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Tales of Alderley #2
The Moon of Gomrath
When the Moon of Gomrath--the one night of the year when Old Magic is at its most powerful--has descended, and two friends unknowingly awaken the Wild Hunt, Colin, Susan, and the wizard Cadellin must save the world from a horrible battle before it is too late. Reprint.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
60 people are currently reading
1757 people want to read
About the author
Alan Garner
81 books744 followersAlan Garner OBE (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist who is best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. His work is firmly rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native county of Cheshire, North West England, being set in the region and making use of the native Cheshire dialect.
Born into a working-class family in Congleton, Cheshire, Garner grew up around the nearby town of Alderley Edge, and spent much of his youth in the wooded area known locally as 'The Edge', where he gained an early interest in the folklore of the region. Studying at Manchester Grammar School and then Oxford University, in 1957 he moved to the nearby village of Blackden, where he bought and renovated an Early Modern building known as Toad Hall. His first novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, was published in 1960. A children's fantasy novel set on the Edge, it incorporated elements of local folklore in its plot and characters. Garner completed a sequel, The Moon of Gomrath (1963), but left the third book of the trilogy he had envisioned. Instead he produced a string of further fantasy novels, Elidor (1965), The Owl Service (1967) and Red Shift (1973).
Turning away from fantasy as a genre, Garner produced The Stone Book Quartet (1979), a series of four short novellas detailing a day in the life of four generations of his family. He also published a series of British folk tales which he had rewritten in a series of books entitled Alan Garner's Fairy Tales of Gold (1979), Alan Garner's Book of British Fairy Tales (1984) and A Bag of Moonshine (1986). In his subsequent novels, Strandloper (1996) and Thursbitch (2003), he continued writing tales revolving around Cheshire, although without the fantasy elements which had characterised his earlier work. In 2012, he finally published a third book in the Weirdstone trilogy.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Garner
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Born into a working-class family in Congleton, Cheshire, Garner grew up around the nearby town of Alderley Edge, and spent much of his youth in the wooded area known locally as 'The Edge', where he gained an early interest in the folklore of the region. Studying at Manchester Grammar School and then Oxford University, in 1957 he moved to the nearby village of Blackden, where he bought and renovated an Early Modern building known as Toad Hall. His first novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, was published in 1960. A children's fantasy novel set on the Edge, it incorporated elements of local folklore in its plot and characters. Garner completed a sequel, The Moon of Gomrath (1963), but left the third book of the trilogy he had envisioned. Instead he produced a string of further fantasy novels, Elidor (1965), The Owl Service (1967) and Red Shift (1973).
Turning away from fantasy as a genre, Garner produced The Stone Book Quartet (1979), a series of four short novellas detailing a day in the life of four generations of his family. He also published a series of British folk tales which he had rewritten in a series of books entitled Alan Garner's Fairy Tales of Gold (1979), Alan Garner's Book of British Fairy Tales (1984) and A Bag of Moonshine (1986). In his subsequent novels, Strandloper (1996) and Thursbitch (2003), he continued writing tales revolving around Cheshire, although without the fantasy elements which had characterised his earlier work. In 2012, he finally published a third book in the Weirdstone trilogy.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Garner
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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March 21, 2022
Susan and Colin live on the borders of magic after receiving a bracelet from Angharad Goldenhand, the Lady of the Lake. Working through the children the Old Magic is returning to the world.
Entering Fundindelve
“Will you open the gates?” said Albanac.
Susan stretched out her hand, and touched the iron gates. They swung open.
“Quickly now,” said Uthecar. “It is a healthier night within than without.”
He hurried the children through the gates, and the rock closed after them the moment they were all inside.
“Why did they open? They wouldn’t before.” said Susan.
“Because you spoke the word, and for another reason that we shall talk about,” said Albanac.
They went with Albanac down the paths of Fundindelve. Tunnel entered cave, and cave gave way to tunnel caves, and tunnels, each different and the same: there seemed to be no end.
As they went deeper the blue light grew pale and strong, and by this the children knew that they were nearing the Cave of the Sleepers, for whose sake the old dwarf-mine of Fundindelve had been charged with the greatest magic of an age, and its guardian was Cadellin Silverbrow. Here in this cave, waiting through the centuries for the day when Cadellin should rouse him from his enchanted sleep to fight the last battle of the world, lay a king, surrounded by his knights, each with his milk-white mare.
Susan's journey through Old Magic
Susan told her story. She spoke hesitantly, as though trying to describe something to herself as much as to anyone else.
“I remember falling into water,” she said, “and everything went black: I held my breath until the pain made me let go, but just then the water rushed away from me in the dark, and – well – although the darkness was the same, I was somewhere else, floating – nowhere in particular, just backwards and forwards, and round in nothing, You know how when you’re in bed at night you can imagine the bed’s tilted sideways, or the room’s sliding about? It was like that.
That wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t like the noises. There were squeakings and gratings going on all round me – voices – no, not quite voices; they were just confused sounds; but they came from throats. Some were near and others far away. This went on for a long time, and I didn’t like it. But I wasn’t frightened or worried about what was going to happen to me – though I’m frightened now when I think of it! I didn’t like being where I was, but at the same time I couldn’t think of anywhere else that I wanted to be. And then all at once I felt a hand catch hold of my wrist and pull me upwards. There was a light, and I heard someone shouting – I think now it was Albanac – and I started to move faster than ever; so fast that I was dizzy, and the light got brighter and brighter, and it made no difference when I shut my eyes. Then I began to slow down, and the glare didn’t hurt so much, and I could see the outline of the hand that was holding me. And then I seemed to break through a skin of light, and I was lying in shallow water at the edge of a sea, and standing over me was a woman, dressed in red and white, and we were holding each other’s wrist and our bracelets were linked together – and Cadellin! I’ve just realised! Hers was the same as mine – the one Angharad gave me!”
“Ay, it would be,” said the wizard quietly. “No matter: go on.”
“Well, she undid her bracelet and slipped it out of mine, and we walked along the beach, and she said her name was Celemon and we were going to Caer Rigor. I didn’t feel there was any need to ask questions: I accepted everything as it came, like you do in a dream.
“We joined the others who were waiting for us on a rocky headland, and we rode out above the sea towards Caer Rigor, and everyone was excited and talked of home. Then suddenly there was this bitter taste in my mouth and all the others had it, too, and no matter how hard we rode, we couldn’t move forward. Celemon said we must turn back, so we did, and then I felt dizzy again, and the taste in my mouth got worse until I thought I was going to be sick, and I couldn’t keep my balance, and I fell from the horse, over and over into the sea, or fog, or whatever it was. I was falling for hours, and then I hit something hard. I’d closed my eyes to stop myself from being sick, and when I opened them I was here.“But where is Celemon ? Shan’t I see her again?”
“I do not doubt it,” said the wizard. “Some day you will meet, and ride over the sea to Caer Rigor, and there will be no bitterness to draw you back. But everything in its time. And now you must rest.”
A dream or Magic?
“She said it was like a dream,” said Cadellin. “I wish I could dismiss it so but it is truth, and I suspect there is even more than she remembers.
“The Brollachan thrust her from the one level of the world that men are born to, down into the darkness and unformed life that is called Abred by wizards. From there she was lifted to the Threshold of the Summer Stars, as far beyond this world of yours as Abred is below and few have ever gone so far, fewer still returned, and none at all unchanged.
“She has ridden with the Shining Ones, the Daughters of the Moon, and they came with her from behind the north wind. Now she is here. But the Shining Ones did not leave Susan of choice, for through her they may wake their power in the world – the Old Magic, which has long been gone from here. It is a magic beyond our guidance: it is magic of the heart, not of the head: it can be felt, but not known: and in that I see no good.
“And Susan was not prey of the Brollachan by chance. Vengeance was there, too.
“She was saved, and is protected, only by the Mark of Fohla – her blessing and her curse. For it guards her against the evil that would crush her, and it leads her ever further from the ways of human life. The more she wears it, the more need there is to do so. And it is too late now to take it off.
“Is that not enough, without calling the Old Magic from its sleep? I should be lighter in my heart if I knew that what you have quickened this night could as easily be laid to rest.
The Old Magic yearns to be free, the High Magic tries to control it. The shapeshifting Morrigan thinks only of taking bloody revenge on the children.
Enjoy!
Entering Fundindelve
“Will you open the gates?” said Albanac.
Susan stretched out her hand, and touched the iron gates. They swung open.
“Quickly now,” said Uthecar. “It is a healthier night within than without.”
He hurried the children through the gates, and the rock closed after them the moment they were all inside.
