Boneland (Naxos Complete Classics) (The Weridstone Trilogy) Audio CD – Unabridged, August 30, 2012

Very disappointing. Except for the name of the main (and almost only) character and the sparse allusions to a couple of characters from the previous two books - it really had nothing in common with Weirdstone nor Gomrath. Colin is unrecognizable. There are really no action sequences and none of the magic and mystery of the other books. I see some good reviews - and these must be from folks who really enjoy psychological meanderings and heavy drama. I kept reading hoping for something redeeming to happen - but nothing did as far as I'm concerned. As one reviewer said, 'I suppose the author wrote the book he wanted to write - and he has that right' . . . I guess. But also one would hope that there was some loyalty given and sense of responsibility to the spirit and atmosphere and continuity of the previous story in something "billed" as a trilogy. The book is a heavy disconnected "downer" to me - I'm just too much of a kid at 72 years old, and would have loved to have read a final book in the vein of the first two, ending on an "up" note with everyone together with their lives still ahead of them.

I first read the Weirdstone of Brisengamen and the Moon of Gomrath in my early teens way back in the 1970s. Over the years that have followed I still periodically take out my two heavily worn paperbacks and read the stories again because I cherish and love both stories. When I heard that Alan Garner was finally going to write a third book I was at first excited that I would get to enjoy these characters and the Edge once more. I hesitated in buying the book for a while though as the description of it didn't sound appealing to me. After sometime though I gave in to my curiosity and purchased Boneland and I'm sorry to say that my initial impression was correct.The book is abstract and vague to me and I have a personal dislike for such things although others might enjoy such works. I find Garners writing style in Boneland to be mesmerizing but neither entertaining or informative. The bluntest way I can put this is that Garner wrote the book that he wanted to write and he wrote it well which is his right. Having said that he did not write the book I so desperately wanted to read. I wanted to read the further adventures of Colin and Susan although I knew before I bought the book that Colin was an adult and Susan was missing. It was my desire to read more of magic and Cadellin Silverbrow and of Angharad Goldenhand and of all the fascinating characters and creatures that Garner had brought forth. I would have been content with a well written story of an adult Susan and Colin dealing with the return of the Morrigan or something in that line. This cleverly written dreamy abstract mish mash though did not entertain me for a second and is an enormous disappointment.So if you like such abstract psychological works this might be a good read for you. Several people have already posted high ratings and positive reviews for this book so I'm apparently in the minority here. However if you wish to read a book that is in anyway similar to the first two or tells us in exciting detail about the further adventures of Colin and Susan then this is NOT the book for you.

First off, I loved Weirdstone a lot. Moon, not as much, but still, it's part of the story, so it must be read, right (the ending left me with very mixed feelings)? Boneland, well, it's hard to say. First off, it's a masterpiece. I love the writing, hate the story, feel mixed about the ending. Or do I love the story? Love and hate get so mixed up sometimes. All I can say is: it's an emotional roller-coaster. Anyone who can read Garner and not become emotionally involved is dead inside.The book thrills me, entertains me, and depresses me all at the same time. I have the same problem I have with all his books: I hate for the story to end. And yet, as a True Story, it never ends, it just transfers ownership and I feel unworthy to continue it.Read it or not at your own peril. Either way, you'll never be the same again...

At last Mr.Garner has written a follow-up book to make this series a trilogy. Not for children! Don't worry, there 's nothing pornographic but this is completely adult. Colin is an adult searching for his sister who disappeared in what everyone else assumes is by drowning, although her body was never found. This book reads like a James Joyce novel. I felt I needed a class in ancient Celtic mythology and pre-Anglo-Saxon culture to fully understand the references. Colin is not mentally healthy, yet he is a multi-degreed (doctoral) savant. I vaccilated between assuming the story was his delusion or some sort of paranormal experience for him. Even now I'm not sure how it ended. So why the 4 stars. This book is literature and deserves to be read and remembered. I wish I could find a book club so I could discuss it with others and learn other viewpoints and insights about it. I just know there are more things to discover about this book.

Quite a challenging read and not at all your ordinary YA fantasy, but somehow a fitting end to the previous books about the weirdstone of Brisingamen and the mon over Gomrath. Did the events back then become part of Colin's own personal mythology in order for him to deal with traumatic episodes in his childhood or must he continue his dreamsong in order to make the world anew? Weird, confusing and quite touching.

