A review by cekisha
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

4.0

- illustrated by Yaniv Shimony

Published only 10 years after [b:The Fellowship of the Ring|34|The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298411339s/34.jpg|3204327] and almost 30 years after [b:The Hobbit|5907|The Hobbit|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372847500s/5907.jpg|1540236], The Book of Three bears many similarities to these two novels, and "surprisingly", both Tolkien and Alexander based them on their WWII experiences.

Even though I felt like I was reading a milder version of LOTR, I still enjoyed it. It was a fast, light and adventure-packed read.

Now I'll just list the similarities that I found while reading:

Caer Dallben - The Shire
The Horned King - The Witch-king of Angmar
Gwydion - Gandalf the Grey
Princess Eilonwy - Arwen Undmiel
Gurgi - Gollum
The Fair Folk - the Dwarves
Doli - Gimli
Gwythaints - Fellbeasts
Fflewdur - Merry/Pip
Arawn - Sauron
Medwyn - Radagast
The Cauldron-Born - The Orcs
Taran is pretty much unique, but could be a mix between Frodo and Aragorn.