Review of The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
Years ago, when I was a kid, my grandma took me to see The Black Cauldron in the theater. This stands out to me mainly because we were the ONLY people in the theater for a weekday matinee. But I recalled enjoying the movie, which I’ve probably seen once or twice since them. Meanwhile, my husband has never seen the movie, but The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964) was the first book that got him interested in reading as a kid. So I had to check it out.
Reading a fantasy novel written for kids that’s almost 60 years old means it definitely shows its age. Many of the secondary characters who are adults are a bit flat and one-dimensional, which sort of fits the age range it was intended for. The younger characters and Gurgi are much more fully developed. I could also really see some of the roots of this book tracking back to Tolkien and other older fantasy novels. Possibly most frustrating for me, though, was that the major battle in this book (without giving any spoilers) felt like a letdown to me. I’ve been told that the reason for that is that it’s only the FIRST major battle in the series, and that later books get more exciting battles.
Though I definitely had some quibbles with the book, I did overall enjoy The Book of Three, which is a fine addition to the fantasy genre. And now that I’ve read it, I’ll finally rewatch The Black Cauldron and expose Jeremy to it!
Comments