Garner concludes an unlikely trilogy of two kids' books with a very adult mental probing on one of the characters from the original Weirdstone novels. As a reader of the originals, I felt like the only one who knew what was really happening and even then I'm not sure. Like its predecessors it leaves me wanting to hear it again. And the ending is strictly on the reader to interpret.

an outstanding and mystifying conclusion to the Alderney books. Garner has been wise to let his characters travel through "real time" and, as someone who started with Weirdstone of Brisingamen as a child, it is delightful to read the other end as I draw into my own twilight years.

I like The Weirdstone...and Gomroth...This was alittle strange...but it is beautiful...

If you're expecting this book to be a straightforward follow-up to Alan Garner's 1960's children's books set on Alderley Edge, then you're in for an uncomfortable surprise. I re-read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath immediately before reading Boneland and found them unsettling in a way that hadn't occurred to me as a child. Boneland is more than unsettling, and most definitely an adult read. The child Colin is now a man, brilliant, high-functioning autistic and obsessive-compulsive, who may or may not have gone through the supernatural adventures featured in the earlier books and unable to remember them. His therapist may or may not be an old enemy in disguise, and he may or may not have a missing twin sister, never named. I was uncomfortable much of the time I was reading it (though there are some funny bits) but enthralled and unable to put it down until I'd finished it.

Vague, meandering prose that barely forms a proper narrative and certainly does not form part of a trilogy to the Weirdstone of Brisingamen / Moon of Gomrath. Those books both offered the promise of a concluding novel, building to some kind of battle with the evil in the North. This promise remains unfulfilled.Instead, the reader of Boneland has to suffer a complete vacuum of plot. One of the protagonists (Collin) from the original books is an old professor with total amnesia concerning his sister and the events of the previous books.Spoiler alert: By the end of the book Collin gets a vague recall about his sister. That is the entire book summarised.The real spoiler is this book's existence. It is a depressing indication of an author's outstanding early talent disappearing with age, and being replaced with self-indulgent pretentiousness. I would advise any fans of the previous books to avoid Boneland as it will forever mar their enjoyment of those books.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen was the first book I ever read and kicked me off an a 35+ year sword and sorcery bender. The childish wonder of reading that first book has never left me and I was so looking forward to Boneland. There is no childish wonder to be had in Boneland. To say Boneland is the last book in the Weirdstone trilogy is like saying My Cousin Vinnie is the last film in the Godfather series.To make matters worse the Kindle edition is broken as there are no divisions between the chapters. You just go from one sentence to the next all the way through and when you are already dealing with a story that flits from a psychotic to a spiritualistic flint knapper, it makes it nigh on impossible to get through.

I love Weirdstone and Gomrath even 30 years after first reading them. Similarly The Owl Service is great.Boneland isn't.Its an exercise in writing that's cleverly done and keeps you guessing, but entirely unsatisfying.Call me naïve or shallow if you like, but while I admire the execution of the work, I derived little pleasure from the story.A shame.

This book is very different from its predecessors in the trilogy and in order to be appreciated for what it is, it needs to be valued in the context in which it was written.Alan Garner will have evolved, as a writer naturally does, in many ways since the times when he wrote 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' and 'The Moon of Gomrath' and his style also will have adjusted to his changing levels of maturity as a writer. I would therefore suggest that those who were used to the style and content of the earlier volumes, will find that a reading of this book may result in a bit of a shock, if one is expecting more of the same and a continuation of existing stylistic conventions.It would be difficult, for instance, to regard this as a children's book, as the dream-like, stream of conscience approach would be hard, if not impossible for the typical child to understand. It also differs so considerably in its approach that it contradicts the fluidity that one might expect of a trilogy. (Hence my award of four rather than five points.)Although Alan Garner's books have always required a high level of intelligent reading skill for children to understand, it would be realistic to fathomthat this book has been focused on those (such as myself) who read the earlier books and have acquired maturity themselves in the intervening years (in my case, a period that represents over fifty years.)Consequently, I would recommend that this book would achieve its full value as a worthy read, by adults, but would question its overall accessibility to children of a similar ilk to those who would have been captivated by the earlier two volumes.