Not strictly a prequel to the Wolves of Willoughby Chase sequence (our young hero Owen Hughes re-appears around the time of the plot to slide St Paul’s Cathedral into the Thames at a coronation, in The Cuckoo Tree), The Whispering Mountain can nevertheless be enjoyed as a standalone novel. It also adds to our knowledge and understanding of Joan Aiken’s alternative history of the world in the early 19th century, sometimes called the James III sequence or, as I prefer to call it, the Dido Twite series (from the most endearing character featured in most of the books).Set in and around the western coast of Wales, the tale features elements of Welsh mythology, Dark Age history and traditions of Nonconformism and mining, along with several other typical Aiken themes – such as Arthurian legend (revisited in The Stolen Lake), slavery underground (as in Is), mistaken identities (as in The Cuckoo Tree) and dastardly villains (as in all the titles of the sequence). Although convoluted, the plot draws you along to the inevitable conclusion, and as always Aiken doesn’t shy away from death even when writing for a youngish audience.Of especial interest is the Welsh setting and use of language and traditions away from Aiken’s usual specialities such as the southeast of England. Living in West Wales, I was particularly intrigued to see aspects of different real localities transmogrified to suit the story and the conceit of an alternative geography of Britain (Malyn Castle is like Harlech Castle transferred to the region of Aberystwyth); and the use of Welsh phrases and idioms (there is a glossary at the end) when characters speak English struck chords even for someone like me with only a passing acquaintance with the language. I also loved the puns, such as the placename Pennygaff which, although it has a Welsh look to it (real placenames include Pen-y-Fan and Pen-y-Bont, literally ‘Mountain Top’ and ‘Bridgend’ respectively), is actually taken from the name for a type of popular but seedy early Victorian theatrical show. Malyn Castle (and its Marquess of Malyn) is a wonderful composite of malign (a good description of the marquess), melyn (Welsh for ‘yellow’, perhaps a reference to the marquess’ love of gold) and Malin Head (the most northerly point in Ireland, famous from the BBC Shipping Forecast, with its 1805 Martello tower looking very castle-like).And the story? This is the tale of Owen Hughes, son of Captain Hughes of the Thrush and the grandson of another Owen Hughes, keeper of the Pennygaff museum. Bullied at school, young Owen falls in with heroes, villains and bystanders: who to trust with the ancient harp kept in the museum? The villains are often the most memorable, ruffians like Toby Bilk (slang for ‘cheat’) and Elijah Prigman (‘thief’), and blackguards like the Marquess himself. To right the balance there are kind monks, a future king, a travelling poet and his daughter by a Maltese beauty, Arabis Camilleri. The daughter, also called Arabis (a kind of rockcress; also Welsh arabus means ‘witty’) is the same age as Owen. And we mustn’t forget a mysterious Eastern potentate and the equally mysterious cave-dwelling troglodytes under the eponymous Whispering Mountain. Which does more than whisper in the denouement, in an underground version of the famous Devil’s Bridge inland from Aberystwyth.As I hope this account suggests, this a book worth reading for its spirited liveliness and sheer inventiveness even if you’re not a dyed-in-the-wool Aiken fan. Maybe after sampling The Whispering Mountain you may be tempted to try the other alternate histories in the series. There’s even a chance you might not be disappointed. To add to the delight there’s a map but, sadly, only a handful of illustrations by the inestimable Pat Marriott in the original hardback and the Puffin paperbacks. Later issues, such as the Red Fox edition, include neither map nor illustrations, a miscalculation especially with books aimed at a young adult market but no less a mistake with readers of all ages.http://wp.me/p2oNj1-t
This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.I love Joan Aiken's books so much. Every year or so I go on an Aiken kick where I read a bunch of books in her amazing Wolves series. The thing about those books is that they always look so boring from the cover description and synopsis, but are actually amazing books full of humor, terror, mischief, and clever plot twists that make things fun. You always know the young main characters won't come to any real harm, but anyone else is fair game. Aiken's books are written for a less sheltered generation of children, where murder and terror are part of the story. This serves to increase the tension, and sweeten the reward.Now for this specific book. I picked it up for a quarter at a flea market, very excited to find a Joan Aiken I hadn't read yet. I read it in one sitting (staying up a bit later than I really should have, more from an unwillingness to go to sleep than any driving desire to finish the book), and - well, and then I fell asleep. It was good, but it wasn't exactly thrilling.This is a book with many pieces and people and plot devices, all rolled together in a way that makes things seem ridiculously complicated at first, but actually winds up fitting together perfectly in the end. There is a father and daughter team of gypsies, a nerdy-yet-inwardly-strong young boy, two nasty thieves, a prince, an evil Marquess (It took