Alan Garner Books

My review of this book will never be as articulate as the one written before mine, but I would like to express my opinion of "Red Shift". I have recommended it to so many friends who have all given up before they have reached 50 pages in. I must admit that I was tempted to do the same, though I cannot be more glad to have persevered. The story finds clarity in the last few pages (and in the wonderful encoded passage at the end!) If you have time to devote to this book, it is worth all the effort. Truly greater than "The Wierdstone".

This was one of the most difficult books I read as a kid - and so ultimately one of the most satisfying too. Alan Garner in no way talks down to his target audience and here he produced possibly his best work with a plot that demands the reader's attention. If only all books were this well written!

Ursula Le Guin described this as: "a bitter, complex, brilliant book".

I've nothing to add to that. Except this: try to find a copy at all costs. It is one of the best fantasies ever written. Oh, and if you're wondering: it's all of 155 pages long.

A bitter, dense, vigorous book about the violence and betrayals we inflict on each other. So much is lost along the way - and although there is some survival at the end, what kind of survival is it?
There are three interwoven stories, spanning three points in time and one in space - the times are the later Roman Empire in Britain, the British Civil War of the 17th century, and the modern age. The space is a part of Cheshire around an iconic hill, Mow Cop. And the three are linked - apart from their biting emotional motifs - by an object, a prehistoric axe head, that appears in all, a talisman of the ages.
In the earliest thread, a ragged remnant of a Roman legion - just a few soldiers, conscripts from who-knows-where - have to deal with the wild and ancient tribes, as vicious and crafty as the soldiers. Wonderfully, Garner has made them talk the lingo of modern squaddies, because that's how they would have sounded to each other. In the Civil War, villagers take refuge in a church from the prowling band of enemy - but not all the hatred is political...In today's world, a near-genius innocent, a sacred fool (who quotes Lear's lines for Tom the fool) is paired with a girl above his social level and distrusted by his parents: there are no swords here, but "words" is an anagram of "sword" and the pain is the same.
Incredible tight, elliptical exchanges: you may have to read a page twice to "get" everything that is happening (and then you won't be sure). American readers may have a problem with the British idiom of the 70's and some archaic words of the Civil War times, and the Cheshire idiom, but it's worth it.

It was dark and I was lost driving home. I tried to take a shortcut across the Staffordshire Moorlands. Something said I should turn left to cross the ridge to the next valley. I climbed a hill, then silhouetted against the moonlit sky was a shape I knew from this book jacket: Mow Cop. I had to leave the car and venture on foot into the gloom, stomach turning, mouth dry. The point of Red Shift is, perhaps, that our destiny is in some part the essence of the soil under our feet. This book succeeds so well in implanting this feeling that words were not needed to create in me the emotion of meeting Mow Cop that night.

I looked this book up just to see if it was still available anywhere. I believe I bought it when it was published in 1981, and have probably read it at least once a year since then. Scary without being terrifying, hopeful without being simple - it's an excellent book! One of my all time favorites. I can't wait to read it to my children when they get a little older.

This is a delightful little book, and one that is guaranteed to keep young and old readers alike absorbed through a rainy afternoon. The author has a gift for story-telling and a lovely, slightly quaint style reminiscent of Tolkien or Lewis, and his sensitive use of language really helps to bring his vision and imagination to life. He also paints his scenery and setting beautifully, so that the reader is transported without much difficulty in to a world of dark mines and loathsome goblins, deep, mysterious woods and enchanted knights. Bring on the sequel!

This book although essentially for children is a wonderfully fast moving and magical chase across a landscape dotted with mystical creatures and races from past times, forgotten now in the minds of more sophisticated men. The story is based on the legend of Alderley that an ancient king and his knights sleep under the hill there awaiting the call that will come if ever the powers of darkness should threaten to overtake the land. The Wierstone of Brisingamen is an ancient, magic stone of such power that it keeps king, knights and their milk white steeds in a state of suspended animation, protected forever against the powers of evil who would destroy them and prevent their riding forth one day to do battle.... The stone has been lost and through a series of events it transpires that it belongs to a young girl called Susan who is now back at Alderly with the Wierdstone fastened to her slender wrist. This fact is not lost on the local witch, Selina Place, the Morrigan, a shape shifter out for power and who recognises the stone when she sees it one day. This draws the children into a series of terrifying circumstances as good and bad struggle to be the guardians of the powerful talisman. This tale is well paced and well written. It is full of good and bad characters whose struggle spills over into the world of mortal men and sweeps up the 2 children at the center of the story carrying them along on a tide of events which take them in and out of danger helped by their friend Gowther Mossock.....a somewhat grizzled old farmer who is still innocent enough of the worlds more cynical ways to be able to believe in the old ways, the magic ways..... Cadellin Silverbrow, the magician who had charge of the Wierdstone of Brisingamen and to his shame lost it, strides majestically through the story to a thrilling conclusion and a battle between the forces of good and evil It is a book which I read to my children many times and still enjoy myself today, it almost makes you believe that if you looked hard enough and in the right places that you would see the traces of those inhabitants of a world once familiar to Mankind, now sadly lost to all except those with the childlike ability to suspend disbelief. I thouroughly recommend this book

I can't imagine why more people (especially young people) aren't reading Alan Garner these days. His books, while still in print, aren't often found in the bookstores' active inventories anymore, which is a sad loss. Well, no matter -- you can get them through Amazon or (probably) at your local library. And you should, because they are wonderful!

