--- product_id: 117381816 title: "The Owl Service (Junior Classics) Audio CD – Unabridged, October 7, 2008" brand: "garneralan" price: "€ 184.67" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.gr/products/117381816-the-owl-service-junior-classics-audio-cd-unabridged-october-7 store_origin: GR region: Greece --- # The Owl Service (Junior Classics) Audio CD – Unabridged, October 7, 2008 **Brand:** garneralan **Price:** € 184.67 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Owl Service (Junior Classics) Audio CD – Unabridged, October 7, 2008 by garneralan - **How much does it cost?** € 184.67 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.gr](https://www.desertcart.gr/products/117381816-the-owl-service-junior-classics-audio-cd-unabridged-october-7) ## Best For - garneralan enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted garneralan brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![The Owl Service (Junior Classics) Audio CD – Unabridged, October 7, 2008 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wFPTSndsL.jpg) ![The Owl Service (Junior Classics) Audio CD – Unabridged, October 7, 2008 - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/314DsxrnguL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent novel, dated language. *by G***Y on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 26, 2019* SummaryAlison, her stepbrother Roger, her mother and stepfather are holidaying in a gorgeous, isolated valley in Wales, a few hours away from Aberystwyth, staying in an old house Alison inherited from her late father. Short-tempered Nancy and her son Gwyn have been hired to work at the house for the family’s stay, as has Huw Halfbacon, (whom Nancy hates) the strange handy-man and gardener who has worked at the house for many years. Alison, Gwyn and Roger, discover a dinner service decorated with a floral owl pattern in the loft of the house. The moment they find it, bizarre things start happening, and the teens become embroiled in the centre of a mystical curse from centuries ago, doomed to repeat the tragic legend of Bloduewedd, Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Gronw Pebr.Review – may contain spoilers!The Owl Service is a phenomenal, low fantasy book, first published in 1967. I read it for the first time when I was nine or so years old in school and was enraptured by the hair-raising mystery of the book; I went on to read it multiple times afterwards. Almost twenty years later, I ‘rediscovered’ The Owl Service and was not disappointed; I read the book in one sitting, my arms covered in goosebumps from the brooding eeriness of the tale. The story is fast-paced, comprising of mostly dialogue, nevertheless Garner manages to maintain a constant menacing, haunting atmosphere for the majority of the book.Alison, Gwyn and Roger do mirror the Mabinogion myth of Bloduewedd, Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Gronw Pebr, though the ‘love-triangle’ between the three was very subtle, being more about society-ranks than romance (though there was a noticeable tension between Alison and Gwyn), but still comparable to the triangle between Bloduewedd, Lleu and Gronw.Of all the characters in the book, Gwyn was by far the most fleshed-out and interesting. I did feel somewhat disheartened at the end when he could not give up his jealousy, anger and hatred to save Alison but Roger could.The ending of the book was very sudden. Some might find it unsatisfying, and I admit, I didn’t expect it to end so quickly – though Roger managed to save Alison, did they end the curse permanently? Or did they just ‘complete’ their parts in the curse, and the curse will repeat in the next generation, as it has before?Regardless of the sudden ending, I enjoyed the book immensely and would recommend others to read it (and read it multiple times, at that!). It is indeed a classic.Finally, due to the book’s age, it should be noted that the language is dated. I’m unsure how well a child in 2019 would read and grasp the story due to this. ### ⭐⭐ What in the world...? *by T***Y on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 9, 2013* I read this book because it came highly recommended. I like intricate stories, even difficult ones, but this one was a waste of my time and my imagination. I have to agree with the one and two star reviewers that the "love triangle" is anything but reoccuring with Alison, Gwyn and Roger. Up until the end of chapter 7, all is well, especially because that chapter ends with a real suspensful twist as Alison asks "What plates?"But then the story completely falls apart. No answers to anything (why do the plate patterns disappear, why exactly is Alison compelled to create these owls, what is she doing in the woods, why exactly were these plates made to begin with, who's in that room, why doesn't anybody care enough to find out by breaking the lock, etc, etc...). Worse yet, the characters become nastier by the page: Quite out of the blue, Gwyn suddenly tells his mother Nancy to drop dead (pardon me?), and he's demeaning towards Alison, calling her stupid on several occasions while they're having friendly, heart-to-heart conversations; Alison herself is a weakling with no will force or mind of her own (all she can say is "Please, be careful!" or "No, please, no!" or "I can't!" or "I daren't!" (ok, let's not forget the story was written in 1967, where girls and women were generally considered and thus portrayed as helpless and weak, but argh, how very painful...); Nancy has to be tricked into divulging some truth by means of stolen cigarettes and a shot of alcohol (I mean, reeeeaaalllly...???); Roger turns into the epitome of the British snob and "peasant" despiser ... and all throughout, the author wants us to believe that Roger is somehow attracted to his half-sister the same way Gwyn is, so as to keep that notion of the cursed triangle scenario going. By! As Gwyn would say.And then, as if all this weren't bad enough, there comes the ending, more disturbing and more wrong than anything I could have possibly imagined. I mean simply ridiculous. How this book won so much praise, let alone so many awards is beyond me.Definitely nothing I would want teenagers to read, let alone teenage girls. Every female character in this book is either weak, ignorant or vicious; but then again, so is every male character deep down inside. All in all, an unpleasant book. And the writing is nothing to write home about either. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In Alan Garner's modern (1960s) version of the legend of ... *by T***T on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 30, 2014* In Alan Garner's modern (1960s) version of the legend of Blodeuwedd, the girl made of flowers as a wife for Lleu, who has been placed under bonds that he may have no woman as a wife. Gronw Pebr, lord of Penllyn, meets her while hunting, and they agree to kill her husband. However, Lleu's uncle Gwydion, the magician who made the wife from flowers for him, discovers Gronw wounded and returns him to health. They force Gronw to take the same position in which Lleu was killed, but allow him to hide behind a stone; Lleu's spear penetrates the stone and him and he is killed, and Gwydion turns Blodeuwedd into an owl.In the novel, this story keeps repeating every generation in its original valley, the three doomed lovers calling up the woman of flowers inexorably, because the power has been "given a thinking mind" and so can only be controlled by the re-enactment of the tragedy.However, Garner, perhaps unconsciously, underlay the story with a considerable layer of clichéd notions of Welsh soul and English rationality, with the awfully-awfully English boy coaxing the angry owl goddess that really, she doesn't have to be so awfully cross, in a not altogether convincing ending, a deus ex machina taking the impetus from the Welsh protagonist and putting it into the hands of the incomer.Perhaps it is this unconvincingness that gives the novel its power; the reader really doesn't believe it, leaving the angry flower woman with her thinking mind echoing around the story long after it ends. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.gr/products/117381816-the-owl-service-junior-classics-audio-cd-unabridged-october-7](https://www.desertcart.gr/products/117381816-the-owl-service-junior-classics-audio-cd-unabridged-october-7) --- *Product available on Desertcart Greece* *Store origin: GR* *Last updated: 2026-05-09*