The Dark Is Rising: Modern Classic

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Robert Macfarlane, whose sense of landscape ‘as a memory-shifting, time-slipping medium’ was deeply influenced by Cooper’s book. I’m reading this as part of The Dark is Rising Sequence omnibus. As I write this, I’ve read both this and The Dark is Rising. I’m not quite rushing to add this to my nephew’s future reading list. Which is not to say the books are bad, or dull, or even particularly unimpressive. I enjoyed them. But they don’t achieve the intense highs or agonizing depths that I want from my books, young adult or otherwise. I can’t speak for whether younger me would have had a less critical opinion of them, sorry. And perhaps, at the time when they were published, this was innovative and inspirational. As it is, I think the market and genre have widened to the point where there are certainly more worthwhile stories in which children can immerse themselves. But if there aren’t, then I suppose this would do in a pinch. a b c d e f g The Dark Is Rising first omnibus edition publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-02-25. Places, in the work of all these writers, carry auras and memories; they act both archivally and prophetically. Landscape is a palimpsest upon which ancient stories are both contested and renewed. Such ideas were powerfully formative for me as a writer, and Cooper’s presence is particularly strong in a book I wrote about walking, paths and history called The Old Ways (there’s a significant “Old Way Lane” in The Dark Is Rising).

I think it’s partly that which makes the books survive for me — under the concerns of the children, there’s that darkness and fear.I remember her very clearly: she was British, a contralto. A gentle delivery, but with a lot of life for the children, particularly Barney, and even more gravitas for Gumerry. She read this book to me a good twenty times between the ages of eight and thirteen, and she was all that is right and proper. The storyline is just barely clear. The characters are extremely flat. Substantial explanation and pontificating on the part of a narrator. At no point toes one actually feel that the characters actually worked through a problem. The answer is always just suddenly clear, or someone swoops in to save the day. I found it almost impossible to relate to them. It tells the story of Simon, Jane and Barney who go to Cornwall on a holiday with their family and end up being caught up in a quest to find the lost Holy Grail. Drawing on Arthurian mythology but set in contemporary times, the book introduces the children’s Great-Uncle Merry, a professor at Oxford who ends up revealing mysterious powers. The book is more like an old-fashioned mystery than a traditional fantasy, except with eerie unsettling moments of darkness and magic, particularly towards the end. Updated review---Wow! I can't believe I read this almost 7 years ago and still haven't returned to finish the series until now. It really is a great start to a story. Once again, I loved traipsing through the Cornish countryside with Simon, Jane, and Barney. The addition to this story of some King Arthur archaeology is fantastic and still one of the points I love best about this book. I listened to it this time on audiobook, which enhanced the experience. Alex Jennings was the narrator and all I can say is it's fantastic! This is one of the best fantasy series out there. Many years before J.K. Rowling thought of a wizarding school and a great fight of good v. evil, Susan Cooper came up with this Arthurian fantasy. I discovered it when I was younger (by accident) and I recently discovered this omnibus and thought, "I just HAVE to see if it's as good as I remember!" And it was! It still held my attention, it still had menace, suspense, and the heroism of good against evil! I highly recommend it to fans of Harry Potter and Narnia.

Midsummer's Tree: In the Chiltern Hills, England, The Tree produces a silver flower, which blooms once every 700 years, and is the final challenge for the Six of the Light. The person who obtains the silver flower gains control of the High Magic, to put out of Time the Dark or the Light forever. Bran Davies, the Pendragon and heir of King Arthur, wields the Crystal Sword to cut the fully blossomed silver flower on the Midsummer's Tree, which is caught by Merriman, making the Light victorious. I found myself more annoyed with the tension technique that comes from the kids or adults misleading the three kids on purpose or people miscommunicating with each other. This was used too many times and it is something I'm biased against. For instance, Jane should be telling Uncle Merry, Simon, and Barney about the vicar and his interest in the map but she doesn't because she doesn't think it is important. She's pretty bright through most of the story so I'm not buying that reasoning. Later, she makes the connection and it is pretty obvious the device was used to move the story forward. This happens again with other characters such as Barney and Mrs. Palk and I found it contrived and boring after awhile. Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book in a modern classic series of childrens literature, following siblings on holiday in Corwall who discover a map to the Grail of Arthur and must face down villains also seeking it. The other thing is how awful all the adults in their lives are. They are either not paying attention or truly villainous. Supposedly with the exception of their great uncle, but he PUTS THEM IN DANGEROUS SITUATIONS ON PURPOSE!!! He's supposed to be painted as this fun uncle letting them in on grownup secrets and helping them on their quest, but what I see is a grown man allowing children to endanger themselves so that he can get what he wants. And look, I know having adults not paying attention for one reason or another is a very common trope in children's literature, but something about how this was done just hit different for me. I would rate this book a nice B-. I give this rating because Will doesn’t very much exciting. It is very dull. I still like the suspense and characters though. The suspense is too much a good factor to the book and I must give it that.There's no time to sort this out, though, because Will notices snow outside, and lots of it, too, so he starts playing outside. Before long, a mysterious woman comes up to him and offers him bread. Will's hungry but he's also suspicious, so he doesn't take it. Then Will is given a horse, which takes him to a random set of doors in the woods. Okay, this is getting weird. Will knows something fishy is happening, too—it isn't just us. I'm sure most of you friends who might end up reading this review have already read this series, but for anyone who hasn't, these books are the pre-Potter classics that may have really sparked J.K.'s joy of reading when she was a girl (in fact, I do remember reading one particular article in which Rowling mentions Susan Cooper as a favorite hero). And sometime in the last few decades, the NLS re-recorded the books and reissued the titles. Those old cassettes were wearing out, I'm sure, even the master copy. It's Midwinter's Eve, the day before Will's eleventh birthday. But there is an atmosphere of fear in the familiar countryside around him. This will be a birthday like no other. Will discovers that he has the power of the Old Ones, and that he must embark on a quest to vanquish the terrifyingly evil magic of the Dark.