Children of the Stones (novelisation)

Children of the Stones 1st edition

Jeremy Burnham & Trevor Ray
Carousel Books

Adam Brake, an astrophysicist, and his son Matthew try to unravel the mystery behind the peculiar behaviour of the inhabitants of the little English village of Milbury while investigating the ancient stone circle surrounding it.

A lot of the time I buy or read books based on the cover art.  I'll often hang back on a book I'm really interested in until I can find the specific edition with my preferred cover image and so it's taken me several years but I've finally hunted down a 1st edition copy of the novelisation of this classic 70s kids TV show.

Trevor Ray

Matthew Brake and his astrophysicist father Adam have arrived in the small village of Milbury in order to research the 53 standing stones that surround the village.  Once there they find themselves confronted by villagers who are friendly but creepy with their solicitous behaviour and their 'Happy day' salutations and overseeing them all, Rafael Hendrick, lord(ish) of the manor and all round shifty sort.

Jeremy Burnham

Father and son soon start to realise that it's not just the locals who are strange but also the stones themselves as psychic phenomena builds along with the tension before the book culminates with a finale as enigmatic in print as it is on film.

Obviously a novelisation is always going to retain a great deal of it's source material but this is a particularly slavish, though well written, one.  The small illustrations heading each chapter even retain the likenesses of the core cast.  This doesn't mean it isn't an enjoyable enough read though but it is one that is lacking in any sort of tension for anyone with a knowledge of the series.

Buy it here - Children of the Stones