The Dark Is Rising

Opening on Midwinter Eve, this immensely powerful and intensely engaging children's fantasy, the second in Susan Cooper's five-volume Dark Is Rising Sequence, is a book I read again and again as a girl. Will Stanton, who turns eleven on Midwinter Day, coming into his own as one of the Old Ones—servants of the Light, in eternal conflict with the forces of the Dark, which are intent on ruling the world—learns more about his role as the Sign Seeker as he travels through time, visiting England in different centuries. The book follows him on his quest to assemble the six signs, which together form one of the Things of Power that the Light will use to eventually defeat the Dark for all time. It is a journey that is intertwined with his show more large and loving family's celebration of the holiday season, from Midwinter through Christmas, and on to Twelfth Night, and one that will eventually draw in figures and traditions from local folklore, including Herne the Hunter and the Wild Hunt...

Published in 1973, a number of years after the first book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone, which came out in 1965, The Dark Is Rising switches focus a bit, changing protagonist and setting. Whereas that earlier title concerned the three Drew siblings, and their quest to find King Arthur's chalice, hidden on the headland of a small Cornish village, this entry focuses on Will, the youngest of a large Buckinghamshire family, and expands the overarching narrative considerably, exploring the larger and deeper cosmological struggle only hinted at in the earlier book. The Drew children do not appear here, and are not mentioned, although the chalice they found is referenced, as the first of the Things of Power being assembled in the Light's struggle against the Dark. The bridge between the two is really the character of Merriman, the oldest and one of the wisest of the Old Ones, who guides Will through his education and quest.

Beautifully written and wonderfully conceived, it is not difficult to see why this book won a Newbery Honor in 1974. From the time I first read it, I have loved it, and this latest reread, undertaken as part of a project to read the entire series with friends, has not changed my feelings an iota. I still love the use of folklore and mythology throughout, in both overt and discreet ways (so many of the names have a deeper meaning!), I love the settings, and quest itself. I love the poem, which I memorized and would recite with a friend and fellow admirer of the series, when young. I both love and am haunted by the story of Hawkin, whose fate is one I have always struggled with, from childhood to adulthood, worrying away at the questions of choice, justice, and morality. This is truly a marvelous book, and is one I wholeheartedly recommend to all fantasy readers. I finished this reread with a keen desire to proceed on to the next in the series, Greenwitch. show less

How could I have forgotten how wonderful this one is? I don't know why I never re-read it, but it's been on my shelf forever, and I always looked at it warmly, and in fact often said aloud, "Oh, I LOVE that book" but passed it by. Maybe I remembered how very scary it is- and oh, it is. The writing is brilliant, absolutely top-notch. There's not an extra word, and the words that are there are wrestled into new, glittering shapes both malevolent and benignant. The characters are similarly familiar, beloved and revered. And Herne. Of course.


A perfectly splendid book, one that embraces Myth Incarnate and makes one understand and remember that all the stories we tell ourselves are somehow true.

Reread. I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie—and more importantly, I saw my friend Darcy's furious reaction to the trailer for the upcoming movie, and I realized that I didn't remember these books well enough to be properly furious myself. I read the first two in the series, in the wrong order, when I was much younger, but didn't recall being particularly engaged by them, which was why I never continued. I figured that, rereading them as an adult, I'd see the error of my ways.

Sadly, I didn't. I still don't find these books very engaging. "Over Sea, Under Stone" is, as even Darcy admits, only so-so: the setting is great (the rambling old Cornish house, the standing stones perched on their cliffs, the sea-cave), and at least one of show more the siblings (Barney) is spunky and entertaining, yet the treasure hunt-plot is oddly slow, and the conclusion completely unsatisfying in my mind. (They give the grail to a museum and get 100 quid? Barney has his "Dude! Merlin!" revelation? Yawn.) I thought "The Dark Is Rising" would be better, but it didn't do much for me, either. There's a lot of portentous stuff, but I felt that every scrape Will gets into he gets out of either through the intervention of an adult or thanks to a deus ex machina. Meanwhile, the Dark Rider and the Dark in general seemed oddly unthreatening to me, while being an agent of the Light did not seem particularly exciting or pleasurable. I never wished I was *there*: with, say, the Narnia books, I wanted SO BADLY to go through a wardrobe or a painting of my own, even if it was dangerous; but being an Old One mostly seems dull and chanty to me, to the point that if the position were offered on craigslist, I think I might pass. What is wrong with me?

