This was the first book in the series I read, and an odd introduction. I think I might have even read it before I read Lord Of The Rings, but after The Hobbit. I probably didn't know yet that I wanted more and more fantasy quests and adventures. Here, however, was the hero's journey, as much into maturity as into dark realms. Poor Taran receives an education in some harrowing life lessons in each volume. I also note, for reasons of my own, that the three ladies of the marsh made far more of an impression than I could possibly have imagined, or even remembered for that matter.