Moon of Gomrath: A compelling magical fantasy adventure, the sequel to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

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First published in 1963, The Moon of Gomrath was the eagerly awaited sequel to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Cheshire based author, Alan Garner. More tangentially, the name Susan ultimately derives from a flower-term variably associated with the lily (death and rebirth) or the lotus (spiritual awakening), and is associated with a Middle Eastern deity of protection and guardianship. During this book Susan symbolically "dies" and sees the afterlife; she is spiritually awakened by her exposure to other realms; and she fights in guardianship of things she loves and protects. Grimnir – An evil magician, and the estranged twin brother of Cadellin Silverbrow, who wishes to keep the Weirdstone for himself; he forms a reluctant alliance with Selina Place to gain the stone from Cadellin. Alderley Edge, Macclesfield, Mobberly, Lindow and Wilmslow are all real places in Cheshire. Most of the places mentioned in the book along the Edge; The Wizard's Well, Goldenstone, the Beacon and so on are also real. Although Garner is describing the Alderley Edge of fifty years ago, when it really was an isolated farming village in Cheshire a long way away from the nearest city, a long time before it became popular with professional footballers and other people with lots of money and no taste. South Manchester has also encroached vastly in the fifty years since this book was written. Why, then, more than 50 years since Weirdstone was published, is he returning to Colin in Boneland, the much-hoped-for, never-expected concluding volume in the Weirdstone trilogy? "I'd no idea that I was going to write the book at first. But I was thinking for a long time about what Colin would have done," says Garner. By then he was "too embroiled" in his adult novel Thursbitch to do anything with it, but in 2003 Thursbitch was done and he "realised that there was, 40 years on, unfinished business".

The final negative comment, from a purely personal point of view, is that one of the main characters in the first book is completely omitted from the sequel for no apparent reason. I clearly remember my disappointment as a child about this – I didn’t understand why he wasn’t included and it spoilt the story that one of my favourites was gone with no explanation offered. Also a Bilingual Bonus and a case, perhaps, of Readers Are Geniuses. In The Moon of Gomrath, the dwarf Uthecar reflects on the name "Colin" and says it is that of a great hero. He even calls Colin the "Grey Dog". Colin, of course, is a modern form of the Irish hero's name Cu Chulain, the Hound of Ulster, the original Grey Dog. At the climax of the story a great battle takes place on a hill near Alderley during which the children and their companions make a desperate last stand to protect the Weirdstone. However the enemy forces prove too strong and Durathror is mortally wounded. Grimnir takes the Weirdstone for himself and, in the ensuing chaos, Nastrond sends the great wolf Fenrir (in some editions Managarm) to destroy his enemies. As the remaining companions begin to despair, Cadellin appears and slays Grimnir, whom he reveals to be his own brother and who in the final moment accepts defeat and drops the stone into Cadellin's hand. The Morrigan flees in terror while Cadellin uses the power of the Weirdstone to subdue once again the forces of darkness.

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The Keeper (ITV, transmitted 13 June 1983), an episode of the ITV children's series Dramarama: Spooky series In conclusion, this is a very strange book. There are an incredible number of really good things in it, but there is too much unnecessary detail for very young children and a conclusion that will not satisfy most adult readers. Therefore it falls into a category where it does not really satisfy any target audience, which is a shame because I love Alan Garner’s work. 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'.

When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day. James Henry Hodgkins – A local businessman who happens to be a member of the morthbrood, whom they narrowly elude in Radnor Wood. 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!" A. I never "target". I write the story as it comes, for its own sake, no other. Who reads it is beyond my control.

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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.

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. Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath are classics of 20th-century children's literature. Tracing the adventures of the children Colin and Susan as they battle the forces of evil and fall into the world of legend, the books led Philip Pullman to describe Garner as "the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkien". It's startling, then, to learn that the author, nearing the end of The Moon of Gomrath in 1962, was tempted to throw in the towel in disgust. A. I don't plan. Images appear, unbidden, which suggest areas of research. The research develops its own pattern, and when there's no more research to be done I "soak and wait", as Arthur Koestler expressed it. Then, subjectively, the story starts of its own accord, and I write as it unfolds. But it's probably complete in my unconscious, as a result of the soaking and the waiting, before I can be aware of what's happening. This could explain why I get the last sentence or paragraph of the book before I know what the story is. The history of creativity is littered with examples of the artist, or scientist, or mathematician "seeing" the answer and then having to spend years in discovering the question.Gratuitous Latin: the dark spells fired and chanted by the Morrigan are in Latin. Word of God is that these are partial extracts from a real mediaeval grimoire (see the author's appendix to the book). Susan – A young girl who inadvertently becomes the guardian of the "weirdstone"; for this reason she is sometimes referred to by the other characters as "Stonemaiden". 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.

Elidor was dramatised as a radio play in four-parts by Don Webb, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011. [58] Alan's own grandfather, Joseph Garner, "could read, but didn't and so was virtually unlettered", but instead taught his grandson the various folk tales about The Edge, [4] Alan later remarking that, as a result, he was "aware of [the Edge's] magic" when as a child he would often play there with his friends. [7] The story of the king and the wizard living under the hill played an important part in the young Alan's life, becoming "deeply embedded in my psyche" and influencing his novels, in particular The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. [4] 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. 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. I realised there was no point in trying to bridge the gap. I was intelligent, my family was intelligent, but I was the one who had gone the other way," he tries to explain. "So I do remember thinking what on earth am I going to do, what have we in common? It was the landscape. Because my family knew the landscape and I knew it in the same way, but I also knew that landscape was Triassic sandstone, and it was 43m years old … It was the area where I could draw on all the richness that otherwise would be lost in me if separation was allowed to become destructive."

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While they are trying to undo what they have done, the Morrigan captures Colin and imprisons him in Errwood Hall, which her magic restores into a building, which except in moonlight teleports into a lightless magic realm. This sets up the denouement, a pitched battle between the forces of the Morrigan (goblin-like bodachs and wildcat palugs) and Susan's allies (the lios-alfar, the dwarf Uthecar, and man Albanac), both willing and unwilling. Although Colin is rescued, Albanac is killed. When the elves withdraw their support as a lost cause, the Morrigan finally releases the Brollachan, focusing it on Susan to destroy her growing potential as a force for good. It is the other gift from Angharad Goldenhand which saves the day and the Old Magic is set free forever.