A review by stagasaurus
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner

3.0

I think unfortunately it is a bit like Star Wars. You have to experience it as a child to truly get it. It was very original, and the structure was totally different from loads of children’s literature. But I had to keep going back trying to work out who people like Slinkveal and Lodur were. At one point I was trying to work out who Limbhewer was only to realise it was a nickname of one of the dwarves, Durathror. At least I think he was a dwarf. At one point I thought he was an elf but then I decided he must be a dwarf after all. I really liked Susan, nice to have an adventure book where the girl is the strong one.

The place names are amazing even if they added to my confusion. It made me want to explore Cheshire, but definitely not go in any caves. I’m not claustrophobic, but I think if you were, this is not the book for you.

This well-loved copy was lent to me by a colleague. I do really wish I’d read it as a child.