A
tale of Alderley
When
Colin and Susan are pursued by eerie creatures across Alderley Edge,
they are saved by the Wizard. He takes them into the caves of
Fundindelve, where he watches over the enchanted sleep of one hundred
and forty knights.
But
the heart of the magic that binds them – Firefrost, also known as
the Weirdstone of Brisingamen – has been lost. The Wizard has been
searching for the stone for more than 100 years, but the forces of
evil are closing in, determined to possess and destroy its special
power.
Colin
and Susan realise at last that they are the key to the Weirdstone’s
return. But how can two children defeat the Morrigan and her deadly
brood?
Amazon
description
This
(and Moon
of Gomrath,
the second book in the Alderley trilogy) has to be my all-time
favourite book from my childhood. I remember arguing with my
teacher Elizabeth Webster that Alan Garner’s stories were better
than Tolkien’s.
What
makes this so great is the authenticity of the stories – they are
based on real localities (Alderley Edge) and local myths. They are
fantasy, but their roots are in the hills of Cheshire and British
mythology. Garner arguably gave me my first introduction to magic
realism, the genre in which I write. I could have chosen other books
by this writer – The
Owl Service, Elidor and
of course the great Red
Shift,
but Weirdstone was
how I first experienced Garner’s work and so it holds a special
place in my heart.
Whether the book had
such a strong hold on me (which it retains) because it chimed with my
vision of the world – history and myth woven in to the present –
or because it informed my view is impossible to say now. But I read
this book over and over again throughout my childhood, delighting in
Garner’s wonderful descriptions – the account of Colin and
Susan’s journey through the disused mineworkings of the Edge beats
the journey through the Mines of Moria into a cocked hat.
After
many years Garner has just published the sequel – a book for adults
called Bonelands.
It’s on the list of what I want for Christmas. That’s if I can
wait that long.
