It’s yet another fantasy series that is being turned into a movie. I read these when I was around 9 or 10 and I really liked them. For those who haven’t heard of it, the Dark is Rising is a series of five books written by Susan Cooper about a young boy who discovers he’s the last of the Old Ones, a group of people dedicated to fighting the Dark. (Yes, the good guys are also known as the Light.) Cooper does a superb job of blending in Welsh and English legend into the events of the story.
I reread the series a couple of years ago and was pleased to see that they withstood the test of time. Except for one notable exception; the end of the last book. All the humans who helped save the world were made to forget it all by the Light.
I hate that kind of ending. Nevertheless, I still think it’s a series worth reading.
I loved this series as a kid. I hope they don’t screw it up too badly. And yes, I agree the making everyone forget everything in the end was a huge cop out.
I hate that about the ending too! It bothered me as a kid and it bothers me when I read them now.
But other than that, I like this series a lot. I love rereading The Dark Is Rising before Christmas, it does such a great job of capturing the winter feel and the days getting shorter and the power (could be good, could be bad) of the snow and cold.
I still occasionally look through The Grey King for Bran’s Welsh pronounciation lesson to Will when I’m stumped with a Welsh name.
I agree that that part of the ending is a cop-out, but it was one I suspected. And I agree that The Dark Is Rising captures the building, yet somehow also static, tension of winter on page like no other book I’ve read.
I remember as a kid totally not forseeing Merriman’s past until it was revealed, and I was so elated at the surprise because usually I see stuff like that coming a mile away. Now, of course, it seems so obvious, but it was just a shock the first time.
I loathe the ending also, but those were some of my very favorite books as a child. (Still are, I guess.) I don’t want to see a movie. Lah, lah, lah, no movie.
I still remember all the poetry, which is kind of sweet and a little embarassing both at the same time.
I went to school with Susan Cooper’s daughter and got some of those books as birthday presents when I was young. I recall really enjoying them, but haven’t thought about them in years.
I gave them a try recently, on the recommendations of both folks here and Amazon’s “If you liked…” feature. The first book, Over Sea and Under Stone is excellent. I was a bit annoyed by a significant flaw in it until I realized it wasn’t a flaw: The map wasn’t to show where the treasure was, but when. But even before I realized that, it was a great adventure tale, with just enough fantasy to keep you guessing.
The second one, though, The Dark is Rising, I just couldn’t see any appeal at all. Will’s success isn’t earned, it’s just sort of given to him. He never has to really put in any effort at all, which makes it hard to appreciate what he’s going through. The whole book is more or less just a single huge deus-ex-mandalla. The third, Greenwitch, is slightly better, but still, the resolution in it amounts to little more than one of the characters saying “Pretty please”. And I gave up on The Grey King, once it started to look more like the second than the others.
Oh, I love this series. One of my favorites. Silver on the tree is my least favorite though, because of the ending and I suppose also because it’s so disjointed; I have a hard time even keeping it in my head.
I do that too!
She didn’t see it herself until it happened. I recently read a collection of Susan Cooper’s essays and talks–I recommend it!–and she said she made up the name at random and it must have been her subconscious at work, since she didn’t realize the ending until she wrote it. There are lots of other good tidbits in there like that–the winter scene with Will is from her own childhood, as is Tramps’ Alley/Oldway Lane (another one she didn’t figure out until later). And that other books of hers about WWII, Dawn of fear, is pretty much her own autobiography; she just turned herself into a boy for it.
Anyway, I don’t know how good a job they’ll do at turning it into a movie. :dubious: I’m always suspicious of movies out of books…
If you get a chance, I suggest going back to finish reading The Grey King, Chronos. It won a Newberry for a reason; I’m not sure you’d be disappointed if you follow it through. (It’s one of my favorite books from childhood.)
Interestingly enough, I always thought Over Sea and Under Stone was the weakest of the series. I think that’s so because I discovered it after I had read the last four, and because (mostly this) Simon, Jane and Barney were just absolutely annoying as characters. Will, I liked; with the Drews, I felt like I was reading The Bobbsey Twins and the Magic Lighthouse.
I think I remember all the poetry from it too - I’ve had “When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back” memorized since… the first time I read the books, which was a long time ago. Interesting to know that they’re finally turning it into a movie - if it makes a whole new generation of kids read the books, I’m all for it.
