# The Dark Is Rising series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078 "2006-09-01T15:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/1 "2006-09-01T15:14:16Z")
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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. Anyone read it or want to discuss it? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/2 "2006-09-01T15:52:37Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/3 "2006-09-01T16:07:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/4 "2006-09-01T16:43:05Z")
One of my favorite serieses EVAH! 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. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/5 "2006-09-01T17:44:50Z")
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. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/6 "2006-09-01T18:16:28Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/7 "2006-09-01T21:45:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/8 "2006-09-01T22:32:50Z")
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. > [@WhyNot](#): > > One of my favorite serieses EVAH! > > 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 do that too! > [@](#): > > 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. 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… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/9 "2006-09-01T22:35:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. Dayum. I could have written that. I didn’t like this series at all, and precisely for the reasons you say. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/10 "2006-09-01T23:47:29Z")
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_. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/11 "2006-09-02T00:04:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/12 "2006-09-02T00:08:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/13 "2006-09-02T01:48:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/14 "2006-09-02T02:03:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/15 "2006-09-02T02:19:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/16 "2006-09-02T03:54:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/17 "2006-09-02T07:59:43Z")
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. Brendon ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/18 "2006-09-02T13:29:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/19 "2006-09-02T14:03:42Z")
> [@Arien](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by **Chronos** > > \*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. \* > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078/20 "2006-09-02T14:24:36Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-is-rising-series/371078.md?page=2)