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rachael_amber's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
emkoshka's review against another edition
4.0
I was given Elidor for Christmas when I was 12 and then it sat on my shelf for 17 years, unread. What a joy to read it now. Chilling, creepy, sinister. It's a fantasy novel, but is mostly set in Manchester, England, which provides more than enough in the way of otherworldliness. The deserted streets and half-demolished houses of the opening and closing chapters are evocative in that way that makes you look over your shoulder. The children are very 1960s conservative and the ending wraps up too quickly, but they're my only quibbles. I'll be hitting the library for more of Alan Garner's books. :)
scaifea's review against another edition
2.0
Four siblings stumble into another world and are tasked with guarding four sacred items by bringing them back into this world for safe-keeping. For a year all seems fine, to the point that some of the children start to doubt that it really happened at all, when warriors from the other place break through to steal the treasures. I found this one frustrating to no end. It starts out too abruptly, plonking the reading down into the story with not nearly enough background (I even checked to make sure I wasn't starting a series midway through) and has just as baffling and lose-endy an ending. Shame, really, because the story seems like it could be a really good one.
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
5.0
I discovered Alan garner in my primary school library. I have always remembered his wonderful books.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review against another edition
3.0
The three brothers and their sister are wandering around town when they unexpectedly find themselves in another world, the world of Elidor. They soon learn that they are to be the saviors of the world, that they are to be the guardians of the four Treasures. They return to their world, but before long people from Elidor, determined to destroy the land, follow the four.
tambourine's review against another edition
5.0
just IMAGINE having the audacity to write and publish a children’s book that ends like this
lnatal's review against another edition
3.0
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Roland, Helen, David and Nicholas Watson have escaped to Manchester to avoid helping out at their house move. After a detour down a creepy backstreet, they come upon a derelict church and a mysterious fiddle player.
Little do the children know that chance didn't bring them there, but a prophecy hundreds of years old. One by one they realise that the church isn't all it seems, as the fabric of time and space opens and they are propelled into the dying and strange world of Elidor...
Episode 2 of 4
With his siblings disappeared into the Mound, King Malebron says only Roland can save them.
Episode 3 of 4
Roland's strong imagination threatens to draw the Evil towards the Treasures.
Episode 4 of 4
Time has run out for the Watsons and Malebron - can Helen help to save Elidor?
Alan Garner's classic fantasy adventure dramatised in four-parts by Don Webb.
Stars Mossie Cassidy as Roland, Raffey Cassidy as Helen, William Rush as Nicholas, Stephen Hoyle as David, Toby Hadoke as Malebron and Fiona Clarke as Mrs Watson.
Original music composed by Ian Williams
Directed at BBC Manchester by Charlotte Riches.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in April 2011.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0106x20
Roland, Helen, David and Nicholas Watson have escaped to Manchester to avoid helping out at their house move. After a detour down a creepy backstreet, they come upon a derelict church and a mysterious fiddle player.
Little do the children know that chance didn't bring them there, but a prophecy hundreds of years old. One by one they realise that the church isn't all it seems, as the fabric of time and space opens and they are propelled into the dying and strange world of Elidor...
Episode 2 of 4
With his siblings disappeared into the Mound, King Malebron says only Roland can save them.
Episode 3 of 4
Roland's strong imagination threatens to draw the Evil towards the Treasures.
Episode 4 of 4
Time has run out for the Watsons and Malebron - can Helen help to save Elidor?
Alan Garner's classic fantasy adventure dramatised in four-parts by Don Webb.
Stars Mossie Cassidy as Roland, Raffey Cassidy as Helen, William Rush as Nicholas, Stephen Hoyle as David, Toby Hadoke as Malebron and Fiona Clarke as Mrs Watson.
Original music composed by Ian Williams
Directed at BBC Manchester by Charlotte Riches.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in April 2011.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0106x20
skyereads's review against another edition
4.0
I think I have read this, back when I first discovered Alan Garner, but it didn't stick in my mind as clearly as Weirdstone and Gomrath, and now I see why. Some of the magic is here, but half formed, without the depth of his other works.
nigellicus's review against another edition
5.0
I miss my old edition of Elidor but it seems to have vanished along with its wonderful illustrations. Elidor, that strange halfway-house book between Garner's more conventional children's fantasies and his truly powerful, timeshifting work in Owl Service and Red Shift.
Four children find themselves almost randomly in an urban wasteland and pass through to another world. When they return they are carrying four Treasures which must be hidden and protected. As time goes on, the children begin to forget and rationalise their experience, but forces on Elidor are trying to break through, homing in on the Treasures themselves.
Elidor is portal fantasy as ghost story. The book is full of strange phenomena: massive build-us of static electricity, shadows on walls, mysterious figures on the porch and eyes peeking through letterboxes. A message comes through on a spiritualist's planchette. It is spooky and unnerving and haunting in every sense of the word. It is also tight, spare and economical, without a wasted word or scene, and the terrible sacrifice at the end has always stayed with me.
Four children find themselves almost randomly in an urban wasteland and pass through to another world. When they return they are carrying four Treasures which must be hidden and protected. As time goes on, the children begin to forget and rationalise their experience, but forces on Elidor are trying to break through, homing in on the Treasures themselves.
Elidor is portal fantasy as ghost story. The book is full of strange phenomena: massive build-us of static electricity, shadows on walls, mysterious figures on the porch and eyes peeking through letterboxes. A message comes through on a spiritualist's planchette. It is spooky and unnerving and haunting in every sense of the word. It is also tight, spare and economical, without a wasted word or scene, and the terrible sacrifice at the end has always stayed with me.
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