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lizzie_bobbins's review
2.0
It didn't quite hold the same magic for me as it did when I was 9, sadly.
alismed's review against another edition
4.0
I have meant to read this since I was about 10! Cycling around the area last month reminded me to give it a go and I wasn't disappointed. It is an exciting adventure and I was always keen to know what happened next. At times I was a little confused about who was what; maybe because I am not a big reader of fantasy. However I loved the familiar settings and atmospheric descriptions and am looking forward to reading the Moon of Gomrath.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those children's fantasy classics I'd heard of but never read before - and having read it now, I can only think how I would have loved this as a kid. It's very reminiscent of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series, if it doesn't quite have her depth, but it's still an extremely enjoyable read. The characterisation is a little thin, and the end is strangely abrupt, but the real shining strength of this book lies in its sense of place. This is tied very cleverly into plot, using local legends and industry to shape the story. (There's one long section where the kids are stuck in the abandoned mines that is just excellently written and is I think the story highlight for me.) Weirdstone is clearly set in a part of Cheshire that Garner knows extremely well, and I can easily picture fans retracing steps and visiting the landmarks he's written about here - I may have been Googling pictures of places mentioned as I read. Clear too is that Garner not only knows this setting in his bones but also loves it, and his passion for it makes me love it too.
I am genuinely delighted. And taking a copy of this book to one day wander around Alderley Edge myself is the latest entry on my bucket list.
I am genuinely delighted. And taking a copy of this book to one day wander around Alderley Edge myself is the latest entry on my bucket list.
brewergnome's review against another edition
4.0
A classic from which followed a lot of things similarly structured. Well written and tight YA.
cat_brewsandreviews's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book so much. It was gifted to me by an uncle when I was a child and I fell in love with it. I lived near enough to the Edge to visit and that only made the whole thing more magical for my young self.
As I've aged, I can see that it's not the 5 stars I would have given it when I first read it, but, for children, I still think it is a brilliant and imaginative tale that is wonderful for encouraging the imagination.
As I've aged, I can see that it's not the 5 stars I would have given it when I first read it, but, for children, I still think it is a brilliant and imaginative tale that is wonderful for encouraging the imagination.
dreams_of_attolia's review against another edition
3.0
The landscape plays a very prominent role in the story, both as it relates to the magic system and as it influences the plot. The plot itself is fairly simple (get magic stone away from the evil creatures and into the hands of the good guys). I think what Garner does best is to take you along on the character's journey. There are detailed descriptions of crawling through underbrush and slogging along muddy creek banks. There was also a vividly described trek through narrow and twisting underground caves that made the claustrophobe in me positively squeamish. Definitely one to read more for the experience than the story.
hayesstw's review against another edition
5.0
I've just been re-reading some [a:Alan Garner|47991|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363273417p2/47991.jpg] books. This time I read them in reverse, starting with [b:The Owl Service|83829|The Owl Service|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875903s/83829.jpg|80927], then [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875908s/292654.jpg|2987303] followed by [b:The Moon of Gomrath|694942|The Moon of Gomrath (Tales of Alderley, #2)|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177344653s/694942.jpg|1219230] and now [b:The Weirdstone of Brisingamen|694997|The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Tales of Alderley, #1)|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177345171s/694997.jpg|279305]
I still rate them pretty highly as children's fantasy novels, but perhaps reading them in reverse order puts them in a different perspective. The first two, the "Alderley" tales, both ends in scenes of confused violence. In the case of [b:The Weirdstone of Brisngamen] it wasn't as good as I remembered it, because of that. And I became aware of more of the plot holes. I still give it five stars though.
It's about two children staying on a farm, and one of them, Susan, has a bracelet with a magic stone that holds the key to the reserve forces of good being held in a cave under a hill. The forces of evil want to get the stone to destroy the reserve force and increase their own power, to they conspire to steal it.
A common feature of quite a lot of children's fantasy novels is the underground tunnel sequence. Quite a lot of non-fantasy stories also have it. A good many of [a:Enid Blyton|10657|Enid Blyton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1298204474p2/10657.jpg]'s "Adventure" and "Secret" series feature underground tunnels and caves. They are present in [b:The Silver Chair|65641|The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4)|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1336139237s/65641.jpg|1419727] by [a:C.S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1367519078p2/1069006.jpg] and in the novels of [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434625177p2/656983.jpg]. I am sure one could find many other examples. But [b:The Weirdstone of Brisingamen|694997|The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Tales of Alderley, #1)|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177345171s/694997.jpg|279305] has absolutely, incontrovertibly, the most terrifying, claustrophobic and horrific underground cavern sequence I have ever read.
Apart from that there's a lot of running and hiding and trying to keep the stone out of the hands of the bad guys and a deus ex machina or two. It's a good tale well told, and well worth reading, I think. But yes, the violence at the end is a bit much.
