The High King

My paperback copy matches a different cover. [bc:The High King 2976852 The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain #5) Lloyd Alexander https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407292113l/2976852.SX50.jpg 1561725]

The Chronicle's of Prydain is a joyous tale with paths of difficulty, pathos, humor romance, and wonderful characters. The High King is the pinnacle of the story, and I hope you read the series and delight in it.

I'm so glad I decided to give this series a try, despite the targeted demographic it was written for. The character development was so spectacular. This is an iconic classic fantasy. It has such emotional depth beyond the tropes. I'm not ashamed to say I shed more than a few tears.

most recent reading: Summary: The (mostly) satisfying conclusion of the Chronicles of Prydain series.

As I said in my post on Taran Wanderer, it has been over a decade since I read The High King. I still like it, but the more I read it as an adult, the less I think it holds up. I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy less than a year ago, and especially The High King feels like it borrowed from that mythology. However, I suspect they both borrowed from older mythology more than Alexander borrowed from Tolkien.

I appreciate that Taran is older and moving into manhood and leadership. But at most, he is early 20s here, and the single leader in their early 20s doesn't seem to make sense. There needed to be more of a council that led the group. And other than a few sections, I wish Eliowayn was more present. She was “there” almost the entire book but didn't play much of a role.

The action is fine, but I am less interested in glorifying war these days. I want more boring stuff about maturing.
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Short review: I don't know how many times I have read this. It is one of the best young adult classic fantasy books. In the best way possible, this is Lord of the Rings for younger teens (meant as a compliment, not a slight).

It has been a while since I last read this. Much more action-oriented than the rest of the series, I still highly recommend it.

My longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/high-king/

A true classic, the powerful finale to one of the greatest bildungsroman series of novels ever. Worthy of all the praise I could heap upon it, Lloyd Alexander creates one of the most endearing group of main characters in literature.

I've tried to read this series a dozen times and I've always given up until now. This time I started with the last book in the series and I couldn't put the book down. The author assures the reader in the introduction that though this is the final book in his series it is a stand alone; I found this to be so. The characters are slowly led on the stage, with their past exploits clearly delineated. I never felt unclear or confused. I grew to love all the characters, even the whiny Glew and the shifty Achren. The author, without revealing any of the clever twists of the plot, brings everything to a firm, though not always happy, conclusion.