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Children's fantasy classics - Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, Robert Westall, Ursula le Guin, and more...

189 replies

astronewt · 20/12/2022 11:11

Inspired by the "Dark is Rising" thread.

I adored all these books as a child. My favourite book was Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and I read it over and over. I still reread The Dark is Rising every midwinter.

Fyi for those who may not know; Alan Garner wrote an additional novel in the Alderley Edge sequence about an adult Colin called Boneland in 2012 and Ursula le Guin has added another two novels to the Earthsea series; there are now six.

I can't wait to start getting my 8yo DS into some of these.

OP posts:
bookworm14 · 20/12/2022 15:20

Had no idea about William Mayne - how awful.

Does anyone remember Peter Dickinson? I remember being traumatised by the Changes trilogy and The Gift, which was made into an equally terrifying TV series.

SpamhappyTootsie · 20/12/2022 15:19

One of my most treasured books was given to me by my Granny. A Candle In Her Room, by Ruth M Arthur. She loved a spooky story and so do I!

bookworm14 · 20/12/2022 15:19

My people!! Amazing idea for a thread. I have read most of the books mentioned but particular favourite authors are Susan Cooper and Diana Wynne Jones. I also remember loving the Jenny Nimmo Snow Spider series but haven’t reread them for years. Fantastic to see someone else remembers and loves Playing Beattie Bow - one of the best time slip novels ever written and a fantastic depiction of teenage love.

SunnySomer · 20/12/2022 15:13

DistrictCommissioner · 20/12/2022 13:35

Dianna Wynn Jones too.

do you remember William Mayne? Unsettling, as I remember.

I remember William Mayne but very few people do as he was withdrawn from sale and from all public libraries due to his predilection for young boys ☹️. However, he was a fantastic writer - I loved Earthfasts and Follow the Footprints, and lots of the cathedral books… I think he really got how children thought.

CoffeeBoy · 20/12/2022 15:08

I loved Alan Garner so much. My aunt lived near Alderley Edge and used to take me up there. You can find the original rock thing (my memory is hazy) where the opening thingy was in the book. It’s so well described that it’s obviously the same place.

SpamhappyTootsie · 20/12/2022 14:57

Robert Westall is one of my favourite authors and The Devil On The Road is the book I’d take to a desert island. I didn’t know when I first read it that it was dedicated to his son, who died in a motorcycle accident aged only 18.

The Ogre Downstairs and Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones are also 2 of my all time favourites. The author Cressida Cowell remembers reading TOD on a holiday to younger family members and has woven in elements of it (magic, blended family who don’t get along) to her latest book Which Way To Anywhere. I was wary of it being a pastiche but it’s very nostalgically done. If I ever possessed a potion that animated things I would definitely tip it over hairbrushes, toffee bars etc….who wouldn’t Grin
Dogsbody has a subtext of sectarian bullying going on, which has more impact reading it as an adult. The Wild Hunt and celestial intervention are effortlessly woven throughout it.

East of Midnight by Tanith Lee also excellent. The public library copy I borrowed repeatedly had some evil looking sheep on the cover that really creeped me out, as that passage in the book does too. Sadly, the copy I have now doesn’t have Evil Sheep on the cover.

Original poster
astronewt · 20/12/2022 14:57

Also here for Westall's Wind Eye. Which again is all about the problems of real, awkward, blended family life, expressed through the supernatural power of a saint.

Are we all just people who really like displacing our real problems into wizards and witches?

OP posts:
Original poster
astronewt · 20/12/2022 14:56

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:41

@astronewt I liked The Owl Service a lot, but preferred Weirdstone. I did not get on with Red Shift at all. I was thoroughly bewildered and gave up. I should probably give it another go.

I reread Playing Beattie Bow a few years ago. I hadn’t realised how sad it was when I read it as a child.

Oh, Weirdstone was my favourite too. The Morrigan, and Colin, Susan and the dwarves wriggling around that hairpin bend underground. And Colin getting stuck... [shudder]

Something about the Owl Service really stuck with me too though. I think it was that Gwyn was so eaten up by his resentment of Roger and Alison's snobbery that even though he and Alison are really attracted to each other, in the pinch he can't bring himself to help her.

I didn't get on with Red Shift either.