“Why did they open? They wouldn’t before.” said Susan.
“Because you spoke the word, and for another reason that we shall talk about,” said Albanac.
They went with Albanac down the paths of Fundindelve. Tunnel entered cave, and cave gave way to tunnel caves, and tunnels, each different and the same: there seemed to be no end.
As they went deeper the blue light grew pale and strong, and by this the children knew that they were nearing the Cave of the Sleepers, for whose sake the old dwarf-mine of Fundindelve had been charged with the greatest magic of an age, and its guardian was Cadellin Silverbrow. Here in this cave, waiting through the centuries for the day when Cadellin should rouse him from his enchanted sleep to fight the last battle of the world, lay a king, surrounded by his knights, each with his milk-white mare.
Susan's journey through Old Magic
Susan told her story. She spoke hesitantly, as though trying to describe something to herself as much as to anyone else.
“I remember falling into water,” she said, “and everything went black: I held my breath until the pain made me let go, but just then the water rushed away from me in the dark, and – well – although the darkness was the same, I was somewhere else, floating – nowhere in particular, just backwards and forwards, and round in nothing, You know how when you’re in bed at night you can imagine the bed’s tilted sideways, or the room’s sliding about? It was like that.
That wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t like the noises. There were squeakings and gratings going on all round me – voices – no, not quite voices; they were just confused sounds; but they came from throats. Some were near and others far away. This went on for a long time, and I didn’t like it. But I wasn’t frightened or worried about what was going to happen to me – though I’m frightened now when I think of it! I didn’t like being where I was, but at the same time I couldn’t think of anywhere else that I wanted to be. And then all at once I felt a hand catch hold of my wrist and pull me upwards. There was a light, and I heard someone shouting – I think now it was Albanac – and I started to move faster than ever; so fast that I was dizzy, and the light got brighter and brighter, and it made no difference when I shut my eyes. Then I began to slow down, and the glare didn’t hurt so much, and I could see the outline of the hand that was holding me. And then I seemed to break through a skin of light, and I was lying in shallow water at the edge of a sea, and standing over me was a woman, dressed in red and white, and we were holding each other’s wrist and our bracelets were linked together – and Cadellin! I’ve just realised! Hers was the same as mine – the one Angharad gave me!”
“Ay, it would be,” said the wizard quietly. “No matter: go on.”
“Well, she undid her bracelet and slipped it out of mine, and we walked along the beach, and she said her name was Celemon and we were going to Caer Rigor. I didn’t feel there was any need to ask questions: I accepted everything as it came, like you do in a dream.
“We joined the others who were waiting for us on a rocky headland, and we rode out above the sea towards Caer Rigor, and everyone was excited and talked of home. Then suddenly there was this bitter taste in my mouth and all the others had it, too, and no matter how hard we rode, we couldn’t move forward. Celemon said we must turn back, so we did, and then I felt dizzy again, and the taste in my mouth got worse until I thought I was going to be sick, and I couldn’t keep my balance, and I fell from the horse, over and over into the sea, or fog, or whatever it was. I was falling for hours, and then I hit something hard. I’d closed my eyes to stop myself from being sick, and when I opened them I was here.“But where is Celemon ? Shan’t I see her again?”
“I do not doubt it,” said the wizard. “Some day you will meet, and ride over the sea to Caer Rigor, and there will be no bitterness to draw you back. But everything in its time. And now you must rest.”
A dream or Magic?
“She said it was like a dream,” said Cadellin. “I wish I could dismiss it so but it is truth, and I suspect there is even more than she remembers.
“The Brollachan thrust her from the one level of the world that men are born to, down into the darkness and unformed life that is called Abred by wizards. From there she was lifted to the Threshold of the Summer Stars, as far beyond this world of yours as Abred is below and few have ever gone so far, fewer still returned, and none at all unchanged.
“She has ridden with the Shining Ones, the Daughters of the Moon, and they came with her from behind the north wind. Now she is here. But the Shining Ones did not leave Susan of choice, for through her they may wake their power in the world – the Old Magic, which has long been gone from here. It is a magic beyond our guidance: it is magic of the heart, not of the head: it can be felt, but not known: and in that I see no good.
“And Susan was not prey of the Brollachan by chance. Vengeance was there, too.
“She was saved, and is protected, only by the Mark of Fohla – her blessing and her curse. For it guards her against the evil that would crush her, and it leads her ever further from the ways of human life. The more she wears it, the more need there is to do so. And it is too late now to take it off.
“Is that not enough, without calling the Old Magic from its sleep? I should be lighter in my heart if I knew that what you have quickened this night could as easily be laid to rest.
The Old Magic yearns to be free, the High Magic tries to control it. The shapeshifting Morrigan thinks only of taking bloody revenge on the children.
Enjoy!
March 24, 2013
What a weird and impressive little book.
This one was leaps and bounds better than The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (my review here), which was not by any means devoid of skill or interest, but compares relatively poorly to its sequel. While the same oddments still stand - where are these people, where do the dwarfs come from, how come no one else notices this stuff happening? - the truly impressive thing in this story is Garner's absolute mastery of the action scenes. Page after page is filled with his inventive capers, all tightly controlled and fingernail-bitingly gripping. I am really, really enamoured of this kind of fast, breathless storytelling. Pages flew before I realised I was hooked, and then once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
It manages to be both weirdly magical and fantastically exciting at once, without the one ever seeming detached from the other. I think if I'd read this as a child, I may have grown up stranger than I did reading the Redwall series. I'm sad I didn't, though, as I imagine reading this as a young'un would be pretty bloody amazing.
As an adult it was only mildly less so, but I lack the ability, now, to retreat to my bedroom and devour a book whole until Mum calls that dinner is ready. Which is what this book truly needs.
This one was leaps and bounds better than The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (my review here), which was not by any means devoid of skill or interest, but compares relatively poorly to its sequel. While the same oddments still stand - where are these people, where do the dwarfs come from, how come no one else notices this stuff happening? - the truly impressive thing in this story is Garner's absolute mastery of the action scenes. Page after page is filled with his inventive capers, all tightly controlled and fingernail-bitingly gripping. I am really, really enamoured of this kind of fast, breathless storytelling. Pages flew before I realised I was hooked, and then once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
It manages to be both weirdly magical and fantastically exciting at once, without the one ever seeming detached from the other. I think if I'd read this as a child, I may have grown up stranger than I did reading the Redwall series. I'm sad I didn't, though, as I imagine reading this as a young'un would be pretty bloody amazing.
As an adult it was only mildly less so, but I lack the ability, now, to retreat to my bedroom and devour a book whole until Mum calls that dinner is ready. Which is what this book truly needs.
May 30, 2018
This is a book to read only if you thought it was a favourite as a child. The vivid images it conjures from landscapes and celtic references is excellent, a real fire for the mind if you are young. The downside: old and jaded maturity will grumble about the writing, how rushed it is to the end and it's for kids.
Well a pox on us all for these thoughts. Grow down, not up dammit and enjoy.
Well a pox on us all for these thoughts. Grow down, not up dammit and enjoy.
August 23, 2022
‘The Weirdstone of Brisingamen’ is very much a foundation stone for the rich and beautiful wealth of legends underpinning its sequel. High fantasy melds with Celtic myth and folklore drawn from across the British Isles resulting in pure magic that delights on every page.
April 9, 2022
I'm sure this book has been reviewed within an inch of its life, so I'll make mine very brief (by my standards): had more teeth than the first in the series (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen), and I enjoyed it more. I'm no scholar - my comprehension of Anglo-Saxon mythology is based almost entirely on my Tolkien Society Membership mailings and those times I read Beowulf on my phone while waiting for the bus - but the various names in this book jarred me. It seemed some were Norse, and some Irish, or Scottish, or Welsh, or Breton or something. It really felt jumbled and a bit confusing. I likened the first in this series to "Tolkien-lite" (intentional awful spelling of light), and I felt much the same about this version. The "lite" side of things were the character building (Colin and Susan are stil pretty flat), and of course there's not much on the background and origins of the species or groups, etc. As was my complaint before, these books are too short - I want more content!
