40. The Castle of Llyr

by Lloyd Alexander (206 pgs)

Rating: 4

Eilonwy and Taran are growing up. Unfortunately, for Eilonwy, that means it's time to start learning how to be what she is: a princess. To that end, their guardian, Dallben, packs her off to the Island of Mona to be educated and Taran and Gurgi accompany her to get her settled in. When they get there, however, things are not as they seem (are they ever?) and things very quickly spin out of control.

The Castle of Llyr is the shortest of the five novels but by no means the least of them. In its compact space Alexander crams in an incredible amount of character development. Although Eilonwy is absent for the majority of the book, she has a profound impact on the outcome. Alexander does cause his characters to exhibit growth as from adolescent to young adult. I feel that despite her absence for much of the book, Eilonwy finally comes into her own.

Recommend as it continues the series and on it's own if it were possible but I'm afraid it is necessary to read all of the previous books in the series.