I first read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen while in grade school, around the time I was discovering J.R.R. Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander. It's an exciting fantasy tale, the more so because it is woven into the hidden nooks and crannies of our own modern-day world -- unlike Tolkien and Alexander. You never know when you might look behind a standing stone, only to find a stromkarl chanting a spell, while other passersby would see nothing but a little man humming to himself ...

Colin and Susan are very likable young protagonists, and there are plenty of other characters -- both good and evil -- to keep the story engrossing. When I was young, I was terrified of the Mara and the Svart-alfar! And the Earldelving is enough to make anybody claustrophobic! The novel is full of surprises, excitement, and just good old fashioned adventure.

After many, many readings, I've come to appreciate what Garner's done from a more adult and "serious" standpoint -- integrating folkloric and mythological elements (particularly the Old Norse) into the fabric of a "modern" children's fantasy. Garner has much in common with Tolkien, Lewis, and the other Inklings, as well as Ursula K. Le Guin, Susan Cooper, and Lloyd Alexander.

But at the heart of it all, it's just great fantasy! Read it and see if you don't agree.

Wizards, dwarves, goblins and elves - Tolkien, right? Wrong. Alan "Weirdstone of Brisingamen," a spellbinding story in the true tradition of imaginative and inventive fantasy. Using various bits of Celtic and Norse mythology, Garner wound together an astounding story.

Colin and Susan, a pair of English schoolkids, are sent to Alderly for a six-month vacation with their mother's old nurse and her husband. Things start off normally enough, with the kids exploring the area and the myths, legends and superstitions surrounding it. But things begin to take an eerie turn when they encounter a spell-chanting old woman named Selina Place - and then a horde of svart-alfar, hideous and hostile goblins.

They are unexpectedly rescued by the wizard Cadellin, who is the keeper of a company of knights sleeping deep under Alderly. They will awaken at some time in the future, to combat the evil spirit Nastrond and his minions in the final, magical battle. There's just one problem: long ago, Cadellin lost the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, the magical jewel that bound the knights there in the first place. Susan realizes too late that the little misty teardrop gem in her bracelet is the Weirdstone - and it's been stolen. The kids team up with Cadellin, the dwarves Fenodyree and Durathror, the lios-alfar (elves), and their friend Gowther to find the Weirdstone - and save the world.

Written in the 1960s, this book effectively combines the English-schoolkids-swept-into-magical adventure subgenre with mythology and the overlap of our world with another. Garner's wizards, dwarves, elves and goblins are as legit as Tolkien's, as Garner draws heavily from mythos and legends. There are similarities to Tolkien's creations, but they are sufficiently different that not once do you feel the need to compare. Garner lifts from Norse and Celtic mythologies for this book (mentions of the Morrigan and Ragnarok are featured within pages of one another) and manages to cobble it together into a coherent and believable whole.

Alderly is effectively shown - from the moment the kids venture out of the farm, there is the sense that enchantment is thrumming through the land, and that a magical creature could be lurking nearby. The sense of atmosphere is somewhat stunted by the fact that we rarely hear the characters' thoughts, though, but such creatures as the svart-alfar and the lios-alfar are effective in the simple, evocative descriptions.

This is a book more for Tolkien fans than Diana Wynne-Jones fans. Though there are a few funny parts, it is overall a relentlessly serious book, with many of the characters using archaic-sounding language. Another good thing: the kids speak like twentieth-century preteens ("That WOULD have made a mess of things!") while such characters as Durathror speaking like warriors from centuries ago ("... for there I think it will be, and so to Fundindelve, where I shall join you if I may.") In addition, there is no cutesy magic or gimmickry, or casual magical elements popping up every page or two. The magic featured in here is deadly serious and very intense.

Colin and Susan are the archetypical kids-on-holiday-in-magical-place: brave, respectful, inquisitive, curious, and in completely over their heads. Cadellin is an excellent wizard, dignified and powerful but sufficiently human to be sympathetic, such as his reaction when he hears that the Weirdstone has been stolen from Susan. This guy deserves a seat right below Gandalf, and alongside Merlin, Ged and Ebenezum. The dwarves are serious and unusually cool-headed for the fantasy portrayal of dwarves; the lios-alfar are featured less prominently, but the "elves of light" passage is one of the most moving paragraphs in the book, both sad and beautiful.

The only problem with this book is its shortness, and its presence as only one of two. The tales of Alderly are so rich that you feel that Garner could have churned out fifty books and never grown stale. For fans of serious fantasy, this is a must-have.

Hill Street Blues may suffer a bit with the passage of time but it is still a great series worth watching. Great characters, plot lines, etc.
Hard to beat series.

This book jumped off the shelf at me because my father told us stories his grandfather had told him. That grandfather, from Galway Ireland, used to open his stories with a longer version of this book's title - "Once upon a time, though it wasn't your time or my time or anyone else's time" - and I'd never seen that used anywhere else. These are 3 wonderful children's stories, though none of them are from Ireland, and they are beautifully illustrated. Read them with your children and watch them travel to far away places, or curl up on a rainy day and read them yourself, and travel even farther away to your own far away times of childhood.

THIS IS THE WORST BOOK EVER WRITTEN I ADVISE READERS TO NEVER READ THIS BOOK I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN READ IT AGAIN

C. S. Lewis once wrote that a children's book that adults couldn't enjoy probably wouldn't be much good for children, either. Well, here's a slim but splendid volume that he would undoubtedly have savored! While any child who loves adventure, magic & an eerie sense of the otherworldly will love this book, so will any discerning adult with the same tastes.

Written in crisp, poetic prose that evokes powerful images in just a few words, the power of this story builds & builds, as we follow Colin & Susan into an older world of magic that still lives just behind the surface of the everyday world. Drawing upon Arthurian, Norse & Celtic legend, Alan Garner takes us into a world of mystery & wildness that always feels real, not the least bit made up. No by-the numbers D&D rehashings here! Just a story with the weight of myth, piercing & cold as an enchanted iron sword, ablaze with wonders & steeped in the blackest of shadows.

It's amazing to me that this superb story, as well as its equally superb sequel "The Moon of Gomrath," aren't better known. Alderley should be spoken of in the same breath as Middle-Earth & Narnia & Hogwarts -- although as a writer, Garner is in a class of his own. There's a certain uneasiness at play in these pages, a recognition that magic, even good magic, is dangerous & liable to have unexpected, even tragic consequences. And that's all to the good. The reader should come away from such an encounter with both awe & a little fear.

In later books, Garner delves more deeply into the nature & workings of myth -- intricate, thought-provoking work. But in this early tale & its sequel, he's probably more accessible to the general reader. In any case, he offers a fine tale -- one most highly recommended!

I read this book as a child, and I occasionally re-read it as an adult. There are extremely few books I can think of that can keep my interest for more than a few weeks, let alone thirty-odd years. It has many of the "usual" swords-and-sorcery elements you expect from a fantasy novel, but it has key differences. Everything and everyone is imperfect and therefore plausible. Sides are not clear-cut. Names are taken from actual mythology (or actual places) and aren't simply the product of hitting keys at random. The mythology is consistant. The story doesn't ask you to suspend disbelief, but creates a vivid enough "world" that the reader can live there quite comfortably for a while without suspending anything. These are the hallmarks of an excellent story and a master writer.

It is, of course, meaningless coincidence that they recently found 550 ancient coins in a relatively modern copper mine, when the moisture should have corroded them a thousand or more years before the mine was ever dug, not far from where the Iron Gates are described as being. It IS coincidence... isn't it?

"The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" is a great tale for older children and adults alike. It's filled with awesome fantasy - wizards, witches, warlocks, and more - and the old-English language, coupled with other vivid details, allow your imagination to take you along for the ride...

The gist of the story is this... two children named Colin & Susan arrive at Alderley to be looked after by family friends (the Mossocks). While there, strange things begin happening - and at the root of these strange happenings is a family heirloom, and the ultimate "fight" between good and evil to obtain this heirloom and the power it holds.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy-type books. It's a fun, imaginative book, where the pages seem to turn themselves.

I can't imagine why more people (especially young people) aren't reading Alan Garner these days. His books, while still in print, aren't often found in the bookstores' active inventories anymore, which is a sad loss. Well, no matter -- you can get them through Amazon or (probably) at your local library. And you should, because they are wonderful!

I first read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen while in grade school, around the time I was discovering J.R.R. Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander. It's an exciting fantasy tale, the more so because it is woven into the hidden nooks and crannies of our own modern-day world -- unlike Tolkien and Alexander. You never know when you might look behind a standing stone, only to find a stromkarl chanting a spell, while other passersby would see nothing but a little man humming to himself ...

Colin and Susan are very likable young protagonists, and there are plenty of other characters -- both good and evil -- to keep the story engrossing. When I was young, I was terrified of the Mara and the Svart-alfar! And the Earldelving is enough to make anybody claustrophobic! The novel is full of surprises, excitement, and just good old fashioned adventure.

After many, many readings, I've come to appreciate what Garner's done from a more adult and "serious" standpoint -- integrating folkloric and mythological elements (particularly the Old Norse) into the fabric of a "modern" children's fantasy. Garner has much in common with Tolkien, Lewis, and the other Inklings, as well as Ursula K. Le Guin, Susan Cooper, and Lloyd Alexander.

But at the heart of it all, it's just great fantasy! Read it and see if you don't agree.

This book is fantastic for adding to your ability to start up conversations or help one continue when the conversation kind of dies off. Many many good suggestions on how to avoid one word answers and boring conversation.

Highly recommend.

This book is full of easy-to-digest and act-upon suggestions for improving your conversations and putting yourself and others at ease. I wouldn't describe myself as shy, but I often have awkward moments where I run out of things to say. This book helped me realize that I ask a lot of close-ended questions, and I've noticed a positive difference now that I ask more "why" and "how" questions. I also found chapter ten (requesting change) to be particularly useful. If you are very shy or have trouble being assertive, you may find chapters 12 and 13 (reducing your anxiety in social situations and organizing your efforts) especially helpful. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book.

This is a great book. I bought this book because I attend many work functions during the year and I find it hard to keep conversations going after the initial introduction. This book made it easier for me. I love that the book is thin and the advice is succinct. I was able to use his techniques at a black tie gala right after reading only half of the book. Even though it's a thin book, the author asks you to read one section and then go out and apply it before reading the next section. It really works. It's easier for me to start conversations now and to steer conversations to new topics when I feel like a topic is drying out. Very useful.

I ordered this book about 3 months ago and, as recommended in chapter one, I've been reading a chapter at a time, then trying out the suggestions. So far, with very minor changes in my behavior, I've seen very positive results.

I think that to say this book is for wallflowers only is superior and misleading. (I don't know anyone who couldn't polish up their social act a bit.)

Inwardly I have anxiety relating to people, sometimes mild or moderate, sometimes severe, but outwardly people tell me I seem extremely friendly and at ease. I'm not a mute or stammering wallflower. And I'm finding the suggestions in this book useful and interesting.

I noticed that I was tending to monopolize conversations, partially I think as a nervous habit. I wanted to be a better listener. This book shows you how to ask the kind of questions that put people at ease and help them open up and share their most interesting stories. Also tips on body language, how to give compliments without triggering knee-jerk modest responses, and how the talk yourself through moments of self-doubt. All good, basic strategies. I feel secure knowing these techniques are based on statistical evidence and clinical study of how people react and behave.

Sometimes the sample dialogue is hockey; you have to dismiss the seemingly 50's style lingo and focus on the technique being illustrated (e.g. follow up a compliment with a related open-ended question). I think this book will help people who want to cultivate warm, comfortable relationships and feel more socially at ease and effective.

Good info. You can use it like a workbook. It discusses things such as how people see you and how to sharpen your social skills. It analyzes examples of people's social interactions and shows you how to do better. It even teaches you how to converse with others who may not be very skilled conversationalists.

After reading the book I was able to recognize improvements I needed to make and I felt I had the necessary information to make those improvements.

This book is both haunting and beautiful... it hung around and is staying with me far longer than most books do when I've finished them. I first read Elidor when I was 14 years old, and that book made such an impression that I still remember it 35 years later. I probably won't be around in another 35 years, but Strandloper will stay with me until then. This book is a treasure.

As other reviewers have stated, this book requires, nay, demands your full attention, but once you have passed through the first pages and get caught in the rhythm, you will find this book very difficult to put down.

A book you know merits better understanding, if only it could be understood. Garner's language is very choppy and difficult to follow, but the catch-22 of the situation is that it must be in order for the story to come alive. After a few reads you become accustomed to the writing and can focus more on the thematic value.

One reviewer has described Garner's writing as sparse but that's being too kind. Garner often leaves too much to our interpretation, going pages with dialogue only and barely telling you who's speaking. More exposition would've been appreciated in this work based on a fascinating legend.

This is as brave an attempt as Garner has made to effect voices from other eras. It's achieved with consistently brilliant time and place shifts, and one can't conclude other than, in choosing the Buckley legend, his many years of mining in this direction has hit paydirt. Particularly powerful is the sense of Buckley's rural upbringing, which assists his passage into indigineous understandings of the world, and the mental state he confronts when re-entering 'civilisation'. In potent brief passages, Garner breaths life into the attitudes of the peoples and the times. No endistanced historical voice to mediate. Having read reasonably widely around the indigenous literature of Australia, I'd rate his evocation of indigenous society poignant and free from anthropology, romanticism and paternalism. The entire, slim book reads more like a poem than a novella. Which leads me to recommend Barry Hill's long poem on Buckley,'Ghosting William Buckley' which was justly well received in Australia.

I loved this book, like most of the other reviewers here. And I'll leave it to their reviews to try to convey the nature of the novel in a nutshell, so much as that is possible. It is remarkable, and difficult, and it doesn't do the reader any favors -- exposition? bah! -- but if you take the time to work at penetrating this seemingly impenetrable novel, the rewards are well worth that effort.

HOWEVER, the simple truth of the matter is this: Strandloper is not for everybody. If you are looking for straightforward fantasy, this isn't it. If you're looking for "another Alan Garner novel", this isn't it (of course, I'm oversimplifying here -- but I mean that this novel is very little like his others). One reviewer likened Strandloper more to Faulkner than to Tolkien, and that is spot-on (at least on the surface -- in reality, Garner's deep, almost baptismal immersion into mythology here is very much in keeping with Tolkien).

If you find getting through Faulkner a bit difficult, then Strandloper is going to make you want to check into an asylum -- or chuck the book into the fire. Reading it is not a passive act, the way reading most novels usually is; you have to take an active part in working to unravel its abstruse layers of narrative and meaning, and if that doesn't sound like much fun to you, then put down Strandloper and try something else -- perhaps O'Brian's Master and Commander.

I first read this in, I think, 1970. It remains a wonderful blend: ancient mythologies, the thrusting of a magical world into ours, and an intense consciousness of the spirit of place, the power of landscape. I've lived in Cheshire, though not where Garner lives, and while I really was conscious of just the mundane world of roads and towns, I can see how one could find it deeply satisfying to immerse oneself in its rich history.

I like his skill in weaving in strands from other myths. Scotland lent him the Water Horse, the "Each Uisge." Young Susan did not know that story, or she would have been suspicious of the friendly black pony that kept nuzzling her until she felt it wanted her to ride it, and she mounted...and the pony took off at full gallop towards the deep, deep, water-filled quarry..."No! Stop!" The pony turned its head and looked at Susan. Its foaming lips curled back in a grin, and the velvet was gone from the eye: in the heart of the black pupil was a red flame. NO!" Susan screamed.

You'll have to read it to know what happened...

Colin and Susan had seen the creature, the Brollachan, before without knowing what it was:

"The hollows of the valley were in darkness, and a patch of the darkness was moving, darker than the rest. It flowed across the grass, shapeless, flat, changing in size, and up the cliff face. Somewhere near the middle, if there was a middle, were two red points of light. It slipped over the edge of the quarry, and was absorbed into the bracken."

Then we have the Wild Hunt with Herne the Hunter (though not named as such) the golden Lady of the Lake, the magical bracelet, dwarves, elves, the evil Morrigan...and all happening around the old farmhouse with its oil lamps and stables and goodman Mossock and his wife Bess. When they go to town: "Among all the parked cars, the Mossocks' green cart, with their white horse, Prince, between the shafts, stood thirty years behind its surroundings." I think Alan Garner would have liked to have been born thirty years earlier, or maybe more, such is the sympathy for rural life that comes through his writing.

As the old cliché goes, "for children of all ages" (well, let's say 9 and up...and up...and up...)

The moon of gomrath was very boring to read and made us fall asleep. I would only recommend it to elderly ladies. They would like to know about adventures like colin and susans but it wasnt interesting for us. We couldnt understand what the story was about.

In this modern era, elves fare poorly. Creatures of light, the air is no longer clean to them, and they are too crowded by human construction. Atlendor's people are on their way north beyond the Bannawg to far Prydein, to aid the last kingdom of the elves. But they must stop to rest and recover with Cadellin Silverbrow in the caves of the Fundindelve. And thus unsuspecting, they are drawn into battle when the Brollochan, an ancient terror, is inadvertently set free.

In this is the sequel to 'The Wierdstone of Brisingamen' we finds young Susan and her brother Colin still staying at Highmost Redmanhey. Their time with Gowther and Bess Mossock in Cheshire has been peaceful since the defeat of Selena Place (the Morrigan). Now that time comes to an end, when, seeking to speak with Cadellin, they become part of the hunt for the Brollochan. For the first time they meet with Albanac, one of the elder men, and the dwarf, Uthecar Hornskin. And proud Atlendor who is impatient to continue north.

Shortly thereafter, the Brollochan seizes control of Susan's body, and it is only by virtue of her bracelet, the Mark of Fohla, that it is driven off. Then Colin must undertake a quest along the old, straight track to find the magic that will bring Susan back to the living. But unlike the first volume in this series, this time there is a price for the use of Angharad Goldenhand's bracelet. It calls on an older magic than that of Cadellin, and soon ancient forces walk the land. And this is only the beginning, as the children find they must once again do battle with the Morrigan to protect the human world from the dark powers that lurk on its edge.

Once again, Alan Garner creates a world half from his own imagination and half from the vivid tales and legends of the British countryside. Evil palugs and fierce bodachs course through the night in a landscape filled with strange places and names that seem to have double and triple meanings. Best of all, the Old Magic is awakened, and the Wild Hunt rides again. There is so much in this short volume that the reader is literally stunned into belief.

Garner does not people his books with an excess of characters, and all, from Colin to Cadellin are larger than life. Everyone plays true to archetype, but all are individuals with their own wisdom. And so there are few players that one cannot come to love. In a tale that is a conflict between good and evil, Garner does not let the good become shallow or too monochromatic. The Moon of Gomrath is a powerful story at all levels, from child's adventure to morality play, and resonates long after the last page is turned. Garner proves once again that magic is never really lost.

This is the second in Garner's ALDERLEY books, and can certainly be read alone -although one will perhaps do better by beginning with THE WEIRDSTONE OF BRISINGAMEN. In both books we are given a wonderful mix of the magic and the "real" and invited to share in a world that seems to hover at the edge of peripheral vision. MOON is perhaps a bit "older" than WEIRDSTONE, my Clare admitted to being scared by some of the things that happen to the children around whom the book spins, and there is a feeling that Garner is perhaps aiming more at early teens, but Clare was enthralled with the book at six and wanted to hear it again at eight & I suspect I will catch her reading it when she is twelve, and we will still be talking about it when we are both much much older.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Alan Garner's Alderly tales is that there are only two. Rich in mythology and haunting magic, these stories are a must-read for fantasy fans, especially those seeking something different than the usual sword-and-sorcery fare.

The story picks up not long after the events of "Weirdstone of Brisingamen," with Colin and Susan encountering magical creatures yet again. While walking in the woods, they encounter an elf named Atlendor and a dwarf called Uthecar, near where Cadellin the wizard guards the sleeping knights. (For a better explanation, read the first book) The lios-alfar (elves) are migrating to Alderly, because a mysterious force is causing some of them to vanish, and Atlendor the elf king is bringing his people together to gather what magic he can. Unfortunately, proximity to the ugly constructions of humans is causing the "smoke sickness" in the elves, and Uthecar asks that Susan lend him the bracelet that Angharad Goldenhand gave her.

But Susan is suddenly kidnapped by an evil force, and reappears quiet and strange. She has been taken over by the evil Brollachan, and the dwarves and Cadellin are able to help Colin restore her to normality -- though she will never be quite the same. Unfortunately, evil is still stirring in the form of the Morrigan and her sinister cohorts. And when Susan and Colin light a fire to keep warm on a hill, they inadvertantly set off the band of magical horsemen, the Wild Hunt...

There is no lag in quality in "Moon of Gomrath," and perhaps the biggest flaw is that to understand anything at all, you need to read the first book. Such things as the lios-alfar, Cadellin and his knights, Angharad Goldenhand and the bracelet, and the kids' relationship with all of the above.

This is not a retread of the first book, either. Instead of the hideous svart-alfar (goblins), this time we focus on the beautiful lios-alfar. These "elves of light" are as entrancing as Tolkien's elves, though significantly shorter and slighter. The descriptions of their smoke-sickness is heartrending, as their "changing" from what we think of as life is saddening. Cadellin and the dwarves are featured less prominently than in "Weirdstone," though we do have the evil Pelis the False adding a little spice to the dwarves as a whole. Other creatures are added, such as the bizarre bodachs and the savage palugs.

The elves are not the only sad things about this book, and that give it the feeling of a book for older kids. We are told that if someone wears Angharad Goldenhand's bracelet it "leads her ever further from human life," and that someone who uses a certain object "may not know peace again, not in the sun's circle or in the darkling of the world."

The writing is still quite formal, but evocative of the landscapes and the various unusual creatures present in it. Garner is among the most talented of the minimalist fantasy writers, and he never overburdens the reader with too much information. Colin and Susan are the same excellent characters, but in a sense they, too, are older as they seem to be growing into individual personalities. That doesn't stop them from inadvertantly causing a lot of trouble. The Morrigan is hideous and malevolent, needless to say, and Cadellin is the same wise and thoughtful wizard as in the previous book.

Perhaps the worst thing is that there is no third Alderly tale to look forward to. But the two that exist are some of the best fantasy ever penned.

The skills taught in this book can be used from the day I read it.
Although there is enough number of books analyzing abuse, this book is different because it is so helpful in coping with life for adult children like me.

I'm a veteran of the "adult child" genre, and as I was reading this book, I found myself thinking that other books in my library covered this ground much more effectively for my taste. I found the tone of this volume somewhat simplistic and the sample person-to-person interactions a bit forced (which I suppose is the point), but that made it hard for me to relate to them or imagine myself carrying out the sample exercises.

Personally, I got a lot more out of _Adult Children of Abusive Parents_ by Steven Farmer, which deals with many of the same topics but uses far more detail and more real-life examples I could believe actually happened, and that made a big difference in whether I felt able to take the advice to heart. (Details ARE important to me, and I felt like _Lifeskills_ was light on them: My copy may be 200 pages long, but it uses a suspiciously large font and liberal line spacing -- only 28 lines to a page.)

There's also a curious convention _Lifeskills_ uses -- three small stylized icons of a man tilting back a bottle of wine, which are used as section separators! Given that many "adult children" have one or more alcoholic parents, this really made me cringe.

If you've never read any other books in this genre, this is probably an OK place to start. I just found that with some other books on this topic I'd read, I got more "bang for the buck."

"Lifeskills" is one of those books everyone should own. It deals with the personality traits inherent in those from dysfunctional families (primarily, children of alcoholics) and presents "normal" functioning skills which children of alcoholics often do not learn. Even if one is not a product of an alcoholic environment, this book gives an excellent view of healthy, "normal" responses to life's daily situations.

For years I have struggled with poor social and communication skills which caused me great frustration. This book was written for people like myself who have grown up in the shadows of alcoholism and consequently did not develop some key life skills as a result of the alcoholic environment. This book is a must read. it is thoroughly well written, with examples and instructions on how to develop the life skills needed. i especially liked the chapter that focused on conversation clues, which gives scenarios that can be used in everyday life. Wonderful!!

Perhaps the biggest problem with Alan Garner's Alderly tales is that there are only two. Like the book before it, "The Moon of Gomrath" takes the ingredients of stereotypical fantasy, and gives them a slight twist. The result is a moonlit, mythical adventure with a rare power.

While walking in the woods, Colin and Susan encounter an elf and a dwarf, near where Cadellin the wizard guards the sleeping knights. They learn that the lios-alfar (elves) are migrating to Alderly, because a mysterious force is causing some of them to vanish. Unfortunately, proximity to humans' pollution is causing the "smoke sickness" in the elves, and Uthecar asks that Susan lend him the bracelet that Angharad Goldenhand gave her.

But Susan is suddenly kidnapped by an evil force, and reappears quiet and strange. She has been taken over by the malevolent Brollachan. The dwarves and Cadellin are able to help Colin restore her to normality -- but evil is still stirring in the form of the Morrigan and her sinister cohorts. And when Susan and Colin light a fire to keep warm on a hill, they inadvertantly set off the band of magical horsemen, the Wild Hunt...

"The Moon of Gomrath" is less like a real sequel, and more like "Part Two" of prior novel "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen," with the same mythical storylines and quiet poetry of Garner's unique style. But this time around, warring wizards and goblins take a backseat to elves and ancient warriors straight out of old Celtic myth.

Garner's writing remains poignant and rather saddening -- the elves are sickening, Susan is forever changed by the golden bracelet and her possession, and the industrial world is slowly driving away past magic. Garner tells us that someone who uses a magical horn "may not know peace again, not in the sun's circle or in the darkling of the world."

Susan and Colin fulfil the archetype of plucky-British-kids-on-magical-vacation quite well. Although Susan slowly transcends that over the course of the book, Colin doesn't change much. Cadellin doesn't appear much, but his absence is made up for by the lios-alfar, an evil dwarf, and the malevolent witch Morrigan.

The mythical beauty of "The Moon of Gomrath" is only really comparable to "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen," its predecessor. Magical, mythical, and thoroughly entrancing.

"The Moon of Gomrath" is another great fantastical tale - perfect for young teens and adults alike! I agree with one of the other reviewers that the only problem with this series is that there are only 2 books in it - as I would glady devour several more!

This is only the second book of this genre that I've read - which I would categorize as "fantasy". I never thought I would enjoy such books, but after these 2 by Alan Garner, I realize that I was wrong.

"The Moon of Gomrath" continues the story of Susan & Colin's journeys through a paralell world of magic (their journeys begin in the first book titled "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen").

Once again they are inadvertantly pulled into a fight between good & evil - one that will have major consequences for both the magical world, and the one they actually live in.

The old-world language, coupled with the amazingly vivid details, work together to pull the reader in, and keep you turning pages to the end.

A nice addition to this book was a note at the end which explained where the author got his ideas from, and the fact that all of the geographical areas used in this book (with the exception of just one) actually exist.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys using their imagination - you won't get bored with this one!

I read The Moon of Gomrath when it first came out, and I was 9 or 10. It was the first fantasy novel I had ever read and I really enjoyed it. I decided 40 years later to give it another go, and I was disappointed. In the meantime I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and they are so much better than The Weirdstone and The Moon of Gomrath that the Garner
books suffer by comparison. Garner is using the same British and Celtic ancient legends that Tolkien did, and Garner's using the same Anglo Saxon naming conventions, so Garner's books come off sounding like ripoffs of Tolkien's books.

Garner's 2 books are probably good for 8-13 year olds, who may be too young yet for Tolkien's works, but as an adult, I found them disappointing. The most annoying part was that Garner uses a lot of pronouns in sentences where 2 characters are mentioned, so you never know who "he" or "they" refer to. The characters change their minds too often, and flipflop on what they are going to do. The children want into Fundindelve, and then when they're in, they want out. They leave the house on their own at all hours of the night and run around dangerous quarries and mines. The children can run miles in the night along unknown roads, and yet the same path might take adults days during good light. Susan doesn't wear a watch, but she has no problem with 2 bracelets. The maps are supposed to be of real places, but the same landmarks appear at different places on different maps, and the scale is unknown. The only character that rings true is Gowther, and at the end of "Moon" Garner mentions that he was copied from a real life person. The other characters don't seem to talk or act the way a real person would. I realize Turner was trying to make it seem as though they used older language, and that doesn't bother me. It's that what they say didn't make sense. The climax of both books is very abrupt. The stories just suddenly end. Turner never mentions how old the children are, or even which one is the oldest, but they don't seem to respect any authority and they do what they please. They try to find things without a clue as to where to even look. I just find this too unbelievable. I will not be reading any more of Garner's books.

'The Moon of Gomrath' is the wild magical sequel to 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen', set in Alderley Edge in Cheshire of the present day but harking back to the days of Middlearth. Both these stories have a very Tolkienish way about them, it is an interesting exercise to compare and contrast the characters as they are introduced. It is a pity that Garner's books, faring less well than 'The Hobbit', dropped off the literary radar in the 1980's, but with the benefit of Potter power they are now back in style with new artwork on the cover.

Garner's special art is to take a basic swords-and-sorcery story and elevate it into a poetry-and-powers myth with gritty heroes and terrifying villains who hard to defeat and not always easy to spot. This story of Colin and Susan's second adventure is aimed at a slightly older audience than the Weirdstone, has Susan in the lead role, and has more depth and menace along with some sly humour. The Morrigan is back, not yet at the height of her powers, but ready for revenge. The elves are suffering and dying from the pollution caused by Man: they must retreat to cleaner, remoter places. The battles in magic and swordplay are more deadly and more personal and more realistic. The havoc and hard pace of war are felt in the prose, which is breathless and a little wild itself. The wizard Cadellin takes more of a back seat in this adventure but he does explain (in chapter four) why the coming of the 'Age of Reason' and industrialism was more of a coming of the age of Materialism and a retreat from Reason. Hence the great rift between our Man's world of material values, and the worlds of magic and the life of the spiritual values.

Now as every parent knows, children's books have the power of forming the child's mind. (True even in the age of film and video, as books are both more personal and make mind-expanding demands on the imagination. Films just fill up whatever space is in your head, they do not create it. Books are not just good for you, they are more fun.) So with magical adventures being very much back in style now is a good time to get the various authors into some sort of order. So, without going back to the ancient Greeks, where does Alan Garner fit in? We can easily go back a century or so: F. Anstey (Vice Versa), George MacDonald (Princess and Curdie stories), and E. Nesbit (House of Arden, etc), Tolkien (Hobbit, Farmer Giles of Ham), C.S. Lewis (Narnia, the land of youth), Ursula K. LeGuin (Earthsea), and Alan Garner. And, as Rowling's ghost Peeves puts it, 'Wee Potty Potter', brings us up to date.

So there are two main routes to magic. Anstey, MacDonald, Nesbit, Garner, and Rowling write a story that exercises magic in this world, and the two things collide with exciting degrees of chaos and depth. The results are serious or hilarious, or both. Garner manages to interface the two worlds with superior art. But a higher priced ticket will take you to a whole new world. Tolkien, Lewis, and LeGuin create whole worlds of their own and people it with new peoples - a fully magical world. The magic is integrated, truly part of the fabric of that world, not just added to make it fizz. One you are in, you belong there for a while. You return and your own world is now a little more magical. The whole range of literary forms is now possible, even super-possible as we no longer rely on supposed 'realism' to make the effects. They go beyond just making a magical talisman or two (some brilliantly done, others less so), and seeing 'what happens'. They make new countries and skies, new kingdoms and peoples, new languages and rules. Ultimately they are the suns and the others are the moons.