It’ll be tricky, though, as the whole thing really takes place within a few years. not a lot of time to allow the kids to age.
I really liked the first one, tended to like them less and less and I read along, and liked the last one least of all – I thought the ending sucked.
I first read them as an adult, but long enough ago that I don’t really remember many details of them. I might have liked them better if I had read them as a kid. I know I bought them but don’t still have them, which means I gave them away, which means I didn’t think it likely I would want to read them again.
I love the first half of Silver on the Tree - the part in the drowned land. The bit with the white bone and the hawthorn tree scared me as a kid, and stuck with me. After they left that part, though, the rest of the book kind of sucks. Kind of got that “Well, gotta end it somehow” feel, with the train and all. And I agree that the first book doesn’t fit the tone of the rest - I’m not a huge fan of the Drews. Very Bobbsey Twins indeed.
I was just thinking about these books the other day! We have a few copies of Greenwitch at work, and I was leafing through it, trying to work out why it seemd so familiar - I’d read the series (I think out of order) when I was young. I remember enjoying them, might have to add them to my next Amazon order, see how they hold up.
Heh, even though I like the books, I see where you’re coming from on this. I would probably feel much the same if I had read them for the first time as an adult. I love the “feel” of The Dark Is Rising, but Will is sometimes kind of a tool – I’m always much more interested in what Jane and Simon are up to. They come back into the thick of things in Silver on the Tree.
Yeah, that’s definitely true. I see that now but not when I was nine. It makes Will seem more remote and less like someone the reader can identify with.
I did enjoy the series when I was younger. I re-read them in high school, and the ending still bothered me, but I would still pay whatever money needed to get me a copy of them so I could read them more often. I am currently buying the Narnia series, only buying it first because I used The Magician’s Nephew in class last quarter. It was the book I taught to the class (three of us got to pick one book each to teach to a Jr. High class) and I found it at the bookstore in town pretty cheap ($3.50 I believe)
I will add that Silver on The Tree was probably my favorite. I also totally agree about reading The Dark Is Rising in early winter. I first read it just at the end of football season in fourth grade, and it has been one of my favorite books ever since.
Wow, everyone reads The Dark Is Rising before Christmas. Neat.
I first read them when I was in grade seven. I think I read Over Sea, Under Stone first, but I’m not sure. I loved them. I agree that the ending is weak. The only one I consistently re-read (around Christmas!) is The Dark is Rising. I think i like th bustle of Will’s family, and the Walker. Jane and the other kids kind of bother me.
I heard about the movie a little while ago. We’ll see. I don’t trust anyone not to screw them up, but I don’t have the kind of emotional attachment to the books that I do to LotR and Narnia, so if they do screw up, there probably won’t be bloodshed.
See, for me it made it MORE identifiable-with. I mean, he’s 12 years old, fer chrissake. How many 12 year olds would know what to do if that happened to them? Me? I would have stood around with my finger in my nose going, “Derrrr…” and occasionally screaming and running away.
While I enjoy stories about wise-beyond-their-years all powerful 12 year old wizards, *TDIR *rang true to me partly because of his passivity and total cluelessness. Truth be told, I enjoyed The Silver on The Tree less because Will had gotten all Wise and Calm by then.
I do agree about the Bobbsey Drews, though. But of course I had to like Jane anyway, as the token female. And her encounter with The Lady sends chills up my spine every time.
I LOVE this series! I always had a huge crush on Will as a kid. I even made up a story where I was really somehow Merriman’s daughter, and he brought me through time to meet Will when we were both in our early 20s and we fell in love. It had all kinds of twists and turns in it, and I even had a few powers. I guess I’m a bit of a dork.
I’ll be interested to see this movie, but I don’t know if it could ever compare to the vision in my head. I do wonder what the plans are for the whole series? And I’m glad they are doing TDIR first. It is a much better book that OSUS. I remember reading that Cooper wrote OSUS as a stand alone book, and didn’t consider the series until a few years later.
The Grey King is my favorite. It was the first one I read, in 6th grade. I loved it, and like some of you, I often turn back to Bran’s Welsh lesson. I would love to be friends with him. He’s such an interesting character. And I totally think he and Jane get together in the future. They’d make a great couple! I always picture him growing up and, even though he was made to forget everything (too bad!), he would always have some kind of princely bearing or inner something that shines through.