Two things I really liked were the idea that Susan has some sort of astral bond with Celemon, a woman, and by the end I was wondering if she was her counterpart/consort/mate (this would make Susan a much more interesting and complex character! I would like to hear more! It doesn't even have to be romantic and mushy - I just want more depth!). The other was the appendix of sorts, where the author explains where he got all the names. This shocked me, and also endeared me to him. I was able to forgive a lot of the randomness in the languages used. I also really, really, really need to know more about these straight paths (!!!) and their associated archaeology. And the magical manuscript mention at the British Museum and Bodleian reminds me that the latest Ben Aaronovitch novel, Amongst Our Weapons has just been released, and suddenly I want to believe in the existence of The Folly in real life. :)
Oh, there was a third thing I have always liked - Gowther Mossack, who, in my opinion, is the most well-developed and realistic character of the lot. And the appendix only added credence to my views on him. How sweet. :)
Boneland is the third book in the Tales of Alderley series, released in 2012, some 49 YEARS after this book (dear Alan Garner is currently 87 years of age! Impressive!). I will certainly be reading it. I am so keen to read what Alan Garner has added to this, after nearly half a century to think it over!
Two things I really liked were the idea that Susan has some sort of astral bond with Celemon, a woman, and by the end I was wondering if she was her counterpart/consort/mate (this would make Susan a much more interesting and complex character! I would like to hear more! It doesn't even have to be romantic and mushy - I just want more depth!). The other was the appendix of sorts, where the author explains where he got all the names. This shocked me, and also endeared me to him. I was able to forgive a lot of the randomness in the languages used. I also really, really, really need to know more about these straight paths (!!!) and their associated archaeology. And the magical manuscript mention at the British Museum and Bodleian reminds me that the latest Ben Aaronovitch novel, Amongst Our Weapons has just been released, and suddenly I want to believe in the existence of The Folly in real life. :)
Oh, there was a third thing I have always liked - Gowther Mossack, who, in my opinion, is the most well-developed and realistic character of the lot. And the appendix only added credence to my views on him. How sweet. :)
Boneland is the third book in the Tales of Alderley series, released in 2012, some 49 YEARS after this book (dear Alan Garner is currently 87 years of age! Impressive!). I will certainly be reading it. I am so keen to read what Alan Garner has added to this, after nearly half a century to think it over!
September 9, 2016
I loved The Weirdstone of Brisingamen with a passion (pay no attention to the appallingly bad cover on the linked edition; it's a shameless knockoff of Star Wars, I know, and it embarrasses me to look at it) so I was really excited to find out there was a sequel.
Can I just say "Er, huh?"
So much is crammed into this book that it's very nearly incoherent -- as if Garner had a million ideas and was afraid he'd never have another chance to use them. The Wild Hunt, the Morrigan, a mysterious ruined house that's real only in the moonlight, elves dying off due to industrialization (the "smoke sickness"), the Lady of the Lake, some sort of Celtic version of the Valkyries, bracelets and runes and a demon water horse and some sort of black smoke beast and mines and female moon-power and tunnels and mysterious horsemen and the Eternal Warrior and and and and and...
Whew. I'm out of breath just writing it all down. The book would have to have been twice as long to have any hope of pulling all of this together in a coherent form, and even then I'm not sure it would have been possible. It's not a bad book, just not nearly the book it could have been with a little discipline applied to it.
There's a third one out, Boneland. I hear it's much more for adults and very different than the first two, but I plan to give it a try. I'm not sure where he can take it from here but I'm very curious!
Can I just say "Er, huh?"
So much is crammed into this book that it's very nearly incoherent -- as if Garner had a million ideas and was afraid he'd never have another chance to use them. The Wild Hunt, the Morrigan, a mysterious ruined house that's real only in the moonlight, elves dying off due to industrialization (the "smoke sickness"), the Lady of the Lake, some sort of Celtic version of the Valkyries, bracelets and runes and a demon water horse and some sort of black smoke beast and mines and female moon-power and tunnels and mysterious horsemen and the Eternal Warrior and and and and and...
Whew. I'm out of breath just writing it all down. The book would have to have been twice as long to have any hope of pulling all of this together in a coherent form, and even then I'm not sure it would have been possible. It's not a bad book, just not nearly the book it could have been with a little discipline applied to it.
There's a third one out, Boneland. I hear it's much more for adults and very different than the first two, but I plan to give it a try. I'm not sure where he can take it from here but I'm very curious!
August 18, 2014
When I was a young boy, I knew of a book called The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and I coveted it but never read it.
Years and years and a little while later, the sun fell from the sky and I was to resort to listening to audio books whilst walking to and from work - it avoided the unpleasantness of walking into lampposts in the dark whilst trying to read paper books.
One of the items on offer was the aforementioned tome and I on listening, I was mightily smitten.. apart from the parts where they were running about underground lost, which seemed mightily boring.
Anyhow, being as the second and third books in the series were on offer at the local library, and the sun had bounced back into the sky, I put in my requests for the books and waited..
..and waited..
..and waited..
..and then asked the nice lady at the library what the hold up was.
"Oh, I know who's got this one" she says "it's one of the other librarians; but she's in Wales at the moment!"
So I waited..
..and do you know: Librarians don't pay fines on overdue books! Can you imagine! Even if someone is waiting patiently for it!
This book is a children's book. It's better written than the first in the series. The action is intense and sustained. There is something different happening on every page and so by the end of the book, you're thinking 'Wow!'
In fact, two pages from the end, you're still in the thick of the action and you're thinking 'By golly, how is this going to come to an end in such a very short space of lines?'
But it does, and it's a good ending and all the twists and turns are nicely resolved and the threads tied into a pretty bow. Nice.
So, yeah; definitely the best of the trilogy.. so far?
But, as of 2012, more than half a century later, there's more!
Years and years and a little while later, the sun fell from the sky and I was to resort to listening to audio books whilst walking to and from work - it avoided the unpleasantness of walking into lampposts in the dark whilst trying to read paper books.
One of the items on offer was the aforementioned tome and I on listening, I was mightily smitten.. apart from the parts where they were running about underground lost, which seemed mightily boring.
Anyhow, being as the second and third books in the series were on offer at the local library, and the sun had bounced back into the sky, I put in my requests for the books and waited..
..and waited..
..and waited..
..and then asked the nice lady at the library what the hold up was.
"Oh, I know who's got this one" she says "it's one of the other librarians; but she's in Wales at the moment!"
So I waited..
..and do you know: Librarians don't pay fines on overdue books! Can you imagine! Even if someone is waiting patiently for it!
This book is a children's book. It's better written than the first in the series. The action is intense and sustained. There is something different happening on every page and so by the end of the book, you're thinking 'Wow!'
In fact, two pages from the end, you're still in the thick of the action and you're thinking 'By golly, how is this going to come to an end in such a very short space of lines?'
But it does, and it's a good ending and all the twists and turns are nicely resolved and the threads tied into a pretty bow. Nice.
So, yeah; definitely the best of the trilogy.. so far?
But, as of 2012, more than half a century later, there's more!
June 27, 2014
This tale picks up soon after the events in The Weirdstone of Brisingamen when 12-year-old twins Colin and Susan are still staying in Cheshire whilst their parents are abroad. Evil witch the Morrigan has, along with her allies, finally been defeated, but Susan no longer has the teardrop heirloom, the weirdstone of the title. In its place is a curious silver bracelet, its shape echoing the young moon, and it is the moon -- from the title of this sequel to Susan's crucial role -- which runs as one of the leitmotivs throughout this dark tale.
It's hard to tell, but I'm guessing that these events take place sometime in the late 1950s; the date is immaterial but helps to get a handle on the narrative. Air pollution has driven a group of travellers from North Wales to Alderley Edge in Cheshire. No ordinary travellers these: they are lios-alfar, what we humans would call elves, and they are resting in the caves underneath the Edge before going on to the Northlands, where they hope to defeat whatever is destroying their kin there. They are let into the heart of the Edge by Cadellin, the wizard who befriended Colin and Susan in The Weirdstone and who still guards the sleeping knights under the hill.
Meanwhile a pit has been accidentally opened by workmen outside the Trafford Arms Hotel in the village, in which apparently in the 17th century a 'devil' had been bound by local clergymen. This we later find is a brollachan, a Gaelic name for a shapeless thing; this being is able to transform itself into an each uisge, a water-horse which bears any unsuspecting rider into a lake where the human is eaten. Colin and Susan are to come across this dangerous creature, but first they are to encounter -- in very close succession -- Atlendor the elf-lord, Uthecar a one-eyed dwarf and Albanac, who first appears to be merely a tall horseman cloaked in black but who is more than that. Along with Cadellin they are all concerned about the evil gathering in the area; taken in conjunction with the news that the Morrigan is still alive and heading down from the Northlands it's clear that the twins' lives are again at risk.
