Author Alan Garner is a well-renown British writer whose stories have fantasy and folk tales intermingle with 'real life' to create uniquely British stories that lean into the legends of these Sceptred Isles. Although most famous for his young adults (YA) work he has written for grown-ups too, however I have never read any of his work. I've known of him since childhood as I saw a lot of his books in the school and public library but only experienced his work through the television adaptation of his book 'The Owl Service' (which I reviewed a couple of years ago here) but that was about it. I wasn't taken with the central premise but thought the show had a brooding atmosphere and so, during the cold nights of October, I thought I'd revisit one of his most well-known and regarded works; Elidor.
The story is quite straightforward, Roland and his older brothers and sisters, find a hidden gateway to the cursed land of Elidor. They meet the King of Elidor, Malebron and learn of a prophecy where they are the `Chosen Ones' who retrieved the treasures and bring light back into the land. The children go on a mission in various locales and retrieve the treasures, bringing it back to their home but it causes electrical interference which alerts the dark forces. Will they be able to protect the treasure, fulfill the prophecy and help Elidor?
This is is the first edition cover for Elidor.
The story is all pretty basic fantasy fare and is of its time. The book is set in 1960s Manchester and has the children and their boring inner-city lifestyle detailed. When the children get to Elidor, which occurs right at the beginning of the book, it is intriguing as the children undergo trials to gain access to the treasures. It kind of reminds me of that Dungeons and Dragons cartoon episode where the heroes undergo their own personal trials. However, after this excitement it resumes in Manchester with such events as the television not working, taking the train and avoiding shadows. It all becomes a little anti-climactic. Also the characters are pretty bland and have very few individual characteristics to separate them. Roland is memorable as he is the main lead but you can’t really differentiate his siblings as they don’t really seem to have any real character traits except his annoying younger sister who you’ll remember just because she’s annoying and panics constantly.
Overall, Elidor is a book of its time and as such is fine to read but I definitely would not consider it a classic or essential read. Maybe I’m being overtly harsh as I am a man in my 40s reading a YA book but even so, I can’t imagine many of the pupils I teach now in school being enthusiastic about this book.
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