Alan Garner and the gift of uncertainty
"In the Beginning, when the waters parted, and the Ancestors dreamed all that is, and woke the life that slept, the sky lay on the earth, and the sun could not move, until the Magpie lifted the earth with a stick." - Strandloper by Alan Garner Are you certain that’s not how it all began? I'm not. An email received a few weeks ago by one of the readers of this blog got me thinking about Alan Garner and one of his most recent novels. I'll come on to th at novel in a moment. Now Garner’s writings have enticed and captivated me since I was an early teenager. Lovingly crafted and enduring tales like The Weirdstone of Brisingamen , The Moon of Gomrath , Elidor and The Owl Service , all helped kindle a fire that has kept stoked within me over the decades. Often described as “low fantasy”, there is no saccharin sweetness to be found amongst these stories ' pages. Instead they lead the reader on rollercoaster adventures which , amo...