, knowing that dangers certainly await them. But little do they know that their journey will take them far across Prydain, into the realm of Arawn, Death-Lord, and into the company of dwarves, elves, bards and all manner of perils.