I found this a terribly confusing book when I first read it in the 70s, much less attractive than The Weirdstone and with an even less conclusive ending. First the action switches, seemingly at random, back and forth from the Edge to the Peak District a few miles to the east. The maps by Charles Green are beautifully drawn but more allusive than cartographically helpful -- perhaps in keeping with the fantastical happenings of the story. We meet a bewildering and formidable array of adversaries: not just the brollachan and the Morrigan but also the chillingly creepy bodachs (Katharine Briggs describes the bodach as a 'Celtic bugbear' whose appearance betokened death) and palug cats (the Welsh cath palug or 'clawing cat' was a large wildcat, maybe even a lynx; one also featured in Diana Wynne Jones' The Islands of Chaldea).
More ambiguous in nature are members of the Wild Hunt. Garner draws in names and traditions from Scandinavia, England, France and Wales to create his huntsmen: the Einheriar, Scandinavian bodyguards to the gods who are also the horsemen of the Welsh deity Donn; the English Herlathing (similar to the French Harlequin) who accompany the ancient British king Herla across the land and through the centuries; and their leader the Hunter, a horned deity who goes by the name Garanhir, in Welsh 'tall crane' or perhaps 'longshanks' from his sheer height and stride. Why such a complicated cast list with borrowed names from every which where? In a note Garner tell us that he re-used existing ones simply because to him 'a made-up name feels wrong'.
It's impossible to detail all the plot, the hows and whys of Susan's coma and Colin's later abduction, the nature of the Morrigan's enmity, the differences between the Old Magic, High Magic and Old Evil, what exactly comes about in the final page after the final confrontation. I can only make some sense by referencing two contentious books that I remember reading in the 60s and early 70s and which profoundly influence the action and themes: Alfred Watkins' The Old Straight Track and Robert Graves' The White Goddess. I still have these on my shelves, the first in the third edition of 1945, the second in a paperback edition from 1961. The Watkins book I remember being all about a sense of place and local traditions, and this is certainly characteristic of The Moon of Gomrath -- especially when Colin has to use the old straight track to retrieve the antidote to Susan's worrying absence from her body. What I draw most from The White Goddess is Graves' hypothesis of the universal belief a Triple Moon Goddess. It turns out that Susan has a part to play as the representative of the young moon, just as the lady of the lake Angharad Goldenhand stands for the full moon and the Morrigan symbolises the old moon.
It is of no small importance that Angharad gave Susan an ancient silver bracelet, emblematic of the moon, at the end of The Weirdstone to replace the teardrop stone that had been destroyed. In some ways both books are the opposite of the masculine stories of the quest for the grail: in Garner's novels the object is presented to Susan at or near the start of each tale, and the quest is to find its particular virtues. The three phases of the moon seem also to be related to Susan's existence in three worlds: her own flesh-and-blood world, then a state of unformed life called Abred when she is in a coma, and finally Angharad's world of the Shining Ones called the Threshold of the Summer Stars.
And it's also no coincidence that a turning point in this novel happens on the Eve of Gomrath, a time when beacon fires are lit to mark either the quarter-days (the beginning of February, May, August or November) or the equinoxes and solstices. It's difficult to tell when the action happens -- probably not the dead of winter or the height of summer -- but one of the ancient Celtic quarter-days seems likeliest to me: in any case all are dangerous times of year, moments of transition from one period to another when anything can happen.
I've talked at length about the ideas in this book, which is largely all one can do. Colin and Susan are more differentiated in this second book, but Susan turns out to have a role in which character has little part. The human adult figures, Gowther and Bess Mossack, fret and worry in the background but are largely irrelevant; all the other individuals are non-human, even if some of them are in human form. The test comes when the reader identifies with either Colin or Susan, and it's clear that many readers did so; I however never did, and The Moon of Gomrath was always an enigma to me.
What is more interesting to me is whether Garner invested more of himself in either one or other sibling. That he has had deep emotional attachments to protagonists as well as place is clear from his breakdown following The Owl Service, a breakdown which was detailed in a talk he gave to a science fiction convention and which was later republished in The Voice that Thunders. It is the nature of that investment that is key to understanding the Weirdstone trilogy, and that key is I suspect only to be revealed in Boneland, the final part of the trilogy, which was published nearly half a century after The Moon of Gomrath.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-gomrath
It's hard to tell, but I'm guessing that these events take place sometime in the late 1950s; the date is immaterial but helps to get a handle on the narrative. Air pollution has driven a group of travellers from North Wales to Alderley Edge in Cheshire. No ordinary travellers these: they are lios-alfar, what we humans would call elves, and they are resting in the caves underneath the Edge before going on to the Northlands, where they hope to defeat whatever is destroying their kin there. They are let into the heart of the Edge by Cadellin, the wizard who befriended Colin and Susan in The Weirdstone and who still guards the sleeping knights under the hill.
Meanwhile a pit has been accidentally opened by workmen outside the Trafford Arms Hotel in the village, in which apparently in the 17th century a 'devil' had been bound by local clergymen. This we later find is a brollachan, a Gaelic name for a shapeless thing; this being is able to transform itself into an each uisge, a water-horse which bears any unsuspecting rider into a lake where the human is eaten. Colin and Susan are to come across this dangerous creature, but first they are to encounter -- in very close succession -- Atlendor the elf-lord, Uthecar a one-eyed dwarf and Albanac, who first appears to be merely a tall horseman cloaked in black but who is more than that. Along with Cadellin they are all concerned about the evil gathering in the area; taken in conjunction with the news that the Morrigan is still alive and heading down from the Northlands it's clear that the twins' lives are again at risk.
I found this a terribly confusing book when I first read it in the 70s, much less attractive than The Weirdstone and with an even less conclusive ending. First the action switches, seemingly at random, back and forth from the Edge to the Peak District a few miles to the east. The maps by Charles Green are beautifully drawn but more allusive than cartographically helpful -- perhaps in keeping with the fantastical happenings of the story. We meet a bewildering and formidable array of adversaries: not just the brollachan and the Morrigan but also the chillingly creepy bodachs (Katharine Briggs describes the bodach as a 'Celtic bugbear' whose appearance betokened death) and palug cats (the Welsh cath palug or 'clawing cat' was a large wildcat, maybe even a lynx; one also featured in Diana Wynne Jones' The Islands of Chaldea).
More ambiguous in nature are members of the Wild Hunt. Garner draws in names and traditions from Scandinavia, England, France and Wales to create his huntsmen: the Einheriar, Scandinavian bodyguards to the gods who are also the horsemen of the Welsh deity Donn; the English Herlathing (similar to the French Harlequin) who accompany the ancient British king Herla across the land and through the centuries; and their leader the Hunter, a horned deity who goes by the name Garanhir, in Welsh 'tall crane' or perhaps 'longshanks' from his sheer height and stride. Why such a complicated cast list with borrowed names from every which where? In a note Garner tell us that he re-used existing ones simply because to him 'a made-up name feels wrong'.
It's impossible to detail all the plot, the hows and whys of Susan's coma and Colin's later abduction, the nature of the Morrigan's enmity, the differences between the Old Magic, High Magic and Old Evil, what exactly comes about in the final page after the final confrontation. I can only make some sense by referencing two contentious books that I remember reading in the 60s and early 70s and which profoundly influence the action and themes: Alfred Watkins' The Old Straight Track and Robert Graves' The White Goddess. I still have these on my shelves, the first in the third edition of 1945, the second in a paperback edition from 1961. The Watkins book I remember being all about a sense of place and local traditions, and this is certainly characteristic of The Moon of Gomrath -- especially when Colin has to use the old straight track to retrieve the antidote to Susan's worrying absence from her body. What I draw most from The White Goddess is Graves' hypothesis of the universal belief a Triple Moon Goddess. It turns out that Susan has a part to play as the representative of the young moon, just as the lady of the lake Angharad Goldenhand stands for the full moon and the Morrigan symbolises the old moon.
It is of no small importance that Angharad gave Susan an ancient silver bracelet, emblematic of the moon, at the end of The Weirdstone to replace the teardrop stone that had been destroyed. In some ways both books are the opposite of the masculine stories of the quest for the grail: in Garner's novels the object is presented to Susan at or near the start of each tale, and the quest is to find its particular virtues. The three phases of the moon seem also to be related to Susan's existence in three worlds: her own flesh-and-blood world, then a state of unformed life called Abred when she is in a coma, and finally Angharad's world of the Shining Ones called the Threshold of the Summer Stars.
And it's also no coincidence that a turning point in this novel happens on the Eve of Gomrath, a time when beacon fires are lit to mark either the quarter-days (the beginning of February, May, August or November) or the equinoxes and solstices. It's difficult to tell when the action happens -- probably not the dead of winter or the height of summer -- but one of the ancient Celtic quarter-days seems likeliest to me: in any case all are dangerous times of year, moments of transition from one period to another when anything can happen.
