Customer Reviews
An Interesting and Welcome Second in the Series 
2008-05-21
Will Stanton turns eleven on midwinter's eve...and up until now, he's led a normal, if somewhat hectic life as the seventh (and youngest) child in his normal family. It is on this, his eleventh birthday, that he finds out he is anything but normal and also the beginning of a series of events that will help him define the man he will become. While I did thoroughly enjoy The Dark is Rising...I think the greatest draw for this book (and the series as a whole) is for children (or young adults if you prefer), ages 9-14 (or so). The "light" and "dark" are fairly cut and dry, no shades of grey here...the characters are ALL good or ALL bad, no subtle shading or real depth to them and while I do feel this is appropriate for the age range (because that's rather how kids of this age are still seeing the world, things are "good" or "bad"); it's a shame the author doesn't challenge us and help introduce a more nuanced character set to the readers (perhaps in later books in the series), because this is also the age range where pushing that comfortable envelope should begin to be introduced. Having said that, I want to be clear that while I do see the characters as lacking depth to a certain degree, I did enjoy the book and would definitely recommend it, and it's just not as richly drawn as it might otherwise be if it were geared toward an older audience or if the author had written richer characters. Additionally for such surprisingly flat, one dimensional characters the text itself is highly detailed and extremely well written, though in places a bit confusing (for example where she refers to Will's friend...he's actually one of his brothers, but this is unclear early on and is distracting).
Cooper successfully weaves both British and Celtic folklore/mythology into the threads of the story and successfully creates an entire world in which Will must navigate to successfully achieve his quest (with time travel, even). We meet a variety of characters through Will, both Light and Dark and travel along with him as he struggles to come to terms with his new found knowledge, responsibilities and powers...it's not an easy quest for an 11 year old, nor does he suddenly "become" an Old One, it's a struggle for him the whole of the journey (as it should be for an eleven year old). One of the best features of the story is that Will's home life is happy and healthy...he is part of a tight-nit family unit. His family is normal: a two parent home where no one is sick, crazy, or otherwise absent or in need of rescue (at least as the story begins) and best of all, the entire family is well adjusted and actually get along (i.e. there is no bully or abusive siblings, no schoolyard conflicts, he's not a misfit, and there is no wicked step parent). While they do not really know about or help with Will's struggle or challenges, they are ever present and he must work in this quest and still fulfill his family obligations and remains a part of the family throughout.
Overall, The Dark is Rising is an interesting and entertaining tale that readers of all ages can dig into and love. It's got strong mythological bones, interesting plot points, and relatively well defined and likeable characters which help to allow readers to forgive it's few flaws (somewhat flat characterization...especially of the "Dark" characters, some confusing plot points, and the real lack of anything difficult being required of the "hero" when it's all said and done). I give it 4 stars and hope that later books in the series provide a bit more challenge for this (and other) characters as the series develops.
Don't judge these books by the movie !!! 
2008-05-09
This series of books (especially, The Dark is Rising) is one of my favorites. The recent movie, The Seeker, based on The Dark is Rising, did not do the book justice. The moviemakers attempt to modernize the story, take out some of the mythological aspects, and add in some teenage angst trivialized the character of Will Stanton (the Seeker of the Signs), whose appeal is in part based on his dual nature as an ordinary 11 year old boy and the last of the Old Ones (immortals charged with the defending the Light against the Dark), and how he adjusts to being both at the same time.
These books share some features with some of my other favorites:
1) Harry Potter books by JK Rowling;
2) Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer;
3) Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet; Many Waters);
4) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster with great line drawings by Jules Feiffer;
5) Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage...Septimus, like Will, is a seventh son of a seventh son;
6) Edward Eager's books (Half-Magic, Magic or Not?, Seven-Day Magic, Magic by the Lake, Knight's Castle, The Well-Wishers, The Thyme Garden).
I was less enthralled with the Chronicles of Narnia as a child and on re-reading them as an adult....they are a bit preachy...and I never have been able to read through the Lord of the Rings (though I loved the great unabridged audiobook version that I listened to in my car while commuting to work a few years ago prior to the release of the movies).
