Fantasy writer Lloyd Alexander died of cancer yesterday at his home in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania:
He completed three major series — the Chronicles of Prydain, which focuses on the maturity of an assistant pig keeper named Taran and is loosely based on Welsh mythology; the Westmark trilogy of political intrigue, whose main character is a printer’s apprentice on the run in a corrupt European kingdom; and the Vesper Holly series, about a young Philadelphian who comes to the rescue of President Ulysses S. Grant.Mr. Alexander won a 1971 National Book Award for “The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian,” about a 19th-century fiddler who helps a princess defy an autocrat who wants to marry her.
He won a 1982 American Book Award for “Westmark,” the debut novel of the series of the same name.
In 1969, he received the Newbery Medal for “The High King,” the fifth of his six-book series, the Chronicles of Prydain. Disney made an animated film, “The Black Cauldron” (1985), from the series.