Alan Garner Classic Collection (7 Books) - Weirdstone of Brisingamen, the Moon of Gomrath, the Owl Service, Elidor, Red Shift, Lad of the Gad, a Bag of Moonshine)

Update: 12 Feb 2022. Upped it to 4 stars on 5th reading

I've read this 2 or 3 times before but never liked it as much as [a:Alan Garner|47991|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363273417p2/47991.jpg]'s first three books, [b:The Weirdstone of Brisingamen|694997|The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Tales of Alderley, #1)|Alan Garner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1177345171l/694997.SY75.jpg|279305], [b:The Moon of Gomrath|694942|The Moon of Gomrath (Tales of Alderley, #2)|Alan Garner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1177344653l/694942.SY75.jpg|1219230] and [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328875908l/292654.SX50.jpg|2987303]. I've read those several times, and enjoyed them each time. But [b:The Owl Service|83829|The Owl Service|Alan Garner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328875903l/83829.SX50.jpg|80927] has always seemed unsatisfactory, and made little sense.

This time, however, I read "Math son of Mathonwy" from [b:The Mabinogion|455219|The Mabinogion|Anonymous|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334993150l/455219.SY75.jpg|162739] first, and that helped to make a little more sense of the plot. The story of Math, and his nephew Gwydyon, and grandnephew Lleu is frequently referred to in [b:The Owl Service|83829|The Owl Service|Alan Garner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328875903l/83829.SX50.jpg|80927], but in a fragmentary and disjointed way. So reading the story of Math helps to put it in context. But I still didn't like it as much as Garner's earlier books.

Note on fifth reading: I recommend reading "Math, son of Mathonwy" before reading [b:The Owl Service|83829|The Owl Service|Alan Garner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328875903l/83829.SX50.jpg|80927], then again after Chapter 3, and the last part of the story, from the creation of Bloduedd, after reading Chapter 5.

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.