I've talked at length about the ideas in this book, which is largely all one can do. Colin and Susan are more differentiated in this second book, but Susan turns out to have a role in which character has little part. The human adult figures, Gowther and Bess Mossack, fret and worry in the background but are largely irrelevant; all the other individuals are non-human, even if some of them are in human form. The test comes when the reader identifies with either Colin or Susan, and it's clear that many readers did so; I however never did, and The Moon of Gomrath was always an enigma to me.
What is more interesting to me is whether Garner invested more of himself in either one or other sibling. That he has had deep emotional attachments to protagonists as well as place is clear from his breakdown following The Owl Service, a breakdown which was detailed in a talk he gave to a science fiction convention and which was later republished in The Voice that Thunders. It is the nature of that investment that is key to understanding the Weirdstone trilogy, and that key is I suspect only to be revealed in Boneland, the final part of the trilogy, which was published nearly half a century after The Moon of Gomrath.
http://wp.me/s2oNj1-gomrath
May 8, 2013
I re-read this in preparation for Boneland! It was a wonderful re-visiting of a past pleasure. This second book is perhaps the more writerly, edgy (no pun intended) and sophisticated book, but I have to say the first book still stands out for its unbelievably gripping underground scenes and great storytelling. As for Boneland.... have read it now :-) It goes further again from traditional storytelling and more towards edgy and sophisticated... but it's not a kids' book, so must be looked at differently. I'm inspired to read more Garner fiction for adults now.
By the way, this 1981 paperback has yet another awful cover! But it does strangely awaken my sympathies for poor Colin (who looks nondescript and put-upon here) and it depicts an intriguingly different kind of Susan - a scruffy little gamine. This is rather appropriate, given her character development towards independence and wilful defiance in this second novel.The idiotic character in fancy dress in the foreground is probably supposed to depict one of the Einheriar, unless it is an even worse interpretation of a dwarf. This could be a case for illicit re-covering :-)
http://alexisdeacon.blogspot.com.au/2...
By the way, this 1981 paperback has yet another awful cover! But it does strangely awaken my sympathies for poor Colin (who looks nondescript and put-upon here) and it depicts an intriguingly different kind of Susan - a scruffy little gamine. This is rather appropriate, given her character development towards independence and wilful defiance in this second novel.The idiotic character in fancy dress in the foreground is probably supposed to depict one of the Einheriar, unless it is an even worse interpretation of a dwarf. This could be a case for illicit re-covering :-)
http://alexisdeacon.blogspot.com.au/2...
February 16, 2013
Another reread. I remember the first time I read this that I was so terrified by the first appearance of the Brollachan that I hurriedly closed the book and made my dad sleep with it under his pillow so that the thing couldn't get out. I finished it very quickly on the next sunny morning. It's one of the books I have an incredibly strong memory of.
Coming back to it now, it's so pacey and single-minded, it's a wonderful contrast to virtually everything around 'these days'. The web of myth and past involved is a joy, and the phrasing is as entrancing as ever. I'm slightly surprised by how quickly I read it, though. - it didn't...how to say...have much to it. Not that that degrades it in any way, as I say, it's simply that my enjoyment was brief but significant. And certainly this book, and the prequel, should always be a staple of British bookshelves, because there's no more pleasant way to be introduced to such a swathe of legend than this.
August 9, 2011
I remember I adored this as a kid.... it really got under my skin. I must have been about nine years old and after reading this I convinced myself the wild hunt was coming for me on the first of May.... and I nailed an iron horseshoe over my bed so they wouldn't get me. A good book that seriously spooked the daylights out of me... and made me get into old English myths and legends.
December 11, 2018
A million years ago!
August 12, 2009
I liked this book better than the first book, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. Maybe that's because I've already had some of the world building from the first book and I know kind of what to expect, though. It was weird to me that it was a sequel, but it completely ignored the ending of the last book. There was virtually no reference to it at all, which is amazing considering the total lack of resolution I felt at the end. The only references are in a recurring enemy -- the Morrigan -- wanting revenge, and the fact that the characters are the same, plus the backstory about the sleepers in the cave.
The mythology in this one was interesting, anyway. I'm amused at how often the concept of the Wild Magic and the Wild Hunt comes up in fantasy books -- here, in The Fionavar Tapestry, in The Dark Is Rising... I like it. The descriptions of Susan riding with them, and the way she gets left behind and feels both joy and anguish, are lovely.
Again, I felt a lack of resolution at the end of this book. Both books just end, with no reactions from the characters, nothing. Just. An end. It's weird, I like things to be rounded off a little better. It's not that they stop with big plot things left to happen, but they stop without making it feel satisfying.
It also feels like there should be more books in the series -- you have all these comparatively little events, dealing with Grimnir and the Brollachan and the Morrigan, but throughout there's the threat of Nastrond hovering over it, and the idea of the waking of the sleepers, but nothing happens with them. It feels like the focus is on the wrong thing. In one way it's nice to have a big story hovering in the background, but when you know you're never going to find out how that story resolves, it's not so nice. There's plenty of room for sequels, but I read that Alan Garner never intended for there to be another book. There's so much that feels unfinished, though...
At least he didn't write a shoddy page long epilogue in which we find out exactly what happened to everyone in as few words as possible.
This book is fun enough to just read, but I didn't really get emotionally invested in it. Characters can die and I don't really care. Not good!
The mythology in this one was interesting, anyway. I'm amused at how often the concept of the Wild Magic and the Wild Hunt comes up in fantasy books -- here, in The Fionavar Tapestry, in The Dark Is Rising... I like it. The descriptions of Susan riding with them, and the way she gets left behind and feels both joy and anguish, are lovely.
Again, I felt a lack of resolution at the end of this book. Both books just end, with no reactions from the characters, nothing. Just. An end. It's weird, I like things to be rounded off a little better. It's not that they stop with big plot things left to happen, but they stop without making it feel satisfying.
It also feels like there should be more books in the series -- you have all these comparatively little events, dealing with Grimnir and the Brollachan and the Morrigan, but throughout there's the threat of Nastrond hovering over it, and the idea of the waking of the sleepers, but nothing happens with them. It feels like the focus is on the wrong thing. In one way it's nice to have a big story hovering in the background, but when you know you're never going to find out how that story resolves, it's not so nice. There's plenty of room for sequels, but I read that Alan Garner never intended for there to be another book. There's so much that feels unfinished, though...
At least he didn't write a shoddy page long epilogue in which we find out exactly what happened to everyone in as few words as possible.
This book is fun enough to just read, but I didn't really get emotionally invested in it. Characters can die and I don't really care. Not good!
February 2, 2025
Almost feels like two stories, with the second ending all in a rush. Unlike most middle-series books, has a definitive end - but then the third book of the series was published 49 years after this one!
The first half is a good story, with Colin trying to save Susan. As before, this is map-driven and connected with contemporary magic. I love how the Old Magic is a big part of the tale.
The title and the back cover description both cover what happens halfway through the book - the kick off of the second story as it were. This leaves the pit of the first story behind and wends through Welsh historical magic. Unfortunately, it also ends all in a rush.
The result, for me, is a rating slightly below that of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. Looking forward to reading the third, and more books by Garner also.
The first half is a good story, with Colin trying to save Susan. As before, this is map-driven and connected with contemporary magic. I love how the Old Magic is a big part of the tale.
The title and the back cover description both cover what happens halfway through the book - the kick off of the second story as it were. This leaves the pit of the first story behind and wends through Welsh historical magic. Unfortunately, it also ends all in a rush.
The result, for me, is a rating slightly below that of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. Looking forward to reading the third, and more books by Garner also.
October 25, 2020
Returning to this beloved book, I am struck by how much stranger it is than its predecessor, with an air of inscrutability and melancholy that would further inform Garner's subsequent work. It does not have the same quality of enchantment as his first novel, but is a marvel in its own right.
June 11, 2024
4.5 🌟
Alan Garner's "The Moon of Gomrath" is a captivating sequel to "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen." Set in the real-life location of Alderley Edge, the story continues the magical adventures of Colin and Susan. Garner's skilful storytelling weaves rich prose and atmospheric writing, transporting you into a world where ancient magic and modern reality converge. The siblings find themselves embroiled in perilous magical encounters, inadvertently unleashing the dark and powerful Old Magic that intertwines with the landscape and its creatures. Garner seamlessly blends British and Celtic mythology into the narrative, offering a deep sense of historical depth and authenticity. Vivid descriptions evoke the eerie and mystical essence of Alderley Edge, while the characters of Colin and Susan display growth and maturity as they face new challenges. Despite the complexity and reliance on folklore and mythological references, Garner's intricate details and careful writing make for an engaging and rewarding read. Overall, "The Moon of Gomrath" is a well-crafted tale of magic, adventure, and the enduring power of ancient myths, making it a worthwhile investment of time for anyone who enjoys such stories.
