Fred's Book Club: Wizard and Weirdstone.

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to another episode of our Humpback Writers, the book club named after Hump Day, not after actual protrusions. None need apply.

Today we look at a children's book that the author says is not a children's book, a fantasy novel by Cheshire's favorite son, author and lover of archaeology Alan Garner. Of course I am referring to his first book, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. 

"For the world might still be saved if a band of warriors, pure in heart, and brave, could defy him in his hour and compel him to sink once more into the Abyss. Their strength would be not in numbers, but in purity and valour. And so was devised the following plan. The king chose the worthiest of knights, and went with them to Fundindelve, the ancient dwarf-halls, where they were put into enchanted sleep.... The heart of the magic was sealed within Firefrost, the weirdstone of Brisingamen, and it and the warriors became my charge."

So says the wizard Cadellin, as he and his warriors secretly await the return of the Nastrond, the Great Spirit of Darkness. But there is one problem: Firefrost, the weirdstone, has been stolen, and without it the sleeping warriors will wake too soon, and when Nastrond returns none can oppose him, for he has corrupted the world.

Susan and Colin are twins, staying in Cheshire, and they come into possession of the stone -- which makes them able to help Cadellin, but also makes them the target of the forces of evil, unless the stone is returned to Fundindelve. And that quickly becomes a task of enormous difficulty.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, first published in 1960, is a brisk and thrilling adventure. Although it is not long, and its heroes are children, Garner has said that he never intended this or his other books to be children's books. While the age of the heroes is important to the story, and younger readers can certainly enjoy it, there's no writing down to the kids here. Things definitely feel more Brothers Grimm than Brothers Krofft in this adventure.

A Reader's Guide to Fantasy described this book and its sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, as "powerful amalgamations of Norse legend, Welsh mythology, and British folklore, set in Adderly, Garner's home town in Cheshire." It goes on to say that "The writing in these two is rich and full of atmosphere and detail, and there are scenes which can make the reader shudder with claustrophobia, or chill in awe." I couldn't agree more.

I read The Weirdstone years ago when my battered copy of the above paperback edition was published in the United States. I was a regular reader of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine at the time, and the reviewer announced the new edition of this and three other Garner books -- The Moon of Gomrath, and standalone stories Elidor and the highly praised The Owl Service. He particularly noted that the art on these paperbacks by Laurence Schwinger (who is still working!) is gorgeous, frameable fantasy covers for fantasy illustration fans.

I've been hoping for months to cover this book for Fred's Book Club, but it'd been a long while since I read it and I wanted to read it again. I started it, but time demands got me only got about a quarter of the way in. It's only 198 pages in my edition, but I just had not had the time. Well, thanks to my recent hospital stay, and my wife who scooped it up for me from the nightstand, I finished it in my hospital bed. What a joy it was! What a break from my own concerns. The book was every bit as exciting as I remembered.

Maybe it's even too exciting! Children's book or not, children can certainly enjoy it, but there's none of the winking-at-evil that one finds so often in books and films for middle-grade kids. These bad guys mean business:

As if in some dark dream, Colin and Susan strained to tear themselves free, but they were held like wasps in honey.
     Slowly the figure rose from its seat and came towards them. Of human shape it was, but like no mortal man, for it stood near eight feet high, and was covered from head to foot in a loose habit, dank green, and ill concealing the terrible thinness and spider strength of the body beneath. A deep cowl hid the face, skin mittens were on the wasted hands, and the air was laden with the reek of foul waters. 

It gets worse.

As the review I quoted above indicates, these book may be too much for the claustrophobic -- I've never read anything quite so terrible in that manner as the children's flight with friendly dwarves through ancient elvish mines, far below the earth, in darkness -- mines made by creatures smaller than men, mines crushed smaller in the intervening centuries:

Colin screwed himself round in the tunnel. It was really not possible, but desperation tipped the scales; and once he was on his stomach, his knees bending with the tunnel, there was just enough play for Durathror to force Colin's legs around the angle, and from then on Colin was better off than any of the others, because they were now lying on their backs, and in that position movement was even more exhausting and unpleasant. 

And then the tunnel dips, and the way forward is filled with water. How far does the water go? Too far to hold their breath? With the twisting tunnel, the heroes crawling along like earthworms, there is no turning back if it is too far. In fact, there's really no turning back already.

As a youngster reading these I was thrilled by the writer's means of telling the story, with short, powerful descriptions and real assessment of the dangers that the heroes faced. Forget any Disney movie silliness -- this is an adventure in a serious manner, one that in real life no one would ever want to experience. I think these characters would have had PTSD something awful.

In fact, years later, in 2012, Garner published a third book, Boneland, featuring the adult Colin. This did not get the play that the first two did, especially not in the States, but I have ordered a copy online. Will Colin be suffering from the events of the past? He seems to have no memory of anything that happened before his teen years, and his sister is missing, so maybe....

If Garner has one writing habit that irks me, is that his books all come to an end suddenly. There's no wrap-up, not a moment for someone to say "Whew! That was a close one!" or "Hurray!" or "Nooo!" or anything like it. A battle is over or an escape effected or something and THE END. I'm not one for long farewells in books, but I do like a moment to take a breath before the closing credits. But, in Garner's honor, I think I'll just stop this book club entry right here.