Any of these books can be enjoyed as good stories with quests and adventures, good and evil, with lessons about assuming responsibility, the nature of friendship, perserverance, and loyalty thrown in for good measure. More literate (usually older) folks can appreciate the linguistic and mythological underpinnings of the books.
So if you enjoyed any of the other books I listed above but haven't read The Dark is Rising sequence, why not check it out? But don't bother watching the movie.
I wanted to like it, but... 
2008-03-27
This book was a complete let-down after the first of the series. Everything about it seemed completely over-the-top, starting with the one character repeated booming out `THE DARK... THE DARK IS RISING!' It went downhill from there. Every possible fantasy cliché was realized (including `mystical' sounding rhymes and poems), the characters were a bit insipid and uninspiring, and the plot seemed thin. I found myself not caring in the slightest how it ended, and once it did, felt no compulsion to read any further in the series.
There are far better children's fantasy series out there, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels, The Spiderwick Chronicles, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and, yes, the Harry Potter series.
The second (and best) in the Dark is Rising sequence! 2008-03-27
What a brilliant fantasy. Although this is the second of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence (and there are 5 books in total), it could easily be read as a stand alone book too.
On Midwinter's Eve, young Will Stanton, the youngest of a large family in the Thames Valley and seventh son of a seventh son, is about to turn eleven. But something strange is in the air. The atmosphere feels odd, the rabbits shrink away from him when he goes to give them their feed, the radio shrieks with interference when Will walks past it and it feels like snow is on its way...
Events only get more strange during the course of the night and in the morning Will awakes early on his birthday to find a very different world looking back at him through the window; a forested world - no roofs, no fields, just trees, covered in a thick blanket of deep snow. Will was 'crystal-clear awake, in a Midwinter Day that had been waiting for him to wake into it since the day he had been born, and, he somewhow knew, for centuries before that. Tomorrow will be beyond imagining...'.
Will soon discovers that he has been given the power of the Old Ones; a power of Light and goodness, and that with some help from the mysterious Merriman, the shining white horse and other Old powers, he must embark upon a mission against the frightening and evil magic of the Dark. Will is no ordinary eleven-year-old boy, but a boy who has been imbued with centuries-old knowledge and power and he alone, as the Sign-Seeker, must find a join together the Six great signs of the Light to defeat the Dark in its grasp for power.
A wonderful, fast-paced and captivating book. If you are interested in the series then start with Book One, 'Over Sea Under Stone', although it doesn't really link in with this one until you get to Book Three, 'Greenwitch'. A classic series for all ages.
Unsatisfying 
2008-03-18
Susan Cooper's reputation as a children's fantasy author is largely based on this series. So, while I felt that the first book ("Over Sea, Under Stone") was uneven, I was very interested in continuing the series. But "The Dark Is Rising" is equally uneven, marred by odd narrative stumbles and gaps in characterization.
About half-way through, Will (the main character) reads the Book of Gramarye, and the book starts to lose focus. Reading the Book supposedly endows Will with all the knowledge of an Old One (although since he doesn't use any of this knowledge to complete his quest, it's an odd plot point), but then for the second half of the book Cooper can't seem to figure out whether Will should sound like an 11-year-old boy or some sort of mystic sage. The result is stiff and inauthentic. Adding to the difficulty of reading the second half of the book is Cooper's occasional confusion of adjectives --- there are times when you find yourself wondering, What am I looking at? Are we in the air? Where did that bit of geography come from? This second book is too self-consciously mystic for its own good.
The Adventure Truly Begins 2008-01-27
"WHEN THE DARK COMES RISING, SIX SHALL TURN THEM BACK...."
When Will Stanton wakes up on the morning of his birthday, he discovers an unbelievable gift -- he is immortal. Bemused and terrified, he finds he is the last of the Old Ones, magical men and women sworn to protect the world from the source of evil, the Dark.
At once Will is plunged into a quest to find six magical Signs to aid the powers of the Light. Six medallions -- iron, bronze, wood, water, fire, and stone -- created and hidden by the Old Ones centuries ago. But the Dark has sent out the Rider: evil cloaked in black, mounted upon a midnight stallion, and on the hunt for this youngest Old One, Will. He must find the six great Signs before the Dark can rise, for an epic battle between good and evil approaches.