Alan Garner's "The Moon of Gomrath" is a captivating sequel to "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen." Set in the real-life location of Alderley Edge, the story continues the magical adventures of Colin and Susan. Garner's skilful storytelling weaves rich prose and atmospheric writing, transporting you into a world where ancient magic and modern reality converge. The siblings find themselves embroiled in perilous magical encounters, inadvertently unleashing the dark and powerful Old Magic that intertwines with the landscape and its creatures. Garner seamlessly blends British and Celtic mythology into the narrative, offering a deep sense of historical depth and authenticity. Vivid descriptions evoke the eerie and mystical essence of Alderley Edge, while the characters of Colin and Susan display growth and maturity as they face new challenges. Despite the complexity and reliance on folklore and mythological references, Garner's intricate details and careful writing make for an engaging and rewarding read. Overall, "The Moon of Gomrath" is a well-crafted tale of magic, adventure, and the enduring power of ancient myths, making it a worthwhile investment of time for anyone who enjoys such stories.
June 28, 2021
Good read. The author, once again, shows a vivid picture of the town and surrounds with his wonderfully descriptive passages. I enjoyed this book for the most part because of this and also the story line. However, the character Susan got on my nerves this time around. She would go off and do stuff even when those older and wiser than her said not to (this is a pet peeve of mine so not exclusive to this book) and cause utter chaos as a result. Time and again.
Still, it was mostly an enjoyable read and I look forward to the final book in this series.
Still, it was mostly an enjoyable read and I look forward to the final book in this series.
January 5, 2019
Like the Narnia series, this was like a gateway drug to The Lord of the Rings, with mythical creatures galore and Deep Magic coming alive. It also reminded me of John Masefield’s The Box Of Delights. In this book, some of the magic is so old that even the remaining wizards, dwarfs and elves are unable to control it. The antagonism between the elves and the dwarfs and the Gandolf-like description of the wizard were extremely Tolkeinesque and there is older, deeper magic that seems to be the preserve of women. There’s a previous novel in the series, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, that I have often heard mentioned, but never read. Incidents in that were occasionally referred to and might have explained the children’s lack of parents and connection to the magical world, but this book can easily be read without prior knowledge.
The book begins with the description of a strange blue light emanating from an entrance into a hillside, with a procession of human-like beings on horses entering, then the rock closing behind them. Our two main protagonists are a brother and sister, Colin and Susan. At the start of the book, they are missing the magical world and trying to regain access, without success. However, workmen digging in the town have uncovered an ancient well and it soon becomes clear that ancient evils have been released. The first to fall victim is Susan and I began to fear that the whole story was going to revolve around a heroic boy and his magical friends who needed to free the damsel in distress. Fortunately this is far from the case as later on it is Colin who is captured and needs rescuing.
Though the book is short, the story is satisfyingly convoluted and there are enough mythical legends referenced for another author to have made an entire epic series from. As an adult , I would have loved more detail, but as a child I would have loved this book. This was given to me by a friend in a huge box of children’s books to be passed on, but I kept this one to read because I had good memories of Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. I’m so glad I did. Now I’m intrigued to read both the first in the series, the sequel, that was only published much later, as well as his adult novel, Thursbitch, which is on the 1001 list.
Quotable quotes:
“On, on, on, on, faster, faster the track drew him, flowed through him, filled his lungs and his heart and his mind with fire, sparked from his eyes, streamed from his hair, and the bells and the music and the voices were all of him, and the Old Magic sang to him from the depths of the earth and the caverns of the night-blue sky.” p.58
“ ‘We’d be better off with guns,’ said Colin.
‘Would you?’ said Uthecar. ‘That is where we part from men. Oh, you may look here. And find us at the slaughter, but we know the cost of each death, since we see the eyes of those we send to darkness, and the blood on our hands, and each killing is the first for us, I tell you, life is true then, and its worth is clear. But to kill at a distance is not to know, and that is man’s destruction.’” (pp.138-139)
The book begins with the description of a strange blue light emanating from an entrance into a hillside, with a procession of human-like beings on horses entering, then the rock closing behind them. Our two main protagonists are a brother and sister, Colin and Susan. At the start of the book, they are missing the magical world and trying to regain access, without success. However, workmen digging in the town have uncovered an ancient well and it soon becomes clear that ancient evils have been released. The first to fall victim is Susan and I began to fear that the whole story was going to revolve around a heroic boy and his magical friends who needed to free the damsel in distress. Fortunately this is far from the case as later on it is Colin who is captured and needs rescuing.
Though the book is short, the story is satisfyingly convoluted and there are enough mythical legends referenced for another author to have made an entire epic series from. As an adult , I would have loved more detail, but as a child I would have loved this book. This was given to me by a friend in a huge box of children’s books to be passed on, but I kept this one to read because I had good memories of Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. I’m so glad I did. Now I’m intrigued to read both the first in the series, the sequel, that was only published much later, as well as his adult novel, Thursbitch, which is on the 1001 list.
Quotable quotes:
“On, on, on, on, faster, faster the track drew him, flowed through him, filled his lungs and his heart and his mind with fire, sparked from his eyes, streamed from his hair, and the bells and the music and the voices were all of him, and the Old Magic sang to him from the depths of the earth and the caverns of the night-blue sky.” p.58
“ ‘We’d be better off with guns,’ said Colin.
‘Would you?’ said Uthecar. ‘That is where we part from men. Oh, you may look here. And find us at the slaughter, but we know the cost of each death, since we see the eyes of those we send to darkness, and the blood on our hands, and each killing is the first for us, I tell you, life is true then, and its worth is clear. But to kill at a distance is not to know, and that is man’s destruction.’” (pp.138-139)
July 10, 2009
The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner is the second of "The Alderley Tales". The first of which I have also reviewed.
"Moon" was first published in 1963 and is still in print today. That alone would be testament to its strength - before print on demand came along books generally went out of print pretty quickly due to the cost of print runs.
However "Moon" is not quite as strong a book as it's predecessor - but given the strength of "Weirdstone" that would be a struggle. Taken on it's own merits, however, it is a very strong book.
Colin and Susan - the protagonists from "Weirdstone" - are drawn back into the otherworld and the ancient struggle between good and evil when they accidentally rouse the Old Magic, and thus the Wild Hunt, from its slumber. As enemies and allies from the previous book return and new ones appear only the children's courage will enable them to survive the ordeal - and if they don't it's likely the world won't either.
There is a depth to Garner's characters that is breathtaking. While the Wizard Cadellin is undeniably good and the Morrigan evil every other character exists somewhere inbetween. Some of the 'good' characters really get my back up - and this is quite intentional.
For example his his elves are prats. They aren't evil, they're creatures of light who fight on the side of good. But they are also arrogant, uncaring and lack empthy for humans. When you learn that they have been forced to flee to the edges of Britain because smoke pollution makes them ill you get the point but you can't help feeling it's not that much loss.
I'm conscious in this review that I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but the ending is a bittersweet thing like the best dark chocolate. There is death and life, sorrow and joy all wrapped up in one package and it works. It works very well.
Where it's weaker than "Weirdstone" is that it all feels more contrived. Some of the dangers and solutions that face Colin and Susan - especially early on - are the result of unfortunately combining events. For example the Elves ask for something Susan has at the same time as something else happens, and Susan ends up in danger from event two only because she's given the thing in question to the Elves. In "Weirdstone" the coincidences felt like the hand of fate guiding things - in "Moon" it's less so - though by the end you wonder, because it does all wrap up well. It's cetainly not a deal breaker.
I gave "Weirdstone" Five Stars. I give "Moon" Four and a Half - listed as four even though I don't usually round down, because I want to make sure it's clear I feel it's slightly weaker.
"Moon" was first published in 1963 and is still in print today. That alone would be testament to its strength - before print on demand came along books generally went out of print pretty quickly due to the cost of print runs.
However "Moon" is not quite as strong a book as it's predecessor - but given the strength of "Weirdstone" that would be a struggle. Taken on it's own merits, however, it is a very strong book.
