Elidor [Hardcover]

Alan Garner (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Collins (1966)
• ASIN: B000VQQ84K
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth second (and third) looks, January 6, 2002

By 

John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Elidor (Hardcover)

Ok, I admit taht when I first read ELIDOR as probably an 11 year old I liked it the least of Garner's books to date. It was "ok" but the idea of a magical fantasy being set in the urban wasteland of post-war Manchester just didn't click. Maybe it is a comment on the last quarter century, maybe it is just a matter of growing up, but going back the book all these years later I found myself absolutely enthralled. Garner makes the transition from everyday life to the realm of Welsh mythology & back seamlessly and flawlessly. His characters are remarkably "real" -even those with "bit parts" like the parents of the protagonists. The language is lyrical, and there are scenes that will haunt you for years. My one complaint is that it is more a "novella" than a novel -at this re-reading I would gladly have kept going for another 200 pages, but what we get is great.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This man is a master of children's fantasy fiction, May 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Elidor (Audio Cassette)

Manchester in the 1960s. It seems like a pretty grim place to live; a world of rain, soot, demolition sites, British Rail. This was before the British woke up and decided it was OK to want to eat good food and generally enjoy life. The kids in the book are from a hyper-conventional family, where any sort of dishonest behaviour is out, and family nights in front of the TV are definitely in. But they get thrown into another world, which used to be a fairytale country, but has fallen from its state of grace. (A sort of post-war disillusionment world.) What makes this book one of the best of its kind ever written is the reality and grittiness of the problems the kids face in guarding the treasures which have been foisted upon them, and its absolute faith in the idea that magic is part of the stuff of everyday life; that the most precious things are to be found in the least likely places.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Elidor" pleases, November 28, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Elidor (Paperback)

"Elidor" is best described as a solid little fantasy story -- it's just not spectacular. While suspenseful and intriguing, it doesn't really have a good sense of the epic or the atmospheric. But author Alan Garner definitely gets points for his subtle use of Celtic mythology and managing to create a believable unicorn.

Four kids exploring a wrecked church accidently venture into another world, the mysterious realm of Elidor. There, young Roland encounters a mysterious wounded man who sends him into a castle, claiming that he can save all of Elidor. After Roland frees his siblings from a spell, the man gives them a stone, a spear, a sword, and a cauldron, and they are sent back to their own world to guard these items from evil forces.

But problems arise when the kids go home and hide the items: The power that they emanate is so intense that it disrupts electricity and radio signals, causing problems all over their town. They bury the objects -- but that's only a temporary measure. The strange situation grows stranger when armed warriors appear near the buried objects, and an Ouija board displays the name "Findhorn" and a picture of a unicorn...

One of the wonderful things about Garner's Alderly duology is that when strange people and things were encountered by our heroes, it made our world seem like almost a parallel universe. It made everything seem magic. That quality is somewhat lacking in "Elidor"; the opening chapters have a promising glimpse of Elidor, but unfortunately this is never exploited. The evil force is another problem; unlike in the Alderly books, the evil is never given a face or an identity, and so it seems a little difficult to really get upset about.

Despite this, the opening and final chapters show Garner's lyrical style, and all of it displays his keen sense of plot development. The descriptions of the electrical disruptions are almost surreal, and his descriptions of Elidor are outstanding. So is his usage of Celtic mythology, though to a lesser extent than his other children's books; the dialogue ranges from chirpy British-schoolchild conversation to the formal language of the Elidor inhabitants. And don't be afraid of the portrayal of the unicorn -- Garner shies away from all the cliches.

It's not really a lightweight read, but "Elidor" is a beautifully written little tale that will thrill fantasy readers. Quite nice.