Unconvincing plot and flat characters. 2007-12-02
I don't see what the fuss is about. The plot is uninteresting because it seems entirely driven by fate, rather than by any action performed or choice made by any of the book's characters. And the characters are uninteresting because they all lack depth.
The book starts off with the reader puzzled why the main 11-year-old character intuitively knows how to react to the strange events around him. As the book progresses, the reader comes to accept that this is simply the way it is, and then realizes that his "quest" will more or less fall right into his lap.
Unfortunately the writing style turned me off even further. The descriptions of the Stantons and Merriman often sounded pretentious, beginning with Merriman's annoying name. And in Part 3 the author inexorably used the word "inexorably" inexorably.
I also found it a bit insulting when the author took on Christianity in a battle with the Dark outside a church, in which the clergyman was powerless. If you're going to discount a religion as nonsense, at least have the decency to invent a compelling higher power -- these people and their silly collection of circles weren't all that impressive, either.
In the end, the book was a chore to get through, and I have no interest to learn anymore about these people or their world.
Plain boring - the best thing is the title 2007-11-24
Having known a while about this appraised series I picked up the book when I heard that there is a film being made of it: I wanted to read it before a movie's tricks spoil all the images in my head. But the book lacks anything to be expected in modern fantasy literature: characters, contrasting settings, a plot, humor. Characters talk as if from burning thorn bushes. The idea of good vs. evil equals summer vs. winter, day vs. night, light vs. dark may be ancient, but the author makes a poor job out of the execution. Celtic stories are also about individual choices and failures, destiny and the struggle to avoid it, losing (a love, a country, a song, the grail) and the effort of regaining. No such drama for Will, the hero here. Everything falls into his lap. I found the book boring and had to force myself to keep reading. Of course the so-called "fantastic realism" wasn't an issue when the book was written in the 70s, so it would perhaps be unfair to compare The Dark is Rising to the Harry Potter or (better still) the Bartimaeus series. But even of contemporary novels, Gillian Bradshaw's Arthur series starting with the Hawk of May, with a similar conflict of Light vs. Dark, or the children books by Alan Garner (e.g. The Owl Service, Elidor or Red Shift) that interweave British myths with coming-to-age tales - these are just classes better. And if you are looking for the real Celtic stories retold take a look at Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion Tetralogy.
A few comments from a writer 2007-11-10
I wanted to read the book, as it's being made into a film. Actually, the book is different from the film, written more for 2007 kids who live in a rather different world. There were some technical flaws in the book. James was introduced as Will's companion, but there was no information about him, except that he was in the family, he could have been a distant uncle. This is poor draftsmanship. her descriptions are very detailed, but I wonder if modern youngsters will have the patience to wade through them. She is a very good writer, but a lot of her writing is on topics that aren't terribly interesting. Her points become confused and sometimes, irrelevant. There are "purple patches" of prose which make some sections 'precious' rather than useful. Her editor should have cut these to make the book tighter in its narrative. I read the book in one sitting at night. She won the Newbury Honor for 1974 coming second to "The Slave Dancer". I'd recommend the book, but for good readers only. It's a story for boys, but - like many women who write for boys - she doesn't really understand how boys think. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it thoroughly, and will put it on my reading list.
The Dark is Rising 2007-10-31
Have you ever had the chance to travel through time and come back? A boy named Will did. The Dark is Rising is a very fasinating book. It's about a boy named Will. He has to get six signs that will destroy The Dark before they conquer the world. Will discovers that he is a seventh son of a seventh son. He has always thought that he was the sixth son of a seventh son. He found out that he has a twin named Tom, who was kidnapped at the age of two weeks old. He finds out that he has to locate all the signs before The Dark does. His friend Merrimen is an "Old One" and he tells Will that he is an "Old One," too. A blizzard starts and everyone in the town goes to the manner (a big mansion), for safety and protection. The blizzard strikes the manner's windows. Icicles drop from the ceiling, and rooks fly through the windows. The Rider (member of The Dark), is the one behind this evil plot, and almost kills Will. In the end, Will travels through time and collects the signs and defeats The Rider.
I would recomend this book for 9-15 year olds.
