The parents in The Owl Service are losers for sure, including the toxic one who never appears.

I've never read book 3 of the trilogy just because I loved 1&2 so much, and also because from what I've read here and there it's John M Ford levels of deliberately obscure. I r naive reader and unable to guess what an author is trying to convey by not saying things.

Elidor isn't bad either BTW.