OP posts:
EBearhug · 20/12/2022 14:52

Robert Westall - I loved Devil on the Road among his others.

postcardpuffin · 20/12/2022 14:47

And for Alan Garner fans - did you know he was on the Booker prize shortlist this year for his new children’s book? A huge shame he didn’t win!

postcardpuffin · 20/12/2022 14:46

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:26

@yodaforpresident Which Green Knowe book is your favourite? The Children of Green Knowe has a very similar feel to The Dark is Rising, except the feeling of being trapped is caused by the flood water and not the snow. The Box of Delights is another Christmas read. I thought the TV series was amazing back in the day although it won’t have aged well.

It’s aged surprisingly well! There is a BoD Facebook group I am on which has rewatches of it during the Christmas period. Plus one for Green Knowe - you can now get the DVD of the 1980s BBC version which has held up surprisingly well, though the picture and sound quality isn’t great.

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:44

I’ll see if I can find Box of Delights on YouTube then. I like Children of Green Knowe and The Stones of Green Knowe but they’re all good.

Cooroo · 20/12/2022 14:43

What a lovely thread!

Robert Westall's The Machine Gunners was amazing though I didn't read it till I was an adult.

Alan Garner was a huge influence in my childhood - Weirdstone of course but also the sequel Moon of Gomrath. Elidor was wonderful too.

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:41

@astronewt I liked The Owl Service a lot, but preferred Weirdstone. I did not get on with Red Shift at all. I was thoroughly bewildered and gave up. I should probably give it another go.

I reread Playing Beattie Bow a few years ago. I hadn’t realised how sad it was when I read it as a child.

yodaforpresident · 20/12/2022 14:40

@BustopherPonsonbyJones my favourite has got to be the children of green knowe closely followed by the chimneys of green knowe. I do actually have the box of delights on dvd and it is still lovely to watch but very grainy.

MadMadMadamMim · 20/12/2022 14:36

You are my crowd! I love DWJ - Howl's Moving Castle, Fire and Hemlock and Enchanted Glass are probably my favourites. I'm currently (as I do every year at this time) re-reading The Dark is Rising and The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge may well be my favourite book of all time. I read an interview with JK Rowling where she named it as hers and I was so excited!

I am massively claustrophobic - and remained convinced that Alan Garner gave it to me, after reading Weirdstone as a child. It's a book I love and have read many times, but the part where Colin, Susan and the dwarves have to escape through that narrow tunnel still makes me feel ill to read it...

Yes, also to Joan Aiken and Dido. Can I give a shout out to Robert Westall and particularly The Wind Eye? He wrote some great stuff.

Nowisthemonthofmaying · 20/12/2022 14:26

Also there's a new radio dramatisation of the Dark is Rising on this Christmas, in case anyone didn't know! Starting today!

Link here

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 20/12/2022 14:26

@yodaforpresident Which Green Knowe book is your favourite? The Children of Green Knowe has a very similar feel to The Dark is Rising, except the feeling of being trapped is caused by the flood water and not the snow. The Box of Delights is another Christmas read. I thought the TV series was amazing back in the day although it won’t have aged well.

WhatTheHellIsAQuasar · 20/12/2022 14:24

Diana wynne jones Chrestomanci series is excellent. Eva ibbotson also has some fantastic stories for preteens.

for those people rereading their favourites, Frances hardinge is also a brilliant writer, very inventive. A face like glass is my fave - not sure that they’re very suitable for younger children though

Nowisthemonthofmaying · 20/12/2022 14:21

Aah all my favourites! And yes to the Little White Horse @BlueChampagne

Prince on a White Horse by Tanith Lee was another good one, and Penelope Lively's The Whispering Knights and the Hunt of Hagworthy

BlueChampagne · 20/12/2022 14:18

Dido Twite is a hero.
Any fans of Elizabeth Goudge's A Little White Horse?

I have found my tribe 😎

yodaforpresident · 20/12/2022 14:18

playing Beattie Bow by Ruth Park and The Scarecrows by Robert Westall too

BlueChampagne · 20/12/2022 14:17

Ah yes, am aware of Tales from Earthsea.
yodaforpresident agree in spades! For all fans, you can visit the house that Green Knowe was based on www.greenknowe.co.uk/

yodaforpresident · 20/12/2022 14:15

I would add John Masefield, The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights and The Green Knowe books by Lucy M Boston