Taran Wanderer
The Chronicles of Prydain, Book 4
By Lloyd Alexander
With Eilonwy learning to be a princess on the Isle of Mona, Taran is desperate to discover his parentage, hoping to be born of royalty. Dallben gives him permission to seek his parents, and Taran sets out with Gurgi by his side. Taran’s quest leads them through the Marshes of Morva and to the furthest ends of Prydain. Along the way, Taran is offered a kingdom, spends the winter with a shepherd, and apprentices under a blacksmith, a weaver, and a potter.
In his quest to discover his birthright, Taran learns bitter lessons of loss and disappointment, but finds friends in unexpected places. He also discovers that luck is not something a person has, but is instead something a person creates. He is offered a kingdom, but is wise enough to realize that abandoning his quest would forever haunt him.
More so than the rest of the series, Taran Wanderer focuses on Taran and his wish to more than an orphaned assistant pig-keeper. While his companions play major parts in the rest of the series, Gurgi is the only character in this adventure who is a constant companion to Taran, with Eilonwy only ever present in Taran’s thoughts. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and would recommend it to any fans of fantasy or Prydain.
This review originally appeared 30 March 2013 on fantasyreviewer.com