Lloyd Alexander is one of my favorite authors - read this one and you'll see why. First: the story carries you along with it. Second: It provides a wonderful explanation of the craft of story making and telling. Third: It's based on those myths which are universal throughout our world - from Greece, Rome, and Crete but also from American Indians and Europe and probably a lot more I couldn't identify. Through in a dash of the more modern ones like Wizard of Oz and The Lord of the Rings and this story is a truly interesting, magnificently well done narrative.
This book was pretty boring to me. I did really like the setting and all the details described, though.
Lucian is on the run from a pair of murderous soothsayes. Joy-in-the-Dance knows magic and marvels, and is on a quest. Fronto is a poet-turned-donkey who wants to break the spell that turned him into an animal. The three of them join forces and set out through Arkadia-- on an amazing trip that will change their lives.