Alan Garner Books In Order

Publication Order of The Stone Book Quartet Books

Publication Order of Tales of Alderley Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Chapbooks

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Alan Garner is the author of award-winning science fiction, fantasy and Children’s books. He’s popularly known for his children’s fantasy novels and his skill of retelling traditional British folk stories.

Most of his work is based on the landscape, history, and folklore of his native county of Cheshire. Alan was born in Cheshire and raised around the nearby town of Alderley Edge, where he gained an early interest in the region’s folklore.
He studied at Manchester Grammar school and later Oxford University in 1957. His debut novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, was published in 1960.

Later in 1979, Garner produced a series of four short novellas about the lives of four generations of his family titled The Stone Book Quartet.
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is the debut in the Tales of Alderley series. As the story opens up, Susan and her brother Colin are getting off the train at Alderley station to stay with their mother’s old nurse as their parents are abroad for six months.

Susan had inherited an heirloom from her mother from the nanny’s family. She has no idea that she possesses the Weirdstone, a magical jewel transformed into a bracelet that has long been passed down as a family heirloom.

The stone has been passed from mother to daughter of a local Chesire family, and now it’s in Susan’s possession. As the family legend has it, a wizard traded the stone in exchange for a milk-white mare.

The bracelet has a magic power that can defeat the evil spirit Nastrond. It was lost over 100 years ago, and the wizard has been looking for it. However, the evil forces have always been on the hunt to possess and destroy the extraordinary power in the Weirdstone.

Colin and Susan soon discover the truth of the family legend after they get rescued from a band of goblins by the wizard, Cadellin, and taken to the cave where a king sleeps with other knights. This draws the two children to a supernatural world they know nothing about.

At first, Cadellin doesn’t realize why the children are being hunted. Still, after Susan’s bracelet is stolen by a skeletal creature of the mist, she understands it’s her magical Weirdstone.

The children realize that they are the key to the Weirdstone’s return. But, how can they defeat the Morrigan and dangerous brood? At first, they often stumble in and out of mysteries and dangers without knowing what they hold.
They start learning the truth with time, and their actions shift to the magical world where the evil spirit constantly attacks them.

They are hunted by a shape-shifting witch and her team of evil creatures. As they are living in Mossock’s family, they realize that the Weirdstone is capable of protecting the sleeping warriors in the underground Fundindelve from the attacks of the spirit of darkness, Nastrond.

Bringing the bracelet safely to the good wizard Cadellin Silverbrow, assisted by Gowther and by two Viking-like dwarves, Durathror and Fenodyree, embroils the two children in the adventure. Even though they have the courage, they still don’t understand the skills they need to survive the adventure.

When all seem lost, they pick a couple of dwarfish protectors as magic has strongly taken over Cheshire.

As danger comes near, Susan and Colin must plan on how to return the Weirdstone to the wizard who is responsible for guarding an army of sleeping warriors in the caves of Fundindelve.

Passing through the forests, caves, and mountains, the children have to outsmart the evil creatures who are attacking them, ensuring the Weirdstone doesn’t go into the enemy’s hands because their lives depend on it.

The story revolves around a battle between the supernatural forces between evil and good. It’s more of a quest but done in reverse since the children seek not to find something but to deliver it to its rightful owner.

The Weirdstone has been lost for more than a century, but it rightfully belongs with Cadellin the wizard. The children are led by the terrifying shape-shifter Selina Place. With all kinds of evil creatures, it’s clear that even ordinary human beings can still be flawed, but no one expected the children to be rescued by the good foxes and dwarves.

Even though the story is purposely written for children, adults also have a strong appeal. The Weirdstone is an exciting and dark story of a magical threat to the world that blends magical and real worlds.
The Owl Service

Alison can hear something scratching in the attic above his room. He wonders what that might be since he only remembers being up there is a stack of old plates.

Together with Roger, her stepbrother, they discover that the flowery patterns on the plates can be traced on paper and fit together to create owls that disappear when no one is watching.

Strange things happen around Alison, Roger, and the caretaker’s son Gwyn with the vanished owls. The children start unveiling the mystery of the owl service as they become trapped within a local legend playing roles in a love story that has always ended in tragedy. The story has been repeated for many generations.

They are forced to do things that they don’t understand as objects are broken by unseen sources. When a character tries leaving the village, unnatural events force him back. The scratching on the ceiling, Alison’s rag causing books to fly, and being stalked by light streaks all come together to create a story that will make the reader’s skin crawl.

The Owl Service is a story of three teens reenacting a deadly eternal triangle in a welsh village. They are trapped between social expectations and the rising power of a myth that haunts the hills. One unique thing about the tale is the realization that the patterns of history and destiny that drive the characters forward are reflected in the flowery patterns on the dinner plates.

Suspense kicks in right from the beginning and keeps the readers engaged. The story is an exploration of the way powerful events can affect people thought out generations.

The three teenagers weren’t prepared for the anger of Blodeuwedd or how it will use their bitterness to start a confrontation that has shattered lives for generations.

Alan Garner skillfully weaves the past with the present with ease, using plot devices like books and village gossip to give hints to tell part of the story.