Colin and Susan - the protagonists from "Weirdstone" - are drawn back into the otherworld and the ancient struggle between good and evil when they accidentally rouse the Old Magic, and thus the Wild Hunt, from its slumber. As enemies and allies from the previous book return and new ones appear only the children's courage will enable them to survive the ordeal - and if they don't it's likely the world won't either.
There is a depth to Garner's characters that is breathtaking. While the Wizard Cadellin is undeniably good and the Morrigan evil every other character exists somewhere inbetween. Some of the 'good' characters really get my back up - and this is quite intentional.
For example his his elves are prats. They aren't evil, they're creatures of light who fight on the side of good. But they are also arrogant, uncaring and lack empthy for humans. When you learn that they have been forced to flee to the edges of Britain because smoke pollution makes them ill you get the point but you can't help feeling it's not that much loss.
I'm conscious in this review that I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but the ending is a bittersweet thing like the best dark chocolate. There is death and life, sorrow and joy all wrapped up in one package and it works. It works very well.
Where it's weaker than "Weirdstone" is that it all feels more contrived. Some of the dangers and solutions that face Colin and Susan - especially early on - are the result of unfortunately combining events. For example the Elves ask for something Susan has at the same time as something else happens, and Susan ends up in danger from event two only because she's given the thing in question to the Elves. In "Weirdstone" the coincidences felt like the hand of fate guiding things - in "Moon" it's less so - though by the end you wonder, because it does all wrap up well. It's cetainly not a deal breaker.
I gave "Weirdstone" Five Stars. I give "Moon" Four and a Half - listed as four even though I don't usually round down, because I want to make sure it's clear I feel it's slightly weaker.
January 10, 2025
This sequel to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen takes the first book’s folklore and magic and triples it, filling the Cheshire landscape with legends and creatures. Alan Garner is an expert in loving folklore; in his acknowledgements he tells us every name is from real legend, and every magic spell is a real incantation from historical research, left incomplete “just in case”. He loves it wild as folk magic should be loved, and even though this is a children’s book, the magic breathes out deep, inimical time.
The wizards, the dwarves, the elves, and so on read Tolkienish on the surface—they are drawn from the same folklore, after all—but the sense of an ancient age losing the fight to man’s “Age of Reason” is more personal and bitter, and communicated through a handful of characters instead of clashing armies.
A human child, expecting beauty and nobility from the stories, asks what is wrong with the quiet, stiff elves. A dwarf replies: “You must judge for yourselves. But I will say this of the lios-alfar; they are merciless without kindliness, and there are things incomprehensible about them.” Here are elves dying and exiled from smoke-sickness, aloof not from superiority but because they have lost and have no Valinor.
But the best decision Garner makes is not to stop at Past and Present. England's folklore is an ancient amalgam, and in this book, something even older returns: “the Old Magic is not evil: but it has a will of its own. It may work to your need, but not to your command. And again, there are memories about the Old Magic that awake when it moves. They, too, are not evil of themselves, but they are fickle, and wrong for these times.” But then, the speaker here is a wizard, one of those who once upon a time came here and defeated the Old Magic when wizards were newcomers and heralds of their own rising age. Stories and histories ever overlap, and which you hew to depends on who you are—a wizard or a human, a boy or a girl, affected by the memories of which curses and protected by whose blessings.
The plot is less well-constructed than Weirdstone’s, though the characterization (of Susan, anyway) is a bit better. After a great spooky first act, it devolves into the heroes running here and there and encountering more and more oddities without a clear sense of progress. But it’s full of the kind of oddness that leaves kids afraid and entranced by a moonlit countryside. I know it works, because twenty or more years later I still remembered how the last sentence ended the book with the promise of strange, dangerous, magic and change for you and for the world.
The wizards, the dwarves, the elves, and so on read Tolkienish on the surface—they are drawn from the same folklore, after all—but the sense of an ancient age losing the fight to man’s “Age of Reason” is more personal and bitter, and communicated through a handful of characters instead of clashing armies.
A human child, expecting beauty and nobility from the stories, asks what is wrong with the quiet, stiff elves. A dwarf replies: “You must judge for yourselves. But I will say this of the lios-alfar; they are merciless without kindliness, and there are things incomprehensible about them.” Here are elves dying and exiled from smoke-sickness, aloof not from superiority but because they have lost and have no Valinor.
But the best decision Garner makes is not to stop at Past and Present. England's folklore is an ancient amalgam, and in this book, something even older returns: “the Old Magic is not evil: but it has a will of its own. It may work to your need, but not to your command. And again, there are memories about the Old Magic that awake when it moves. They, too, are not evil of themselves, but they are fickle, and wrong for these times.” But then, the speaker here is a wizard, one of those who once upon a time came here and defeated the Old Magic when wizards were newcomers and heralds of their own rising age. Stories and histories ever overlap, and which you hew to depends on who you are—a wizard or a human, a boy or a girl, affected by the memories of which curses and protected by whose blessings.
The plot is less well-constructed than Weirdstone’s, though the characterization (of Susan, anyway) is a bit better. After a great spooky first act, it devolves into the heroes running here and there and encountering more and more oddities without a clear sense of progress. But it’s full of the kind of oddness that leaves kids afraid and entranced by a moonlit countryside. I know it works, because twenty or more years later I still remembered how the last sentence ended the book with the promise of strange, dangerous, magic and change for you and for the world.
October 2, 2014
This is an altoghether different proposition from The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. The prose is still bleakly beautiful, but the characters are better developed, more assertive and more independent after their experiences of the last novel, and the story is far more creative. The imagination which created elements like the mara and the lyblacs for the last book is given full rein here. The bodachs, the palugs, above all the Brollachan, are all weird and disturbing creations not found elsewhere in fantasy.
That's not to say there are no influences. There are a few Lord of the Rings echoes still -- the magical McGuffin is now a series of ancient bracelets of lunar power, one of which is revealed to be wielded by the last book's Galadriel substitute -- and the focus on the Morrigan as primary villain recalls CS Lewis' White and Green Witches in the Narnia books. (Rather shockingly for a trilogy whose third volume has just been published, it was less than half a decade between the publication of The Last Battle and that of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.)
That said, The Moon of Gomrath's evocation of a matriarchal Wild Magic pre-dating the masculine wizardly magic of Cadellin and co prefigures multiple examples of children's fiction, from the weird hierarchy of High, Dark, Light and Wild Magics in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence to Terry Pratchett's treatment of witchcraft in the Tiffany Aching books.
For me there's nothing quite so memorably upsetting as the underground sequences in Weirdstone, but the developing both of Garner's cosmology and of the individual characters of the children (especially Susan, emerging triumphantly from her brother's shadow here) make this the better, more sophisticated book. The hints of Susan's and Colin's futures (we're told casually on the penultimate page that the latter "never found rest again") make the eventual publication of Boneland, if not inevitable, then something many of this book's readers have probably been waiting fifty years for.
That's not to say there are no influences. There are a few Lord of the Rings echoes still -- the magical McGuffin is now a series of ancient bracelets of lunar power, one of which is revealed to be wielded by the last book's Galadriel substitute -- and the focus on the Morrigan as primary villain recalls CS Lewis' White and Green Witches in the Narnia books. (Rather shockingly for a trilogy whose third volume has just been published, it was less than half a decade between the publication of The Last Battle and that of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.)
That said, The Moon of Gomrath's evocation of a matriarchal Wild Magic pre-dating the masculine wizardly magic of Cadellin and co prefigures multiple examples of children's fiction, from the weird hierarchy of High, Dark, Light and Wild Magics in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence to Terry Pratchett's treatment of witchcraft in the Tiffany Aching books.
For me there's nothing quite so memorably upsetting as the underground sequences in Weirdstone, but the developing both of Garner's cosmology and of the individual characters of the children (especially Susan, emerging triumphantly from her brother's shadow here) make this the better, more sophisticated book. The hints of Susan's and Colin's futures (we're told casually on the penultimate page that the latter "never found rest again") make the eventual publication of Boneland, if not inevitable, then something many of this book's readers have probably been waiting fifty years for.
December 18, 2025
I always preferred this ever so slightly to Weirdstone, and one of the reasons may be that Colin and Susan have a little more agency in this book, while at the same time having less. More stuff happens to them directly and they do things and even have opinions, but they remain, sadly, ciphers, albeit ciphers on the cusp of change. More than that, though, it was the idea of wild magic, magic that exists purely for its own sake, savage and emotional and dangerous, set against the more ordered, courtly magic of Cadellin, which anticipates a lot of modern fantasy magic with rules and systems, but of course, it is the wild magic that breaks Susan's heart at the end, and leaves the reader haunted too.
