I read The Book of Three when I was twelve and am only just getting around to continuing the series now. I liked this one even more than my reread of book one and will be borrowing the rest from the library soon!

 The second book in the Chronicles of Prydain, The Black Cauldron takes Taran and his companions on a dangerous mission- to steal the cauldron from Arawn and destroy his ability to create the zombie-like Cauldron Born.

This book is full of adventure, but also has a deeper vein running through it. Taran faces some difficult choices and deals with tragic events. I really love how the author allows his characters to grow and develop, even with negative traits. I especially love when Taran is given a serious choice which really mirrors choices we all sometimes face- do we do what is right for ourselves or the greater good? I really love this book and truly hated the Disney version. I even had the audacity to point this out to the author, who wrote a really gracious letter back to a young teenage girl. He really was wonderful. I just learned that they are planning to do a series of movies of the entire series- I REALLY hope they do it right this time.