Although Garner's early work is often labelled as "children's literature", Garner himself rejects such a description, informing one interviewer that "I certainly have never written for children" but that instead, he has always written purely for himself. [3] Neil Philip, in his critical study of Garner's work (1981), commented that up until that point "Everything Alan Garner has published has been published for children", [32] although he went on to relate that "It may be that Garner's is a case" where the division between children's and adults' literature is "meaningless" and that his fiction is instead "enjoyed by a type of person, no matter what their age." [33] He said "An adult point of view would not give me the ability to be as fresh in my vision as a child's point of view, because the child is still discovering the universe and many adults are not." [34] The Brollachan thrust her from the one level of the world that men are born to, down into the darkness and unformed life that is called Abred by wizards. From there she was lifted to the Threshold of the Summer Stars, as far beyond this world of yours as Abred is below and few have ever gone so far, fewer still returned, and none at all unchanged. Garner, Alan (2010). "Introduction by the Author". The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (50th Anniversaryed.). London: HarperCollins Children's Books. pp.05–14.

Garth, John (22 May 2013). "The Storyteller". Oxford Today. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014 . Retrieved 8 November 2014. The Weirdstone was successful because of the brilliant way that Alan Garner blended the human world with the myths and legends.Place of Power: Practically every tor, summit and geological feature in the Cheshire Peaks in and around Alderley Edge. Linked with a network of Ley Lines, apparently. What is more interesting to me is whether Garner invested more of himself in either one or other sibling. That he has had deep emotional attachments to protagonists as well as place is clear from his breakdown following The Owl Service, a breakdown which was detailed in a talk he gave to a science fiction convention and which was later republished in The Voice that Thunders. It is the nature of that investment that is key to understanding the Weirdstone trilogy, and that key is I suspect only to be revealed in Boneland, the final part of the trilogy, which was published nearly half a century after The Moon of Gomrath. The summoning of each rider is accompanied by a long description of each one, including armour, weapons and horses. There is also a description of the ride between each barrow, before the next rider is summoned, which became slightly tedious after the first couple of times.

Grimnir – An evil magician, and the estranged twin brother of Cadellin Silverbrow, who wishes to keep the Weirdstone for himself; he forms a reluctant alliance with Selina Place to gain the stone from Cadellin. Our Elves Are Different: The lios-alfar, who are drawn from Welsh mythology and whose society is organised along pre-conquest Welsh lines. Why, then, more than 50 years since Weirdstone was published, is he returning to Colin in Boneland, the much-hoped-for, never-expected concluding volume in the Weirdstone trilogy? "I'd no idea that I was going to write the book at first. But I was thinking for a long time about what Colin would have done," says Garner. By then he was "too embroiled" in his adult novel Thursbitch to do anything with it, but in 2003 Thursbitch was done and he "realised that there was, 40 years on, unfinished business".Nikolajeva, Maria (1989). "The Insignificance of Time: Red Shift". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 14 (3): 128–131. doi: 10.1353/chq.0.0763. S2CID 145471358. Boneland imagines Colin as an adult, a troubled, brilliant astrophysicist who can remember every single thing that has happened to him since the age of 13, but nothing before. From his job at Jodrell Bank, he searches endlessly, fruitlessly, for his sister in the stars: where is Susan, and what happened to her? Bringing together elements of his novels Strandloper and Red Shift, twisting and twining through Colin's story is that of a man from an ancient time, The Watcher, whose lonely quest plays out in language redolent of myth. Although Weirdstone contains one of the most disturbing images in all of children's literature – Colin and Susan crawling through a tunnel deep beneath the earth – Garner says Boneland is the first of his novels genuinely to scare him. "I don't think I've ever frightened myself before when writing but there were areas where there was terror, as though I was looking into somewhere that I didn't know existed before, and it frightened me."

Wakeful the son of Dunarth, north-king, mound-king! Wakeful is Fiorn in his hill! Ride Einheriar of the Herlathing.’ and do you know: Librarians don't pay fines on overdue books! Can you imagine! Even if someone is waiting patiently for it! Power at a Price: When Angharad Goldenhand gives Susan the horn Anghalac, she warns that it is only to be used when all else is lost, because once it is sounded you will never know peace again for the rest of your life. At the end, when it is used, this is stated to be its effect on Colin. This is a theme to be developed in the concluding book of the trilogy, Boneland. Light wendfire on the mound on the Moon of Gomrath, and these tropes may be freed to walk the Earth: Elidor was dramatised as a radio play in four-parts by Don Webb, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011. [58]While they are trying to undo what they have done, the Morrigan captures Colin and imprisons him in Errwood Hall, which her magic restores into a building, which except in moonlight teleports into a lightless magic realm. This sets up the denouement, a pitched battle between the forces of the Morrigan (goblin-like bodachs and wildcat palugs) and Susan's allies (the lios-alfar, the dwarf Uthecar, and man Albanac), both willing and unwilling. Although Colin is rescued, Albanac is killed. When the elves withdraw their support as a lost cause, the Morrigan finally releases the Brollachan, focusing it on Susan to destroy her growing potential as a force for good. It is the other gift from Angharad Goldenhand which saves the day and the Old Magic is set free forever. A. I don't plan. Images appear, unbidden, which suggest areas of research. The research develops its own pattern, and when there's no more research to be done I "soak and wait", as Arthur Koestler expressed it. Then, subjectively, the story starts of its own accord, and I write as it unfolds. But it's probably complete in my unconscious, as a result of the soaking and the waiting, before I can be aware of what's happening. This could explain why I get the last sentence or paragraph of the book before I know what the story is. The history of creativity is littered with examples of the artist, or scientist, or mathematician "seeing" the answer and then having to spend years in discovering the question. The Elves have come upon hard times and are gathering their strength in Fundindelve, but an ancient evil, The Brollachan has been accidentally released and rumours abound of the return of the Morrigan. When walking through the woods the children glimpse a dark shadow moving inside the old quarry and as they hurry away, they are accosted by Atlendor, King of the Elves and then meet the dwarf Uthecar Hornskin and Albanac, the last of the Children of Danu.