Urn Burial

by Robert Westall

Ralph, a young shepherd, discovers a weird tomb and a strange "sleeping" creature buried alongside a weapon. He investigates further and, before he knows it, awakens a dangerous secret that threatens to disturb the peaceful farming community.

Genres: Science Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

247 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Robert Westall was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England in 1929.

His first published book The Machine Gunners (1975) which won him the Carnegie Medal is set in World War Two when a group of children living on Tyneside retrieve a machine-gun from a crashed German aircraft. He won the Carnegie Medal again in 1981 for The Scarecrows, the first writer to win it twice. He won the Smarties Prize in 1989 for Blitzcat and the Guardian Award in 1990 for The Kingdom by the Sea. Robert Westall's books have been published in 21 different countries and in 18 different languages, including Braille.

From: http://www.robertwestall.com/

Reviews

[Douglas Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a short story with this same title and by the same author many years ago. A few years later, I was happy to learn that he expanded it into this full length novel.

While it was quite some time ago that I read this, I recall enjoying how the plot unfolded and progressed. Taking place in Northern Engand, its about seventeen year old Ralph Edwards who stumbles across a burial site with a strange capsule. Upon opening it he discoveres that it is the body of a alien being and along with him is buried several devices and weapons. When Ralph starts experimenting with the weapons he brings to earth an ongoing intergalactic war between dog-like and cat-like creatures.
In a critique I read the critic states how Westall could have depicted these cat and dog aliens as comical or how they could have come across as comical even if not so intended. But instead, Westall does a fabulous job of depicting these aliens as elegant and even frightening. I agree with that assessment completely. At all times the race of cat aliens and dog aliens came across as formidable beings.

Its a fast paced story and all in all very well written with deep character development. I would like to see new stories from Robert Westall; but alas, since he passed away some time ago, that is not to be.

[Bookhuw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have first read this about twenty-four years ago and not thought of it since until a half-remembered scene sprung into my mind a few weeks ago. Google and the search term 'shepherd abducted cats and dogs aliens' revealed the book to be Urn Burial, which I must have consumed as I bulldozed my way through most of Robert Westall's works as a ten-year-old.
The strong characterisation that I remember being a feature of Westall's shines through, but sadly I think there must have been a reason why the young-me largely forgot this one as it's a bit patchy, with some heavy-handed exposition.

[Josephine Draper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread from my childhood. I remember enjoying this book far more than I expected, and just as I remembered, it’s a great read. Like Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen this book juxtaposes salt-of-the-earth country people with the fantastical - in this case the heroic space-travelling cat-like Fefethil and villainous dog-like Wawaka, with hero, Ralph the shepherd. I loved the way Ralph fumbles his way around the central mystery of finding the embalmed body of an extra-terrestrial on the Cumbrian fells, making enormous mistakes which lead to at least one death before he’s saved by the advanced technology of the Fefethil. His blundering is exactly how some curious ignorant would behave around superior technology.
The sequence with the mould in the Wawakan ship is absolutely terrifying, and I enjoyed all the fighting scenes too. Of the rustic villagers, so vividly depicted, Ralph’s mum is a standout character - ‘He’d always been a bit scared of her; still was. But she made him feel very safe. His school life had been littered with the remains of his enemies, boys and teachers.’

Ralph’s despair at the prospect of having to go back to his mundane life after adventuring with space travellers is oh-so relatable. A terrible feeling of grey boredom settled over Ralph, as if it were Monday morning and raining all over the universe.

Overall, a good, enjoyable read. The plot holes are massive if you think about it (what language was everyone speaking? Is it plausible that cairn been undiscovered for 2000 years?) but I love the connection to the Book of Revelations and werewolf legends so my advice is just to read it and enjoy, don’t think too hard.

[Brita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jag har läst den förut och tyckte om den då. Det gjorde jag fortfarande nu. Vissa saker hade jag helt glömt bort medan annat var sånt som jag kom ihåg tydligt.

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urn Burial Robert Westall

A very enjoyable read. Not perhaps as strong as the books set in Garmouth as the location isn't as well fleshed out, but very well written and has some depth.

[Dan Piponi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Westall conveys a great sense of place in all of the fiction I have read by him, and this book is no different. This time it's conflict between space cats and space dogs (Aslans vs Vargr?) that spills over into the British Lake District.

But the sci-fi part of story is a little weak. Lots of standard sci-fi cliches and certainly little sense of alienness of the aliens. (There's a hint of back-story here that Westall never had a chance to complete. It might be that these aliens, and maybe even humans, are uplifted animals that share ancestry, so not so alien after all.) But I did enjoy the way events played out in a local down to Earth way involving a handful of people rather than this being a grand epic.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this is sort of a mystery, it is also sort of sci-fi. A shepherd uncovers the grave of an unearthly creature and must solve the mystery of where they come from, etc. It's a weird plot.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I read repeatedly in my childhood. An underrated classic. Its images are still with me vividly today.

[Michelle]

Listed as Q3 = A good story with some faults, P3 = A booktalk on this title will excite most people’s interest

[Justin Beasor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this when I was in secondary school English and always wanted to read it again. I got a copy and I couldn't put it down. I felt like I was in my own personal time capsule.