Do You like book The Black Cauldron (2006)?
This is the second book in the Prydain series for Lloyd Alexander. In this book Taran goes on a journey to try and get the evil cauldron that is being used to bring back the dead. As they are separated into groups with different assignments, Taran finds himself with Elliyr, a royal with a bad attitude and Adaon, a bard and dreamer. Even though Eilonway and Gurgi were not invited on this dangerous trip, they find Taran and go with the group to try and destroy the cauldron. Along the way, Adaon is killed to save Taran. Adaon gives Taran a special brooch to wear which helps him see things in advance. Taran's visions help the group to be successful in finding the cauldron. Taran has to give up his special gift to trade for the cauldron from 3 witches. They try to carry the cauldron back to Dalben, but find the task too difficult. They are captured and the cauldron is finally destroyed at a price. This book is an enjoyable read for fantasy lovers,and for children who dream of being valiant, only to find joy in what they already have. I see a relationship growing between Taran and Eilonway. He is growing older and so this book would be great for tweens.
—Gail
Granted, The Black Cauldron is quite a short book, but I still think it says something that I read it in two days, with a lot of other stuff going on in my life. Honestly, I can't even put my finger on what it is that makes me give it four stars instead of five... the absence of some intangible something. Nonetheless, a great book.The Book of Three was fun but took awhile to get going, and only moved out of normal kid adventure now and then, but the second book goes into grander, more epic, and more mythological territory pretty much immediately--expanding the world, and doubling or tripling the cast just in the first chapter. Even though it was only 180 pages it felt big, and the world--even with its relatively short distances between places--felt huge.The book also feels bigger and better because Alexander did not shy away from having dark and violent things going on: something I can always appreciate in a kids' book. There's fighting and killing and moral relativism and eternal damnation (of the zombie sort) and some suicide at the end for good measure. But, it never stops being enjoyable, and the supporting characters remain funny throughout. The Tolkien parallels remain, but bothered me even less (read: not at all) because of the great spins taken on them.All told, great fun. I'm gonna read the whole series in a row now.
—Elijah Spector
The evil Lord Arawn is creating mindless, undieing cauldron-born. The familiar companions from The Book of Three join forces with the greatest lords of the land with a plan to steal the cauldron and destroy it. Plans like this never seem to go well, and this one seems to be foiled from the very beginning. We are intruduced to a handful of new characters, I'm not sure if they will continue throughout the rest of the series or not. I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. Alexander has slowed the pace down, without losing momentum. I felt like I was able to settle into the scenes and enjoy them before I was suddenly rushed on. It gave many of the scenes more of a atmosphere that I enjoyed very much. I also felt as if I was able to get to know the characters much better by being able to listen to conversations.I think that my favorite character this time around, has to be the dwarf, Doli. He was honorable, brave, complaining, and funny. Everything that a real person seems to have in varying degrees. I was glad to see that Taran had developed and grown, as has Eilonwy. The two still argue almost non-stop, but you can see that they have learned to rely on each other for advice and guidance.I can't wait to read the third book. The series is exciting and I look forward to seeing how the furture pans out for everyone.4/5
—Jasmyn