I still rate them pretty highly as children's fantasy novels, but perhaps reading them in reverse order puts them in a different perspective. The first two, the "Alderley" tales, both ends in scenes of confused violence. In the case of [b:The Weirdstone of Brisngamen] it wasn't as good as I remembered it, because of that. And I became aware of more of the plot holes. I still give it five stars though.
It's about two children staying on a farm, and one of them, Susan, has a bracelet with a magic stone that holds the key to the reserve forces of good being held in a cave under a hill. The forces of evil want to get the stone to destroy the reserve force and increase their own power, to they conspire to steal it.
A common feature of quite a lot of children's fantasy novels is the underground tunnel sequence. Quite a lot of non-fantasy stories also have it. A good many of [a:Enid Blyton|10657|Enid Blyton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1298204474p2/10657.jpg]'s "Adventure" and "Secret" series feature underground tunnels and caves. They are present in [b:The Silver Chair|65641|The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4)|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1336139237s/65641.jpg|1419727] by [a:C.S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1367519078p2/1069006.jpg] and in the novels of [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434625177p2/656983.jpg]. I am sure one could find many other examples. But [b:The Weirdstone of Brisingamen|694997|The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Tales of Alderley, #1)|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177345171s/694997.jpg|279305] has absolutely, incontrovertibly, the most terrifying, claustrophobic and horrific underground cavern sequence I have ever read.
Apart from that there's a lot of running and hiding and trying to keep the stone out of the hands of the bad guys and a deus ex machina or two. It's a good tale well told, and well worth reading, I think. But yes, the violence at the end is a bit much.
kerrys_reading's review against another edition
2.0
The first part of the book was great I couldn't put it down but I found the second part to be dragged out, confusing and altogether boring. I almost didn't finish the book but thought I should continue, I'm still not 100% what happened in the book and I didn't understand the ending at all.
litdoes's review against another edition
3.0
I read “The Owl Service” as a child and it was one of those rare books that I reread with glee then and found something new to enjoy each time. So it was with some excitement when I stumbled across the 50th Anniversary edition of Garner’s children’s classic on kindle and immediately snapped it up, hoping to recapture the magic of my youth. Unfortunately this novel did not sparkle for me as “The Owl Service” did.
Given, the novel does have a strong sense of place and Garner displays deep knowledge of folklore and myths which sees magical creatures, wizards and witches woven seamlessly into the rural environs of an English village in Cheshire. The two children at the heart of the novel, Susan and Colin, are on a quest to restore the titular stone to its rightful place in the dwarf caves of Fundindelve, under the care of the wizard Cadellin, failing which great evil is prophesied to triumph over the good and the world would be in peril.
Well and good enough, except that for the most part of the book, the characters were in flight from svarts (some sort of goblin). There is a huge chunk where the children are stuck in the caves and they literally have to wiggle out of the impossibly claustrophobic confines of a never ending labyrinth, aided by a pair of noble dwarves Fenodyree and Durathror, their names (and characters) with strong mythological roots. While Garner must be praised for the very strong detail of their journey, it just went on and on. The latter part of the novel was more of the same but above ground, before the huge battle which was surprisingly uneventful, given the build up in their journey, though there was a startling revelation. There is a sequel and a third book that was only released in 2011, featuring an adult Colin many years after this book, but it may be some time before I would be tempted to pick up the story again. Perhaps I should revisit “The Owl Service” and see what it was that moved me that much more than this book.
Given, the novel does have a strong sense of place and Garner displays deep knowledge of folklore and myths which sees magical creatures, wizards and witches woven seamlessly into the rural environs of an English village in Cheshire. The two children at the heart of the novel, Susan and Colin, are on a quest to restore the titular stone to its rightful place in the dwarf caves of Fundindelve, under the care of the wizard Cadellin, failing which great evil is prophesied to triumph over the good and the world would be in peril.
Well and good enough, except that for the most part of the book, the characters were in flight from svarts (some sort of goblin). There is a huge chunk where the children are stuck in the caves and they literally have to wiggle out of the impossibly claustrophobic confines of a never ending labyrinth, aided by a pair of noble dwarves Fenodyree and Durathror, their names (and characters) with strong mythological roots. While Garner must be praised for the very strong detail of their journey, it just went on and on. The latter part of the novel was more of the same but above ground, before the huge battle which was surprisingly uneventful, given the build up in their journey, though there was a startling revelation. There is a sequel and a third book that was only released in 2011, featuring an adult Colin many years after this book, but it may be some time before I would be tempted to pick up the story again. Perhaps I should revisit “The Owl Service” and see what it was that moved me that much more than this book.
lollyb's review against another edition
4.0
Previously read when I was young. Still has the creepy feel which I think was helped by the audiobook narration and music between chapters. Actually felt claustrophobic during the caves sequence and it was a great relief when that part was over. It had an incredibly abrupt ending, I was expecting another chapter to wrap things up but no. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, mostly because of the feelings it evokes, but also because it leaves you with a slew of questions.