The Dark Is Rising: Modern Classic

Product Information

This is probably the fifteenth time I've read Over Sea, Under Stone, give or take a few times. Someone I knew recommended skipping it, since it's the most childish book in the series -- written, if I recall correctly, well before the other four, and most definitely aimed at kids. The scenario reminds me a little of a faintly Arthurian Enid Blyton story: three kids are on holiday and stumble into a mystery. On the other hand, it's much fuller than an Enid Blyton story. It's a fantasy story, at its most basic, really: the Dark vs. the Light. There's hints at an underlying story about King Arthur. National Education Association (2007). "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" . Retrieved 19 August 2012.

This book was written in the 1970s, but I hadn’t heard of it until not too long ago. And its age shows a bit, although it grew old in a decent way. It’s the story of Will Stanton, who on his eleventh birthday finds out that he is one of the Old Ones, the last one to be exact. And that his task is to find the six signs that will give the agents of the Light the power to throw down the powers of the Dark, who are just now rising. The Dark Is Rising Sequence series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2012-02-26. Rutledge, Amelia A. (2002). "Susan (Mary) Cooper". In Darren Harris-Fain (ed.). Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 261: British Fantasy and Science-Fiction Writers Since 1960. Detroit: Gale. And yet, despite these elements, I liked that the book retains the feel of a children’s adventure. The three Drew children, all likeable, are not extraordinary or superheroes in any way, just ordinary children but ones who are on a rather dangerous treasure hunt. I wanted to like this but couldn't sink my teeth into the plot or characters. Jane, Simon, and Barney, go with their parents to Cornwall to visit their Uncle Merry. The three explore the old grey house and discover an ancient map that puts them on the quest for the Holy Grail. The forces of Dark want the map too for its unlimited power and with the help of Uncle Merry it is a mad race to see who can find it first. The threesome are not sure who is good or bad and their innocent trust oftentimes leads them to dangerous situations.

Become a Member

Over Sea Under Stone is aimed at the youngest audience of the five books, but it's still readable and the prose is lovely. The characters are instantly recognisable as children, rather than the mini-adults some writers make children, and they're easy to identify with. If nothing else, you have to be charmed by Barney. There's real suspense in this book: if your heart isn't in your mouth while Barney and Simon are crawling through the tunnel, you have no soul. More detailed review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Over Sea, Under Stone features the Drew children, Simon, Jane and Barney, on holiday with their parents and Merriman Lyon, an old family friend, usually referred to by the children as their great-uncle. And as for me giving it an "off" rating, it is not because it is inappropriate but more so because it is just a boring novel.

Retailers:

The novel The Dark Is Rising features Will Stanton, age 11, [b] who learns on that birthday that he is one of an ancient magical people called "Old Ones", and is destined to wield the powers of The Light in the ancient struggle with The Dark. In the U.S. it was a Newbery Honor Book (runner up for the medal). [4] Its 2007 film adaptation, titled The Seeker in America and The Dark Is Rising in Britain, made significant plot and character divergences from the book.

The Sleepers: Ancient knights who served during the time of King Arthur. In The Grey King, they are awakened from a mystic slumber by the Harp of the Light, to ride against the Dark during the final battle in Silver on the Tree. Drout, Michael D. C. (April 1997). "Reading the Signs of Light: Anglo Saxonism, Education, and Obedience in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising". The Lion and the Unicorn. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. 21 (2): 230–250. doi: 10.1353/uni.1997.0039. S2CID 144026663 . Retrieved 5 August 2013. There's no time to sort this out, though, because Will notices snow outside, and lots of it, too, so he starts playing outside. Before long, a mysterious woman comes up to him and offers him bread. Will's hungry but he's also suspicious, so he doesn't take it. Then Will is given a horse, which takes him to a random set of doors in the woods. Okay, this is getting weird. Will knows something fishy is happening, too—it isn't just us. Featuring original music by the songwriter and actor Johnny Flynn, The Dark Is Rising is recorded in binaural sound, which is designed for listening on headphones and brings added clarity to the wintry soundscapes while capturing the eeriness and enchantment in Cooper’s prose.The Dark Is Rising Sequence is a series of five contemporary fantasy novels for older children and young adults that were written by the British author Susan Cooper and published from 1965 to 1977. The first book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone, was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel, [2] and the sequence gets its name from the second novel in the series, The Dark Is Rising. The Dark Is Rising Sequence is used as an over-arching title in several omnibus, boxed-set, and coordinated editions; but the title of The Dark is Rising is also used for the whole series. Interview with Susan Cooper | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu . Retrieved 31 March 2022.

So yeah. If you put Narnia, the Boxcar Children, and Indiana Jones into a blender, this would be the amazing smoothie that comes out. It was so brilliant (especially Prof Lyon, OMG) and so fun and really unexpectedly creepy. There were several points where I found myself legitimately creeped out (the bad guys were EXCELLENT bad guys). The kids acted and sounded like kids. There were a few grammatical errors, quotation marks missing and things like that, but this was overall a really cool book. Excited for the rest because I looooooove Celtic mythology. Pendragon: This is a reference to two characters. First, it is the figurative title referring to status as a leader, of several traditional Kings of the Britons, notably Arthur. It is also his son in this series, Bran Davies, who is predestined to wield the Crystal Sword of Light that is vital to the final conflict with the Dark. Bran Davies is brought forward in time by Merriman at the request of his mother, Guinevere, who feared that Arthur would reject Bran as a true son because of Guinevere's affair with Lancelot. Bran is an albino, meaning he has very pale skin and white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, but his eyes are an unusual tawny colour. Will meets him in Wales during The Grey King, where they wake the Sleepers using the Harp. In Silver on the Tree, Bran and Will travel to the Lost Land and recover the sword Eirias. It’s time for a The Dark is Rising sequence readathon again! If you wish to join, you can do so via this blog. It’s the perfect time of year to reread the books, at least the second one in particular, with the winter solstice coming up. I always try and read them around this time of year! This book introduces Will Stanton, a protagonist in The Dark Is Rising Sequence, and features elements of British folklore that are especially associated with the Thames Valley, with Herne the Hunter making an appearance. Barnabas (Barney) Drew: Barney is the youngest of the Drews. He loves Arthurian legends and, although he is quite wary of his talent at first, paints. In Greenwitch, Barney sketches a picture of the bay, which is later stolen by an agent of the Dark, but Merriman recovers it and presents it to Tethys as a gift.This is a story following three kids who go on an adventure to the coast and they stay in a very old house owned by their Great Uncle Merry. Whilst there they discover a map which they think will lead them to the Holy Grail of King Arthur so they follow the clues and try to find out where it leads.