jennykeery's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tmarjorie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
the_dragon_starback's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Very slow with almost no emotional attachment to characters. My family read this aloud which certainly contributed to both those aspects, but still a very particular kind of children’s fantasy from a good 30-40 years ago.
anna_hepworth's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know whether it is that the early parts of this book haven't stood the test of time, whether I've actually read too many books with similar enough underlying ideas, or if it is that the early sections so strongly imprinted on my memory that it just feels like a really obvious start to a story. But I found myself, while enjoying the writing, rolling my eyes at bits of the first third or so.
Which might also be my Gen X cynicism showing. Of course the adult in the alt world is making the kids do all the work. What else are we expecting of the Boomer generation. And no, I don't quite live my life that much in black and white, but it was some of what I was finding irritating here. Unlike other stories with the oblivious adults trope, this one was really hard to get through sections where adults could have stepped up, and there were sections where I had to walk away from the book for hours (or days) until I could deal with continuing reading.
Despite me having somewhat grown past it, this is still a strongly written powerful story. I love the ambiguity of the ending, and the cypher of the alternative world -- the viewpoint character(s) really don't have the sophistication/maturity to comprehend what is happening, and the narrative voice doesn't fill that in for the reader.
Which might also be my Gen X cynicism showing. Of course the adult in the alt world is making the kids do all the work. What else are we expecting of the Boomer generation. And no, I don't quite live my life that much in black and white, but it was some of what I was finding irritating here. Unlike other stories with the oblivious adults trope, this one was really hard to get through sections where adults could have stepped up, and there were sections where I had to walk away from the book for hours (or days) until I could deal with continuing reading.
Despite me having somewhat grown past it, this is still a strongly written powerful story. I love the ambiguity of the ending, and the cypher of the alternative world -- the viewpoint character(s) really don't have the sophistication/maturity to comprehend what is happening, and the narrative voice doesn't fill that in for the reader.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
3.0
This book sat on my shelf for years as a child, but never got round to reading it. Having read it now, I think it's because I've always been more Star Trek, and this is more Star Wars.
This book sees 4 brothers and sisters break into a church (to retrieve a ball), and get transported to Elidor, where they have to retrieve, and protect four precious artefacts that will bring light back to that land (during which time, they get transported them back to Manchester).
It wasn't a bad read, if you're an early teen and like the idea of the story, you'll probably like this book, it is engaging, and doesn't talk down to its reads. The problem is, I'm not sure I'm a fan of those sorts of books (I'm more Star Trek, than Star Wars), which made the effort of reading this one... more of a challenge.
This book sees 4 brothers and sisters break into a church (to retrieve a ball), and get transported to Elidor, where they have to retrieve, and protect four precious artefacts that will bring light back to that land (during which time, they get transported them back to Manchester).
It wasn't a bad read, if you're an early teen and like the idea of the story, you'll probably like this book, it is engaging, and doesn't talk down to its reads. The problem is, I'm not sure I'm a fan of those sorts of books (I'm more Star Trek, than Star Wars), which made the effort of reading this one... more of a challenge.
hayesstw's review against another edition
5.0
I've just finished reading [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875908s/292654.jpg|2987303] for the seventh time (or is it the eighth?), and was quite surprised to see that it was nearly 25 years since the last time I read it.
What prompted this reading was that someone wrote a rather nice review of my children's book [b:Of wheels and witches|23715217|Of Wheels and Witches|Stephen Hayes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1418051156s/23715217.jpg|43325109], and I began to wonder if it was worth trying to write a sequel, and I began to re-read Elidor to get me in to mood to think about it.
That's because [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875908s/292654.jpg|2987303] is, in my view at least, a kind of paradigm case of what a children's fantasy novel should be.
It's a bit like a combination of [a:C.S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1367519078p2/1069006.jpg] and [a:Charles Williams|36289|Charles Williams|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1217390107p2/36289.jpg]. Though Lewis wrote stories for children, Charles Williams never did, but I imagine that if he had he would have written something like Elidor. The first 50 pages are like Lewis -- some children are snatched away into another world, the devastated dying world of Elidor. But the rest of the book is like Williams -- the other world irrupts into this world.
The protagonist of [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875908s/292654.jpg|2987303] is Roland Watson, the youngest of four middle-class siblings who live in Greater Manchester. In various parts of the story [a:Alan Garner|47991|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363273417p2/47991.jpg] satirises bourgeois tastes and values and contrasts their tameness with the wildness of Elidor, which only Roland really appreciates until, in the end, the wildness of Elidor overwhelms them all.
What prompted this reading was that someone wrote a rather nice review of my children's book [b:Of wheels and witches|23715217|Of Wheels and Witches|Stephen Hayes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1418051156s/23715217.jpg|43325109], and I began to wonder if it was worth trying to write a sequel, and I began to re-read Elidor to get me in to mood to think about it.
That's because [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875908s/292654.jpg|2987303] is, in my view at least, a kind of paradigm case of what a children's fantasy novel should be.
It's a bit like a combination of [a:C.S. Lewis|1069006|C.S. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1367519078p2/1069006.jpg] and [a:Charles Williams|36289|Charles Williams|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1217390107p2/36289.jpg]. Though Lewis wrote stories for children, Charles Williams never did, but I imagine that if he had he would have written something like Elidor. The first 50 pages are like Lewis -- some children are snatched away into another world, the devastated dying world of Elidor. But the rest of the book is like Williams -- the other world irrupts into this world.
The protagonist of [b:Elidor|292654|Elidor|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328875908s/292654.jpg|2987303] is Roland Watson, the youngest of four middle-class siblings who live in Greater Manchester. In various parts of the story [a:Alan Garner|47991|Alan Garner|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363273417p2/47991.jpg] satirises bourgeois tastes and values and contrasts their tameness with the wildness of Elidor, which only Roland really appreciates until, in the end, the wildness of Elidor overwhelms them all.
rachael_amber's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
emkoshka's review against another edition
4.0
I was given Elidor for Christmas when I was 12 and then it sat on my shelf for 17 years, unread. What a joy to read it now. Chilling, creepy, sinister. It's a fantasy novel, but is mostly set in Manchester, England, which provides more than enough in the way of otherworldliness. The deserted streets and half-demolished houses of the opening and closing chapters are evocative in that way that makes you look over your shoulder. The children are very 1960s conservative and the ending wraps up too quickly, but they're my only quibbles. I'll be hitting the library for more of Alan Garner's books. :)
scaifea's review against another edition
2.0
Four siblings stumble into another world and are tasked with guarding four sacred items by bringing them back into this world for safe-keeping. For a year all seems fine, to the point that some of the children start to doubt that it really happened at all, when warriors from the other place break through to steal the treasures. I found this one frustrating to no end. It starts out too abruptly, plonking the reading down into the story with not nearly enough background (I even checked to make sure I wasn't starting a series midway through) and has just as baffling and lose-endy an ending. Shame, really, because the story seems like it could be a really good one.