Because I really do feel, having this reaction, that there must be something wrong with me and not the books: so many people—and people whose opinions I trust—love them. Oh well. I suppose I didn't like "The Lord of the Rings," either. show less

The day before his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton is accosted by a man who in turn is attacked by rooks. This is just the start of an adventure-packed fantasy featuring rhyming prophecies, latent magical abilities, and the battle between Light and Dark. Such devices may shout "cliche," but in fact this story is inventive, descriptive, and drives the reader on to discover with Will what it means that he is an Old One, who the Walker is, and why the Black Rider is after Will. The faceless foe of the Dark, its chase spearheaded by the Black Rider, adds to the tension. I sometimes wished that Will's discovery was slower at times -- frequently he would simply "know" something -- but it was a small quibble in my overall enjoyment of the show more book. Technically the second in The Dark is Rising Sequence, The Dark is Rising can be read first without losing continuity. I look forward to reading further in the series. show less

This one misses the mark for me. I discovered it through a vid I saw on social media describing a readalong that starts Dec 18—supposedly you can read one chapter a day up to New Year’s and it mimics the book’s timeline. I started late and finished early—the first half was very slow for me, with long meanderings into scenery or exposition that resulted in more pages of description than action. The final quarter speeds up considerably, but I found myself finishing it more to be done with it than because I was swept up in the ride.

There are so many amazing elements in this story, but I found the MC to be so passive. Either he weirdly just knows what to do—either instinctually or through a sudden flash of insight explained only show more by the fact that he is an Old One—or someone tells him what to do. This is supposedly a questing book, but the MC rarely does any questing of his own initiative—he just waits around until an older, wiser character directs him. And for a supposedly rare and timeless race, there are SO MANY Old Ones just milling about, six alone in the MC’s tiny village.

I also don’t feel the book has aged particularly well. The female characters are stereotypes or portrayed negatively, males are portrayed as having all the common sense and wisdom. The one powerful female Old One basically has one cool scene of power and then she fades away like a wilting lily. And there are frequent references to the grandeur of England and the darkness of the “invaders”—kind of AWKWARD to be forgetting all the invading England perpetrated over centuries and the darkness it spread via imperialism, straight-up theft, indentured labor, etc etc etc…

I can see how I may have enjoyed this as a child in the 80s or 90s. But reading it now, it’s just another Eurocentric story in an entire childhood already full of them. I’m glad I gave it a try, but I won’t be wasting my time on the rest. show less

Pretty decent boy-wizard story but i preferred the previous book [b:Over Sea, Under Stone|11312|Over Sea, Under Stone (The Dark Is Rising, #1)|Susan Cooper|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443993959s/11312.jpg|742] which had less magic but more adventure.
This suffers from the usual Chosen One problem, too much predestination which undermines the tension of the story. Also its a bit video-gamey. The plot involves collecting magical items and at one point something happens which i can only describe as Leveling Up, it took all my self restraint not to shout 'Level 2' Achievement Unlocked: Uncompelling!

The other problem i had was that its really dark in tone in the first half, it felt like a kids version of The Omen or something. This show more dissipates significantly once the character Levels.

I know i sound like i'm trashing it but the writing is generally very good. The protagonist has a big and functional family which was interesting and not something you tend to see much of anymore.

I actually thought i might have to give it 4 stars, as the third quarter was really compelling and uncertain, but things felt more predestined again towards the end.

So not bad at all, really nice writing but not great plot. show less

I re-read this because I just listened to the Backlisted podcast episode that was devoted to it and actually ended up bumping my rating *down* half a star.

What Cooper does beautifully is to sketch a scene -- the view from Will's bedroom window the morning of his birthday, the caroling at the manor, the great room where he first meets with the Lady and Merriman -- all were thrillingly evocative. What is fatally lacking is any depth of character and hence lack of anything to drive the plot (what there is of one) forward. Reading this again was like watching cardboard stick figures moving around on a gorgeously rendered stage. I had no memory of any of it from the first time I read it, and frankly I was so bored that it was an effort to show more finish it; I just didn't care.

The book that I kept comparing it to in my mind was [A Wrinkle in Time], where each character was vividly drawn and the story so compelling that although I haven't read it since I was a child, 40 years later I can remember details. show less