I like this second adventure through the land of Prydain even more than its predecessor, perhaps because it has more twists and turns (some easy to predict, others not) and a greater focus on characterization over plot. But there's the same sense of humor, and the same love of traditional Welsh folklore informing the narrative.

First published in the decade after The Lord of the Rings, this series clearly owes that one a debt, but it comes early enough in the line of Tolkien's successors that his vision of a fantasy world had not yet calcified into the tropes that later writers must struggle to avoid. As a result Prydain still feels fresh even a half-century on.