In the third book of the series, the Drew kids and Will Stanton team up (not always happily) to find the stolen grail and figure out what's going wrong with the Greenwitch.

This book is in many ways Jane Drew's story. It is her participation in the Greenwitch ceremony and her wish for the Greenwitch's happiness that inform the events that transpire.

A wonderful exploration of the Greenwitch mythos seamlessly woven into the story of the battle of Light and Dark that Cooper is telling. This book both builds on the other two and makes you want to know what happens next. ( )

When the grail the Drew children found is stolen by the Dark, Simon, Jane, and Barney team up with their Uncle Merry and Will Stanton to get it back. But what is this mysterious Greenwitch ceremony and the magical creature, smelling of hawthorne and the sea, that begins to haunt Jane's dreams?

This is by far my favorite book of the series so far. I'm not a huge fan of Will Stanton but I love the Drew children and in this book, the interaction between Will and the Drews made Will's character very bearable for me. I think he's a much better character when he's not the sole focus of the narrative. Cooper also did a marvelous job of making him both an Old One and a young boy. There were instances when he was just charming and fun to read about and of course, the sibling interactions between Simon, Jane and Barney are never dull. Cooper's ability to develop relationships between her characters is really astounding in these books.

My only real beef with the series in general is that in so many scenes, there could have been much more description, and many could have been extended. However, one must remember that she was in fact writing this for the young adult audience and, though some may disagree with me, young teenagers and older tweens do tend to have shorter attention spans. I enjoy these books for what they are: good juvenile escapist fiction.

Highly recommended. ( )

Third in "The Dark is Rising" series, this book sees the meeting up of the three children from "Over Sea and Under Stone" with Will Stanton from "The Dark is Rising".

The grail that the children found in a cave in Trewissick, South Cornwall, has been stolen by an agent of the Dark, and Merriman enlists the help of the Drew children once again. Only this time the children are surprised and shocked when Merriman arrives with another boy - Will Stanton. That is surely going to be a problem, they think.

Susan Cooper writes this so well. The line between super human Old One and 11 year old boy is so perfectly walked. Each character develops nicely in this book, but especially Jane.

I loved this book as a child. The interactions between families and friends, and the stumbling move from antipathy to friendship between the Drew children and Will Stanton all stand out, along with flashes of humour and an exciting and mysterious tale, cunningly written.

As an adult reader this remains an important and enjoyable book in probably my all time favourite series. Definitely strongly recommended. ( )

I didn't like this book quite as well as its two predecessors, but I would still give it four stars. The highlight of the story, aside from its continuing to push the main quest forward, is that it introduces a third magical force separate from the Light and the Dark, and shows that there can not truly be any neutral ground between the two. This third force also draws much of the book's plot away from the main quest, however, and ends up interfering with the events of that quest in a way that is too convenient. I complained that in "Over Sea, Under Stone," it sometimes felt like the children were figuring things out too quickly, but in this book things just seem to happen without any figuring out at all; the Old Ones already know everything that's supposed to happen, and the children don't seem to have as much to do here. Their characters suddenly appear weaker when they are brought together with Will Stanton. However, there is a slight surprise at the end of the book in regards to the Dark character in this story, which lent at least some feeling that not everything in the story was completely predictable. ( )

This short book, The 3rd entry in "The Dark Is Rising" series, features both the Drew children and Will Stanton as they endeavor to redeem the scroll that in the first book Barney threw into the sea to avoid the Dark getting it. The scroll is needed to decipher the message on the grail. Another plot twist is that the grail has been stolen from the museum that was guarding it—while it was on display. (You would think that the Old Ones could think of a safer way to keep it until they need it! –one of many plot holes in this series. If my son who gave me this set of books was unhappy with the “plot holes” he found in the Harry Potter series I think he had better avoid this series altogether.) The story was interesting but again, the Drew children sometimes detracted from the story. Also, Cooper does not seem concerned with developing the characters of the children so they seem to be more deus ex machine to move the plot along rather than real characters. However, again I found the story interesting and the Greenwitch story somewhat moving. My other son, who read the series last year, says that this book is a bridge to the last two. This is now a series I would recommend to middle school children who are good readers and interested in fantasy. ( )