In which Taran the assistant pig keeper sets out with a merry band of followers, to find a pig and thus save the world.

If the Amazon.com reviews are any indication, Lloyd Alexander's five-book series, The Chronicles of Prydain, has its detractors. They see it as a pale imitation of Lord of the Rings, complete with gollum-esque creature (who at least happens to be working for the good guys). They point out Alexander's expository dialogue, his rapid descriptions that leave little time for characters or sequences to make an impact, and the fact that - unlike the best children's fiction - his work is designed to appeal only to children and not to adults.

Well, I won't deny: all of those things are - to some extent - true. The obvious debt to Tolkien (and C.S. Lewis) is undeniable and occasionally uncanny. And Alexander is neither a literary giant nor a consummate non-literary storyteller on par with, say, J.K. Rowling.

Yet, I'm inclined to think the haters are being a bit unsporting about it all. The Book of Three, which opens the series, is a delightful little quest story. It's an easy, fast-paced read, which opens up an entire world of characters and species. The most delightful characters are the Princess Eilonwy, whose refusal to be relegated to the role of "female" is laudable, and the dwarf Doli, who wishes he could be invisible. Alexander's morals are in the right place for a book aimed squarely at children, but this is no bloodless Narnia. The injuries and horrors committed by the Horned King and his minions are all too real. It really raises the stakes, and if the book is about Taran learning there is more to the world than an idyllic life raising pigs, it succeeds.

There's also a great humanist skein running through the book. Medwyn, the protector of animals, eats only a vegetarian diet, while Taran is constantly forced to learn that there are many outlooks and ways of being in Prydain. And the dialogue is actually quite apt for each character. You know you're in safe hands when Gurgi - Prydain's equivalent of Gollum or, dare I say, Jar Jar Binks - is adorable rather than mawkish.

I do wish sometimes that Alexander would let each sequence breathe. I'm halfway through the second book, The Black Cauldron, and I feel like I've met an endless array of characters while drunk at a party, never able to get a firm grasp on them. But perhaps these are the limitations of a children's author when facing book length and the attention span of youngsters.

Either way, I'll give the thumbs-up to The Chronicles of Prydain so far. Even if it isn't always beautifully or densely written, it's intelligently written, and that makes all the difference. ( )

Classic young readers intro into fantasy that still holds up. ( )

This is a wonderful high fantasy adventure for middle grade children. The story is short but engaging and the characters are funny as well as earnest. ( )

I did like the story, but somehow I could easily pause and do something else. I just couldn't get into it as I normally do. But it was fun enough to want to read Prydain 2. ( )

I love this series, especially The Black Cauldron and The High King.

This book tells of Taran's first adventure with his companions. It's a fairly straightforward, lightweight tale (in comparison with the other Prydain books), but has some excellent characters, and is a worthwhile lead-in to everything that comes in the course of the series. ( )