Just read The Book of Three for the first time in my life. I really have been avoiding it, mainly because of the Disney movie The Black Cauldron, which was horrendous. But the book itself wasn't so bad, for middle grade high fantasy--you know, a beginner's LotR. Eilonwy is highly annoying, but at least she's a strong female character.
What I don't get is this--and maybe the rest of the series will help explain it more--why is the book called The Book of Three? It touches on the Book lightly, but it's all about the quest to warn the Dons and to find Hen Wen. I don't see the connection.
I still say that Alexander's writing leaves something to be desired, but maybe that's because it's been imitated so much (or would you say he follows the Romance/epic tradition anyway?) rather than because it's not imaginative or tight. In fact, I'd even have to admit that I liked the detailed description coupled with an ability to move events along.
And I'm starting now on Nancy Farmer's The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm, which won the Newbery several years ago. Science fiction now. So far it's pretty good. It's the same author who wrote The House of the Scorpion that just came out last year. Can't remember, but I think Scorpion won the Printz, which is the Newbery-like honor for young adult fiction. I've read that--very good. Thought-provoking about Mexican-American relations as it involves drug traffiking and illegal immigration.
