One of the most intriguing aspects of Alan Garner's The Owl Service is the postcript in which the author tells how he came to write the book and relates the amazing series of coincidences or serendipitous occurrences from which it evolved. While the novel was not quite handed to Alan Garner 'on a plate', the story seemed to be already there for him to discover:
"The sensation of finding, not inventing, a story continued. It was all there, waiting, and I was the archaeologist picking away the earth to reveal the bones."
With its roots in the Welsh legend of Lleu, Blodeuwedd and Gronw Pebr it's a book about patterns: patterns of behaviour, of events, and on a dinner service, and about a myth or legend that recurs in time, carrying on unless or until resolved. Set in an old house in a remote Welsh valley, it begins with the finding of the owl-patterned dinner service in the attic - a discovery which seems to unleash a power that had been dormant. The youngsters of the house don't understand what they are dealing with but Huw Halfbacon, whose family has lived on the land for generations, knows more than Alison, Roger and Gwyn first suspect.
Forty years and more after publication, this is modern, sharp, angular story-telling, and despite its mythological basis, some of its issues are highly contemporary and addressed with a realism which gives it an edge. There is nothing comfy and cosy here, instead it is like nature, red in tooth (or beak) and claw. It is genuinely powerful stuff and I can see why it has endured.
On the basis of The Owl Service, would I read more of Alan Garner? Emphatically, yes.