Gomrath is a wilder, more formless book as opposed to the rather tidy chase narrative of Weirdstone. The magic comes out of the very landscape, and the danger from the shadowy Brollachain and the shape-changing Morrigan while Colin and Susan's relationship with their allies is more uneasy, and strained to the point of bitterness with the lios-alfar. Futhermore, much is left unsettled at the end, unless I missed some details, with the Morrigan still on the loose and whatever was bothering the lios-alfar unresolved. In retrospect, the set-up for a third volume was always there, but Garner resisted or refused, and many years later we got Boneland, something of an entirely different order.
Gomrath is a wilder, more formless book as opposed to the rather tidy chase narrative of Weirdstone. The magic comes out of the very landscape, and the danger from the shadowy Brollachain and the shape-changing Morrigan while Colin and Susan's relationship with their allies is more uneasy, and strained to the point of bitterness with the lios-alfar. Futhermore, much is left unsettled at the end, unless I missed some details, with the Morrigan still on the loose and whatever was bothering the lios-alfar unresolved. In retrospect, the set-up for a third volume was always there, but Garner resisted or refused, and many years later we got Boneland, something of an entirely different order.
October 20, 2018
If The Weirdstone (Garner's first novel) leans a little 3-, this leans 3.5 or maybe a little more. Weirdstone has a lot of unfortunate-nesses like a goblin named Slinkveal, the general batch of bad guys called the morthbrood, and of course the main villain, Grimnir. The best decision in Weirdstone is to make the tunnel scary because spelunking is terrifying, not because of lurking fell beasts. Gomrath gets more complicated, the kids, especially Susan, develop as characters, and so does the mythology. I was interested to learn, upon Googling, that the wizard story is real. That is, Alderley is an actual place, it has an ancient legend of a wizard stopping a farmer from Mobberley (seriously, where do the English get these names), buying his horse, showing him the sleeping riders, etc. Garner grew up on the Edge, and so I can see him having played with his friends or maybe alone, making up some of these stories.
That makes these books feel better to me.
You can also see how these stories start to get conflated. Perhaps the sleeping knights were a separate story from King Arthur, originally.
This is a re-read (unpacking my library). I never heard of these books till adulthood. Perhaps Garner is more widely read in Britain. He's better than Cooper and deserves more of an audience here.
That makes these books feel better to me.
You can also see how these stories start to get conflated. Perhaps the sleeping knights were a separate story from King Arthur, originally.
This is a re-read (unpacking my library). I never heard of these books till adulthood. Perhaps Garner is more widely read in Britain. He's better than Cooper and deserves more of an audience here.
November 27, 2018
This is my favourite of of Garner's books. When I first read Garner I loved this one and Brisingamen, now I've come down to "like" and gomrath is the one I like best. I like it because it's the one where Garner admits to and enables the Wild Magic to come out. The Wild Magic has been put down and suppressed by the "man's magic" of Cadellin and his folk. for me there is one phrase that says it all, Colin asks Uthecar, "what is the wild magic for?". Uthecar replies, "It's not for anything, it just is."
This is it ... this is completely it. Cadellin's magic is "for" things, it enables wizards and elves and such to "control" life. The wild magic is life!
I have to do lots of skipping in this (as in many books unfortunately), skipping over the bits that for me only show how little the characters know and how closed they are to anything greater than themselves ... or at least greater than the authority figures such as Cadellin. There are some good bits where Susan desperately wants to push the responsibility for contact with the wild magic off onto the wizard with the common "Why me?" complaint. She cannot. She has to work with it and link to it. In the end she is the link that enables it to be again ... as it should be.
This is it ... this is completely it. Cadellin's magic is "for" things, it enables wizards and elves and such to "control" life. The wild magic is life!
I have to do lots of skipping in this (as in many books unfortunately), skipping over the bits that for me only show how little the characters know and how closed they are to anything greater than themselves ... or at least greater than the authority figures such as Cadellin. There are some good bits where Susan desperately wants to push the responsibility for contact with the wild magic off onto the wizard with the common "Why me?" complaint. She cannot. She has to work with it and link to it. In the end she is the link that enables it to be again ... as it should be.
August 31, 2016
There are two main reasons to reread The Moon of Gomrath as an adult if - as in my case - you have outgrown the pleasure a child takes in magic, mystery and a racing plot with lots of fights. The first is as a scene-setter for Garner's masterly late work, Boneland (that's actually why I read it). The other is the power and conviction of the mythic world it creates - I'll say something about that here.
The book's main conceit is that the mythic world is actually present here and now, not in Middle Earth but in the spot of place you might go in your summer holidays. On Alderly Edge and the Cheshire landscape around it the figures of folklore, Arthurian legend and the Mabinogion have been waiting all the time, fighting deeply serious, cosmic battles between where the forces of good range against those of evil. There's nothing like Tolkien's depth in this book or The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, but it's in another league to kitsch like the Harry Potter books.
Things I particularly liked: the moon goddess; the genuine sense of terror; the stronger characterisation of Colin and Susan; the accentuated writing describing Susan's coma and the book's conclusion. It's really a strange, nightmarish and deeply felt book masquerading as a children's adventure fantasy.
The book's main conceit is that the mythic world is actually present here and now, not in Middle Earth but in the spot of place you might go in your summer holidays. On Alderly Edge and the Cheshire landscape around it the figures of folklore, Arthurian legend and the Mabinogion have been waiting all the time, fighting deeply serious, cosmic battles between where the forces of good range against those of evil. There's nothing like Tolkien's depth in this book or The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, but it's in another league to kitsch like the Harry Potter books.
Things I particularly liked: the moon goddess; the genuine sense of terror; the stronger characterisation of Colin and Susan; the accentuated writing describing Susan's coma and the book's conclusion. It's really a strange, nightmarish and deeply felt book masquerading as a children's adventure fantasy.
February 18, 2018
I know this is considered classic fantasy, but I really did not enjoy it all that much. The first title (Weirdstone) was better paced than this one. Both books suffer from endings that are incredibly abrupt. Garner seems to have felt that once the story was over, stop at once. No tying up of loose ends, no congratulations that the good side won, just stop as soon as victory was won. In fact, I didn't even realize at first that I was at the end. It was only when I started to read the next page that I realized I had finished and was reading the afterword. The 2 kids take turns being attacked by the Morrigan and her allies. Considering that in the last book, it was explained that nothing could come back easily from the force that defeated the bad guys in that book, it is rather irritating to see the Morrigan back as nasty as ever, apparently never harmed at all by her complete defeat in book 1. It was just plain frustrating. At least Garner could have come up with a new baddie or something!
May 12, 2012
Continuing on from The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: A Tale of Alderley, The Moon of Gomrath sees Susan and Colin continuing to be drawn into the magical issues which entangled them. They have made an enemy, and victory in one battle has not won any wars.
Again the tone of the story is high legend, the magic overwhelming, frightening, inexorable. A series of frightening events, and the kind of throbbing, highly-cadenced description which is rarely found in more recent stories.
A good tale for children who like a thrill of horror, though again without any particular individuality from the two main characters who are "the children" rather than bringing forth any noteable personality.
Again the tone of the story is high legend, the magic overwhelming, frightening, inexorable. A series of frightening events, and the kind of throbbing, highly-cadenced description which is rarely found in more recent stories.
A good tale for children who like a thrill of horror, though again without any particular individuality from the two main characters who are "the children" rather than bringing forth any noteable personality.
March 12, 2016
Nowhere near as good as The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and filled with fantasy tropes like fighting dwarves, aloof elves, and evil creatures like goblins, wild-cats and a shapeshifter. The story started out in a promising and creepy way, with a devilish creature called the Brollachan being released from its pit by men doing excavation work. But things got convoluted quickly with too many different magical folkloric beings to keep track of and no backstory to make you care about any of them. Even Colin and Susan, child heroes of the first book, were no more than vehicles for the story here. I'll be curious to read the third book, Boneland which was written 49 years later.
February 19, 2015
Once again Alan Garner has written a book,where magic comes alive, I enjoy these books, as Alderly Edge is one of those places, where you can walk, and imagine all kinds of creatures, from Fairy, to witch,,
Though they are written for children, don't let that put you off,, they are amazing and he has now written the third, Boneland,, saving that one, for the Summer..
Though they are written for children, don't let that put you off,, they are amazing and he has now written the third, Boneland,, saving that one, for the Summer..
December 18, 2017
It wasn't either of our faults, book. Really. It just didn't work out. Maybe it was the age difference, maybe our different cultures. But I'm sure you will meet lots of wonderful readers soon, and have long and happy relationships with them.
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