The cover of the 1960 Ace paperback of Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen guaranteed I’d pick this up when I found it in a used bookstore in Galveston, Texas. It’s Jack Gaughan art, and I had to read the story that inspired that image.
The cover blurb states that Weirdstone is “A fantastic novel in the Tolkien tradition.” I can’t really fault that description. It does evoke elements of The Lord of the Rings, sharing motifs and thematic elements. This isn’t a result of Garner attempting note-for-note mimicry (c.f. Dennis McKiernan’s The Iron Tower trilogy.) The stories and settings are entirely too dissimilar for that to be the case. Rather they share some of the same source material, and must necessarily resonate with readers on a similar frequency.
The Andre Norton introduction to this edition suggestions that the book is not a juvenile. I’m not entirely sure I agree. During my drives to take the HA to school, we have been listening to The Dark is Rising series and The Chronicles of Prydain. I consider Weirdstone to fit comfortably in with these: tales featuring youthful protagonists that deal with dark supernatural elements and frequently traffic in tense, even frightening dangers. I can see the point, however: there is less whimsy about Weirdstone; a slightly more adult tone.
The story itself is engrossing. It reads as a sort of greatest hits of Western legend, from Scandinavia to Ireland, with an extra helping of Welsh. The narrative moves along briskly, and the dangers Susan and Colin face — the mythic friends and foes, escapes, combat, and magic — build and snowball. (The description of a certain spelunking excursion might well bring a cold sweat to the claustrophobically inclined. Good writing.) And then it ends, rather abruptly.
Happily I encountered the sequel in another bookstore.
The Moon of Gomrath picks up months after the events of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and involve the attempted revenge by one of the villains of Weirdstone. This one offers more of the same, adding additional elements of Western European myth to the pot for spice and flavor. The pace is even faster (and the book shorter.) It is a quick read that grabs you and drags you along for the duration. Susan, it seems, is herself a mythic being (or destined to be so.) Combatting the vengeful villain, she embroils her brother, a company of light elves, a couple of dwarfs, the Wild Hunt, one of the Tuatha de Dannan, and many more in a deadly struggle.
Good stuff, and occasionally rather grim. Though, again, there is no real culmination. No denouement. But some quick internet sleuthing reveals that there is a third book, Boneland, creating a complete trilogy. So, one more book I need to lay my hands on.
If you are interested in laying your hands on some new books, why not give my Semi-Autos and Sorcery series a try?
8 comments
I tend to like ‘Gomrath’ better than ‘Brisingamen’. The ending of ‘Gomrath’ is epic and grim.
Great to hear you’re checking out the ‘Prydain’ books. IMO, the best YA fantasy books ever written.
Re-reading “Prydain.” I read them as a youngster. They hold up well.
Boneland was published nearly 50 years after Weirdstone and Gomrath, and set decades later. It is very different in style and tone, and felt to me like Garner looking back and resolving unfinished business, rather than being the concluding tale that one might have expected had it been written in the ’60s.
I have a copy on the way. I hope it is at least entertaining.
It’s a dumb book and racist
Thank you for sharing your opinion.