Boneland by Alan Garner
Boneland is the third and final instalment of the Weirdstone trilogy.
Colin is a genius, he knows mind-boggling facts about time and space and physics seems to be a second nature to him. On the other hand, he’s ill, his doctor is unsure how exactly and sends him to see a psychiatrist called Meg. Soon she gets to the roots of his problems, he can’t remember a thing before he was thirteen years old and he’s searching for his lost sister amongst the stars.
In another time, a man tends the land, tells the stories of his people and hunts for food. He fears he is the last, so he carves a woman in the rocks and hopes she will come to him.
Although this is part of the Weirdstone trilogy, it feels like a very separate story and lovers of the first two novels may be surprised at the very different style. It feels like Gardner was trying to write an incredibly intelligent and moving piece but sadly enough has written an infuriating story that makes such little sense that reading the inside cover tells you more than reading the entire novel. The characters are distinct to start but soon all conversations feel incredibly false and massive jumps leave the reader lost and frustrated. A lot was attempted in this novel but a cohesive storyline is lost in too many ideas and not enough logic.