The Owl Service

by Alan Garner

Overview

The much-loved classic, finally in ebook.

Winner of both the Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal, this is an all-time classic, combining mystery, adventure, history and a complex set of human relationships.

It all begins with the scratching in the ceiling. From the moment Alison discovers the dinner service in the attic, with its curious pattern of floral owls, a chain of events is set in progress that is to effect everybody’s lives.

Relentlessly, Alison, her step-brother Roger and Welsh boy Gwyn are drawn into the replay of a tragic Welsh legend – a modern drama played out against a background of ancient jealousies. As the tension mounts, it becomes apparent that only by accepting and facing the situation can it be resolved.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780007539055
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/15/2013
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	219,107
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Alan Garner was born and still lives in Cheshire, an area which has had a profound effect on his writing and provided the seed of many ideas worked out in his books.

His fourth book, ‘The Owl Service’ brought Alan Garner to everyone’s attention. It won two important literary prizes – The Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal – and was made into a serial by Granada Television. It has established itself as a classic and Alan Garner as a writer of great distinction.

Editorial Reviews

Alan Garner’s fiction is something special. Garner’s fantasies were smart and challenging, based in the here and the now, in which real English places emerged from the shadows of folklore, and in which people found themselves walking, living and battling their way through the dreams and patterns of myth.”— Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline

“Alan Garner is indisputably the great originator, the most important British writer of fantasy since Tolkien, and in many respects better than Tolkien, because deeper and more truthful. His work is where human emotion and mythic resonance, sexuality and geology, modernity and memory and craftsmanship meet and cross-fertilise. Any country except Britain would have long ago recognised his importance, and celebrated it with postage stamps and statues and street-names. But that’s the way with us: our greatest prophets go unnoticed by the politicians and the owners of media empires. I salute him with the most heartfelt respect and admiration.”— Philip Pullman

ON WEIRDSTONE OF BRISINGAMEN: “The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is one of the most important books in children’s fantasy. It has been an enormous inspiration to me and countless other writers, and is as enjoyable and fascinating now as it was when I first read it, wide-eyed and mesmerised, at the age of ten.”— Garth Nix

From the Publisher

When Alison hears noises in the attic and discovers a set of old dishes decorated with owls, she sets in motion fantastic events that bind her to her new stepbrother, Roger, and bring anguish to her new friend, Gwyn. Wayne Forester's accents are the perfect vehicle for interpreting this tale rooted in the ancient myths of Wales. The conflicts between the local folk who have lived and worked here for generations and the incoming British owners on holiday are apparent. Forester excels at individualizing the Welsh villagers who comment on the story’s events like a Greek chorus. This enigmatic novel leaves many questions unanswered, but the extensive liner notes provide helpful background, supplying a short summary of the relevant myths and information about the author. R.H.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2009 - AudioFile