The Iron Ring

Lloyd Alexander

Puffin Books, 1999 - Juvenile Fiction - 283 pages

When Tamar, the young king of Sundari, loses a dice game, he loses everything--his kingdom, its riches, and even the right to call his life his own. His bondage is symbolized by the iron ring that appears mysteriously on his finger. To Tamar, born to the warrior caste, honor is everything. So he sets out on a journey to make good on his debt--and even to give up his life if necessary. And that journey leads him into a world of magic, where animals can talk, the foolish are surprisingly wise, and danger awaits...

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - hadden - LibraryThing

I enjoyed the book, and I was a good read. Manipulated into a dice game by an arrogant and older prince, Tamar loses his kingdom and must become the servant of Prince Jaya. The next morning there is ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - TrgLlyLibrarian - LibraryThing

At first I wasn't enjoying the story very much because the pacing was hectic. There was a new character every chapter, and things were getting eccentric. After the halfway point, the plot began ...

Contents

• A Friendly Game of Aksha: 3
• The Iron Ring n 3 Questions in the Palace: 15
• Questions in the Forest: 22

About the author

Lloyd Alexander, January 30, 1924 - May 17, 2007 Born Lloyd Chudley Alexander on January 30, 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Allan Audley and Edna Chudley Alexander, Lloyd knew from a young age that he wanted to write. He was reading by the time he was 3, and though he did poorly in school, at the age of fifteen, he announced that he wanted to become a writer. At the age of 19 in 1942, Alexander dropped out of the West Chester State Teachers College in Pennsylvania after only one term. In 1943, he attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA, before dropping out again and joining the United States Army during World War II. Alexander served in the Intelligence Department, stationed in Wales, and then went on to Counter-Intelligence in Paris, where he was promoted to Staff Sergeant. When the war ended in '45, Alexander applied to the Sorbonne, but returned to the States in '46, now married. Alexander worked as an unpublished writer for seven years, accepting positions such as cartoonist, advertising copywriter, layout artist, and associate editor for a small magazine. Directly after the war, he had translated works for such artists as Jean Paul Sartre. In 1955, "And Let the Credit Go" was published, Alexander's first book which led to 10 years of writing for an adult audience. He wrote his first children's book in 1963, entitled "Time Cat," which led to a long career of writing for children and young adults. Alexander is best known for his "Prydain Chronicles" which consist of "The Book of Three" in 1964, "The Black Cauldron" in 1965 which was a Newbery Honor Book, as well as an animated motion picture by Disney which appeared in 1985, "The Castle of Llyr" in 1966, "Taran Wanderer" in 1967, a School Library Journal's Best Book of the Year and "The High King" which won the Newberry Award. Many of his other books have also received awards, such as "The Fortune Tellers," which was a Boston Globe Horn Book Award winner. In 1986, Alexander won the Regina Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Catholic Library Association. His titles have been translated into many languages including, Dutch, Spanish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Serbo-Croation and Swedish. He died on May 17, 2007.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Iron Ring; Puffin books
• Author: Lloyd Alexander
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Puffin Books, 1999
• ISBN: 0141303484, 9780141303482
• Length: 283 pages
• Subjects: Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General; Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy & Magic; Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories