The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: The classic magical fantasy adventure for children

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When Colin and Susan are pursued by eerie creatures across Alderley Edge, the wizard - Cadellin Silverbrow – takes them to safety deep in the caves of Fundindelve. Here he watches over the sleep of one hundred and forty knights, awaiting the fated hour when they must rise and fight. I originally read this about 3 years ago and I had forgotten two main things about this book. First, what an exciting adventure story this is! I felt claustrophobic as Susan and Colin went through the underground caverns. And my stomach tightened with terror as they walked a narrow ledge across a deep chasm. Secondly, I had forgotten that this was the first book in a trilogy and this book leaves you without a definite ending to the story. This was a great example of a fantasy/mythic/horror young adult novel and I really need to read the remaining 2 books to find out what happens to Susan and Colin. Colin – Susan's twin brother who shares in her adventures (the fact that they are twins is not explicit until Boneland was published, although this is hinted at in the passage through the Earldelving, where Colin is described as being "an inch taller than his sister" [p. 141])

The Alderley Edge stories were brought to Alan Garner's attention by his own grandfather and I too remember stumbling across the story of the sleeping king when I read Folklore, myths and legends of Britain as a child. My father owned a copy from Readers' Digest and I was both haunted and gripped by the stories inside. One of which was the very story which sits rooted at the centre of Garner's story. The Owl Service (1967) won both the Carnegie Medal [48] and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, [49] For the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie in 2007 it was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. [50] Gillies, Carolyn (1975). "Possession and Structure in the Novels of Alan Garner". Children's Literature in Education. 6 (3): 107–117. doi: 10.1007/BF01263341. S2CID 144402971.I have to say that I’m pretty much of the same opinion now. There are some really great elements, but they don’t come together for me because they’re such a mash-up — and there’s no reason given for the mash-up, as in a story like Gaiman’s American Gods. I didn’t really get a sense of great history to some of the mythology, even though the names given are ancient. Worse, I found the last third of the book almost incoherent in its scrambling from plot point to plot point. Why is this happening? What? I don’t follow… Alan Garner OBE (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist who is best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. His work is firmly rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native county of Cheshire, North West England, being set in the region and making use of the native Cheshire dialect. Throughout the story, the children and the dwarves are pursued by goblin-like creatures called Svarts and human servants of the Dark Lord called the Morthbrood. There is points at which Gowther, the children and the dwarves need to journey overland to meet Cadelin. However, they have no idea who they can trust. Hikers on the road could be serving the Dark Lord, as could inhabitants of the houses they pass. The Brisingamen is an item that can be found and equipped in the video game, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Whilst writing in his spare time Garner attempted to gain employment as a teacher, but soon gave that up, believing that "I couldn't write and teach; the energies were too similar." Instead, he worked off and on as a general labourer for four years, remaining unemployed for much of that time. [3]

Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners". The Guardian 12 March 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2012. In 1970 The Weirdstone of Brisingamen was given the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education. [23] The author [ edit ]The novel met with critical praise and led to a sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, published in 1963. Growing to dislike the main characters, Garner decided not to write the envisioned third part of the trilogy. For the 1963 reprint Garner also made several changes to the original text and by the late 1960s he came to reject The Weirdstone of Brisingamen as "a fairly bad book". [2] Although it fell out of critical approval it was adapted in the late 1970s as a musical that was staged in Manchester and Essex. In 2010 HarperCollins brought out a special 50th anniversary issue of the book, containing a new preface by Garner and praise from various other figures involved in children's literature, while 2011 saw BBC Radio 4 produce a radio adaptation. In August 2012 Boneland, the third volume in Garner's trilogy, was finally released.