me a while to get it straight in my head that this is a male term), a monk, a foreign Seljuk (apparently some sort of Rajah), a bunch of dwarf-people, and many more wildly different characters. This is a story told in bits and pieces, where everyone pursues the truth from a different angle and then at the end of the book figure out the whole picture by talking to everyone else. This is a very clever way of telling the tale, because there are many "mini books" inside the big book, with the various main characters ducking and weaving throughout the stories of the other characters.However, it's the story itself that just doesn't really appeal to me. Aiken is a genius at taking seemingly worn-out tales and making them fresh, but it just didn't happen for me with this one. Arabis is like a mix between Aiken's other main female characters, Sophie and Dido, and I have to say I like the others better. Ditto for Owen - I liked him, but I like Simon better. According to Goodreads this is book 0 in the Wolves chronicles (does that mean it's a prequel?). I don't really see how it fits in with the others at all, except for its similar time-setting. I love the later books far, far more, from the wonderful Wolves of Willoughby Chase that I first read in lower elementary school, to Black Hearts in Battersea, which is one of my later-discovered favorites.If you love old-fashioned adventures full of danger, excitement, humor, and compelling characters, then I wholeheartedly recommend you read this series. I'm sure that many would like this book, but for me at least it just felt a bit too ordinary - and I kept getting flashbacks to George McDonald's The Princess and the Goblins. If you're a fan of the series and haven't gotten around to this one yet, then by all means read it. It's not that it's bad by any definition of the word - it's just not as good as many of the other books in the series. If you have never read a Joan Aiken and you want to, then start with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase or Black Hearts in Battersea. Trust me, you'll be happy you did.
Do You like book The Whispering Mountain (2002)?
That indefinable Aiken magic. I enjoyed this book so much, and the cover too, that I decided I will have to collect quality early hardback editions of all of Joan Aiken's books for my collection. The cover treatment, (similar to Arthur Ransome's original covers for the Swallows & Amazons series but arguably more skilful), illustrates the whole book on the dust jacket. Small interlocking cameo drawings cover the book, and make no sense until you reach the relevant part of the story, although they build a certain amount of suspense and anticipation! I found myself constantly referring back to the cover as I read the book, delighting in the tiny representations of characters in action. Beautiful. A minor comment on the text, I really enjoyed reading the gradual character transformation of Hwfa. Owen's character transformation, though delightful, did seem to occur somewhat suddenly and I found his confident super-geek-hero-like leadership skills a little hard to swallow on the hike with the big boys. But I was happy once I'd finally got it down with a pinch of salt and decided to go along with it in joy. One vaguely loose end remained. There was an early reference to The Marquess's first conversation with Owen wherein Owen's face unpleasantly reminded the Marquess of.... someone. This is never explained. Is it to do with the un-named woman who rejected the Marquess? But the Marquess seems also rather familiar with Arabis's mother's early career prior to her illness. These things I'd have liked to know more about. If only... a sequel. But alas, too late.** I see this is listed as a prequel to the Wolves series. Although some say not strictly so. Anyway, I was going on to them next. I've only read the Wolves of Willoughby Chase so far. Now I've burned my lunch writing about this :((
—Judy
When a golden harp is found near the Welsh town of Pennygaff, it sets off a series of events that have unexpected results. As the museum curator, Mr. Hughes believes he should have custody of the harp, but there are several other claimants, including the Marquess of Malyn, who collects items made of gold. Young Owen Hughes, Mr. Hughes' grandson decides to run away to sea, since his grandfather doesn't seem to appreciate him, and writes a note for his grandfather. But then two thieves appear to steal the harp, and realize Owen's note will point to his guilt, so they kidnap him. Can Owen find a way to get free and solve the mystery of the Whispering Mountain?
—Jane Irish Nelson
This is one of the first books I actually remember being given and reading as a child (the other two are Bambi and Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three). I think it might have been what spawned my lifelong love of Things Welsh. Owen's adventures with the Harp of Teirtu and the quest of the Seljuk of Rum to find his missing people are exciting, endearing, and great fun. There's music, poetry, kidnapping, spelunking, a pretty girl with a tame crow, and royalty-in-disguise ("Jamie Neddie Stuart", if I recall correctly!). Pretty much something for everyone.As a side note, coming back to the book as an adult I found my curiosity drawn to Owen's father. I wondered about his backstory, what made him the dour man he is. Another one of those gaps that makes one want to fill it with story!
—Michele
