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

[astronewt]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/an-extract-from-treacle-walker-by-alan-garner

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

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.

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?

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
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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Ooh - I don't know Playing Beatie Bow - but I've just ordered it for £3.89. If some of the rest of you like it then I suspect I will!

I've got A Candle in her Room as well - Dido the doll...

I remember Peter Dickinson and The Gift. John Gordon was another I loved. The Giant under the Snow and the House on the Brink were terrifying!

Loved all these. The tv show of green knowe was fabulous. Sadly the box of delights adaptation hasn't really aged well

Anyone ever come across the Borrible trilogy. About a tribe of feral children living in the tunnels and waterways of London engaged with an ongoing war against each other.

Ah what a lovely thread! I love Diana Wynne Jones and Alan Garner. I'm itching to introduce DS8 to Diana Wynne Jones - hope he'll love them as much as I do. And yes, the Changes was terrifying. I'm a big fan of Robin McKinley too - The Blue Sword in particular. And the podcast of the Dark is Rising was excellent (if scary!) company for wrapping presents.

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

I confess to a definite liking for escapism...

Box of Delights currently on iplayer and Britbox.

Love this thread remembering all these books. Urn burial was my favourite westall book.

Just got my kids the dark is rising series. They loved green knowe (so much so we visited the house which is well worth it!) so hopefully get will enjoy

That seems a fair assessment! And did we all suffer a sense of loss that we were never told we were Old Ones (although I’m getting there…), Going to Hogwarts or that we had Nine Lives😁?

I’d forgotten the Changes books -it was an interesting idea for a series. I always liked how everyone in Europe had been plagued by the English bad weather after England ‘changed’.

did we all suffer a sense of loss that we were never told we were Old Ones

<raises hand guiltily>

I used to work near Huntercombe in Bucks, and I still think of Will Stanton's village as a "special" place. So many of my favourite authors had an amazing ability to evoke the mythology of the British Isles.

Yes - the Britishness is the point, especially with Susan Cooper. That’s why the film adaptation of TDIR failed so badly - they failed to grasp that it wasn’t just another ‘boy wizard’ story, but a tribute to British mythology, history and landscape. The idea of making Will’s family American was idiotic.

Another DWJ fan - the Homeward Bounders and the Power of Three were my favourites as a child, though I also loved Charmed Life (just a little too old for the others in the series).

Susan Cooper too, particularly the last two set in Wales. Strangely though although I read lots of children's fantasy, I never got on with Alan Garner.
Does anyone else remember the Carbonel books?

There's a lovely meme which goes something along the lines of...
When I was 8 I looked into wardrobes but never got to Narnia.
When I was 11 I was sad not to get my letter from Hogwarts.
When I was 14 I was sad that a centaur didn't take me to Camp Quest.
Now I'm nearly 50 and waiting for Gandalf to come and take me on an adventure...