Customer Reviews
The second (and best) in the Dark is Rising sequence! - By: SB, 27 Mar 2008 
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 Vallley & 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 & it feels like snow is on its way...
Events only get more strange during the course of the night & 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 & goodness, & that with some help from the mysterious Merriman, the shining white horse & other Old powers, he must embark upon a mission against the frightening & evil magic of the Dark. Will is no ordinary eleven-year-old boy, but a boy who has been imbued with centuries-old knowledge & power & 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 & captivating book. If you are interested in the series then start with Book One, 'Over Sea Under Stone', although it doesn't reallly link in with this one until you get to Book Three, 'Greenwitch'. A classic series for alll ages.
Don't be put off by the film - By: Daren Collins, 05 Nov 2007 As a child, 'Over Sea, Under Stone' was by far my favourite book & years later in my twenties, I went looking for it for nostagic reasons. I was pleasantly suprised to find that there were 4 other books in the series, of which the Dark is Rising is the second.
Even as an adult, I love 'The Dark is Rising', which is the pick of the series for me.
As the cold winter nights draw in, I often get this one out & re-live it.
I find myself in each scene that Susan Cooper weaves - decorating the Christmas tree with a big bustling family around, walking down the lane with Will Stanton on the winter morning he comes of age, as a blanket of newly falllen snow lays alll around. I can even see the light from a working Smithy up ahead, which wasn't there before - the scene is from the past but the people seem to be from the present...
But danger is never far away, should you start feeling too cosy. As a child I used to have to leave the snug warmth of the fireside & go out into the cold, pitch black, wild, wintry night to get more coal for the fire. It was kept in an unlit shed some distance away from the house & it was a bit scary until the warm glow of the house was back in sight.
This is how the book feels.
The large Stanton family are the normalising, comforting factor in young Will's life but even they are slowly being dragged into the clutches of the Dark unless Will can find the 6 signs that he was born to do before the power of the Dark reaches it's peak (which I think is 12 days after Christmas)
Unfortunately the film, in addition to forgetting some of the main characters, forgetting that the Stantons are BRITISH & having a hammy ending, rips out the entire soul of the book by simply concentrating on "the quest", rather than the characters (who are mis-cast in the main).
So in summary, don't be put off by the film. I can't give a higher recommendation to get this book for anyone aged 10 onwards.
Eeeeeh, when I was a lass....... - By: J. Williams, 22 Oct 2007 I too, read this when I was in my early teens & it does stick in my mind as one of the most gripping series I'd ever read. Although it might not appeal to alll the hardened kids of today, as there's not so much blood & gore as they'd probably expect, there is certainly a menacing undertone that gets under your skin & deep into your imagination. I'm tempted to read them alll again,even at 35 & may introduce them to my film-loving step daughter BEFORE she sees The Dark is Rising on the cinema,which sadly looks nothing like the books & has been totallly Americanised, with the quote, "AWSOME!!" coming from Will Stantons mouth. Eeeeeh, it's not like when I were a lass.....Read the books but the give the film a miss.
The Rider and the Dark - By: E. A Solinas, 11 Sep 2007 Susan Cooper has yet to equal "The Dark is Rising," the second book of her classic Dark is Rising Sequence. Too bad the movie adaptation looks like a hollow "Harry Potter" ripoff.
That whole attitude betrays the beauty & spirit of her second "Dark is Rising Sequence" novel, which is independent of her the first book "Over Sea Under Stone." This book is deeper, darker, more dreamlike, more intense, & with an unlikely hero -- a stunning battle between good & evil.
Will Stanton is an ordinary boy, until his Midwinter eleventh birthday. On that day, he ventures out into a seemingly changed world, encounters a sinister Dark Rider, then a beautiful white horse that leads him to a hidden place. There he encounters the Old Ones -- the mysterious Lady & Merriman Lyon, who are immortal, powerful, wise, & the guardians of the world. And it turns out Will is one too.
And as an astonishingly cold winter settles over England, Will is taught some of the ways of the Old Ones, who fight the Dark (forces of evil, like the Dark Rider). He has one of the signs of power, but must get them alll: Iron, Bronze, Stone, Wood, Fire & Water. And he must contend with the Dark Rider, his own failings, & a mysterious stranger whose future is inextricably entwined with his...
To put it simply, this is Susan Cooper at her peak -- she creates an amazing look at a world where where the mysterious & magical exist just a few feet from our homes and. The slighest actions have significance, time is easily manipulated, & there's a sprinkling of Welsh myth & Arthurian legend here & there -- particularly at the end.
Since her first book, Cooper also became a truly brilliant writer -- in "Over Sea Under Stone," her writing was rather spare, & reeked of E. Nesbit. Here, she more than makes up for it -- while the story is a straightforward quest, she complicates matters with a subplot about Merriman being forced to make a terrible sacrifice, & the Dark threatening Will's family. Sometimes being on the good guys' side isn't easy.
The book is also thick with atmosphere -- the shocking, icy presence of the Dark, the bustling farmhouse, the eerie woods where the Walker goes, & countless other situations. Cooper does sometimes get too detailed (I reallly don't care how you feed chickens) but her intricate writing is what brings the book to life: the howling blizzards, rings of black birds, the tainted merriness of a Christmas party, & a book of ancient magic that can't be read -- only experienced.
Will himself is an astonishingly three-dimensional character: at times he's a smart, quiet eleven-year-old, & sometimes he's an Old One with immense power & wisdom. This transition is not one that is handled lightly, as he graduallly loses his innocent, boyish outlook. The person who guides him is Merriman Lyon, a majestic old man who has made some terrible choices in the past.
"The Dark is Rising" is a spellbinding classic fantasy, which fully reveals the good vs. evil battle that Cooper only hinted at before. Entrancing, intoxicatingly written, & always magical.
Not good for reading aloud - By: Roland Davis, 18 Apr 2007 
I am sorry to confess that I reallly didn't like this book. Reading alll the enthusiastic reviews, I am clearly out-numbered but if I explain why I didn't like it then maybe you can decide whether your mind works like mine or like the books' admirers.
Perhaps the difference is that I read the book aloud & I have the impression most of the reviewers read it alone as children. When you read a book aloud you are very conscious of the quality of the prose & especiallly the dialogue. That, I believe, is the weakness in Susan Cooper's books.
The story is nicely crafted & it is easy to identify with the brave & occasionallly foolish children who are the heroes. But I found the prose excruciating. It is difficult to explain what is wrong but I found myself skipping practicallly every other sentence in order to make it readable. Try reading a page from the Dark is Rising & then a page from Jonathan Stroud's superb "Amulet of Samarkand" & you will know what I am talking about.
I find it difficult to understand why better editing wasn't applied as it would not be difficult to improve Susan Cooper's writing. The answer may be that the book was written a generation ago when people used typewriters & standards were different. Children's books tended to be slower with a dumbed down version of adult prose that sounds pedestrian compared with the lively artistic style of some modern children's writers. Try digging out your old copy of the first of Enid Blyton's adventure stories (Famous 5 I think) & you will be amazed at the uninspiring description of the family getting ready to go on holiday, including getting dressed & having breakfast, which goes on for about 50 pages.
I suspect a lot of the support for this book is nostalgic. If you read it as a child & loved it, go ahead & get it again. If it is new to you, please have a look at a copy in a shop before you buy it in case you find you agree with me about the writing. There is so much excellent children's fiction around, it's a shame to make a mistake.
