# When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854 "2005-12-16T02:55:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![blackhobyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blackhobyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackhobyah)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/41 "2005-12-17T11:42:03Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > For me, Alan Garner is way above Cooper. Cooper’s books just left me bored. Will is a terrible character for me, not dynamic at all. Garner’s characters aren’t incredible, but his writing is stellar. I was going to suggest Alan Garner, but not _The Weirdstone of Brisingamen_, because the story itself is fairly standard fantasy, it’s the writing which makes is so special. And I love the book so much it would break my heart to see it butchered. But _Redshift_ could make a wonderful film, well-handled. But one book which has all the elements for a good film is Emma Bull’s _War for the Oaks._ With Johnny Depp as the phouka! ---
**Author:** ![blackhobyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blackhobyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackhobyah)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/42 "2005-12-17T11:47:42Z")
I forgot to say that I read somewhere that there was a film in production of Elizabeth Goudge’s _The Little White Horse_. This was a much loved book of my childhood, so I await the film with some trepidation. I’m not sure the limpid innocence of the story can be recaptured some fifty years after it was written. Ah. I remember correctly. [http://www.thelittlewhitehorse.com/movie.html](http://www.thelittlewhitehorse.com/movie.html) ---
**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:** [December 17, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/43 "2005-12-17T14:47:22Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > No, the first book is about Simon, Jane and Barney (Will meets them in _Greenwitch_). I didn’t really like the first one. _Dark is Rising_ introduces Will, and is much better. I started reading the series with The Dark Is Rising, and didn’t realize Over Sea, Under Stone was the first book until after I had finished the remaining books. After I had read it, I was disappointed. Nothing new really came to light (ha!), so I walked away thinking the book didn’t really fit with the others. > [@Kyla](#): > > Will isn’t really that much of a sympathetic character - he already knows everything. Face it, if you knew Will, you’d probably find him pretty creepy. I disagree. He’s a very sympathetic character in The Dark Is Rising; in fact, he was pretty normal, an everyman (kid) who provided a way for me to relate to what was happening. He gets confused, makes mistakes and grows as a person. Probably a bit more reserved than most American characters, but I could relate to him. In the remaining three, however, yeah, he’s more of a mini-Merriman. At that point, however, we’re supposed to be seeing what’s happening through other characters, so the depersonalization of Will doesn’t matter much; plus, it makes sense in regards to his training as an Old One. Now, the Drew kids–them I could live without. I’m not sure how anyone else feels, but I was annoyed by these kids. Their presence in the books felt boisterous and loud; they didn’t feet with any of the other more muted and refined chracters. I kept wishing they’d go away. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/44 "2005-12-17T15:09:06Z")
Oh, and since a few of my other choices have been mentioned, I’d like to throw in Jennifer Roberson’s _Cheysuli_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/45 "2005-12-17T15:43:52Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! What **Anaamika** said! The only book I ever really liked from _The Dark is Rising_ series was _The Grey King_, and that was because it was in Wales and had King Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/46 "2005-12-17T16:11:04Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > I disagree. He’s a very sympathetic character in The Dark Is Rising; in fact, he was pretty normal, an everyman (kid) who provided a way for me to relate to what was happening. He gets confused, makes mistakes and grows as a person. Probably a bit more reserved than most American characters, but I could relate to him. Okay, you have a point about that particular book, but I stand by my statement that he would not be a good main character for the rest of the books. Maybe _The Grey King_ as from Bran’s point of view? Although Will starts out the book as a sympathetic character. ---
**Author:** ![Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lathe_of_Heaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/47 "2005-12-17T17:13:38Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! Prydain! I third this. Especially if they film it in Wales. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/48 "2005-12-17T17:28:12Z")
Argh. Came in to say they’re probably making D.I.R. and _The Little White Horse_. I third the _Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ trilogy. Who would they cast for Binabik? ---
**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:** [December 17, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854/49 "2005-12-17T17:31:01Z")
Oh. \*Fire on the mountain Shall find the Harp of Gold. Played to wake the Sleepers, Oldest of the old. Power from the Greenwitch, Lost beneath the sea. All shall find the light at last, Silver on the tree.\* I think the whole poem lodged itself into my brain when I was 11. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-dark-comes-rising-six-shall-turn-it-back/335854.md?page=2)