The Dark is Rising: The Complete Sequence

The Dark is Rising: The Complete Sequence

By Susan Cooper

  And after months and months and months…I finally finish this book!!!!!! (Crying + Screaming) It’s such a long journey!!!! I bought it like…last summer? And I finished it before the start of the second semester. (What are you doing, Vivian?) And I haven’t post for a long time… (What are you doing, again, in Winter Vacation?) Please, don’t ask. I don’t even want to know. But well…I know you do care about the book, right? (At least I hope so? Cause I haven’t read a child book for a long time.) There are basically five stories in this book: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree. Is the book good? Not bad. But is it good enough to WOW me? Well…I’ve seen better. It’ll fit for anyone who likes children adventure, and the plots are great. So I gave them all three stars? Worth reading, but will not be on my fav list.

 Oh! And please remember Merriman…he will be really, really important.  

Over Sea, Under Stone

“Once upon a time... a long time ago... things that happened once perhaps but have been talked about for so long that nobody really knows.”

  Three kids were introduced in this story: Jane, Simon and Barney. Trust me, they’ll be really important in the future…I hope?

  On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that -- the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril.

  To be honest…this isn’t my favorite story of them all…and it also took me the longest to finish it. However, if you’d like to play safe on choosing children book, you can find everything you need. A far away family travel, a somehow weird relative, a treasure map, some villains, and a mysterious place no one but the children can found. Oh wait, I forgot to mention…the treasure was found in the attic. Surprise? Sorry…that’s what every reader expect. (I’m so negative right now.) 

 And you might ask, after such a negative opinion, why should you read the book? Well? I gave it three stars, so it’s not that bad at all. I like how the author organized the story, and how everything goes. So…three stars for being a nice story. Oh wait…I just realize it’s a pretty old story…so…consider the age? Everything above will be forgiven. I’ll still recommend this book for children.  

The Dark is Rising

  "When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back, three from the circle, three from the track; wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone; five will return, and one go alone.”

  Even though I didn’t prefer the first one that much, I do like the second story. It’s unique, combine with King Author, and magic and everything. Oh! The protagonist is Will. That…is very, very important.

  With these mysterious words, Will Stanton discovers on his 11th birthday that he is no mere boy. He is the Sign-Seeker, last of the immortal Old Ones, destined to battle the powers of evil that trouble the land. His task is monumental: he must find and guard the six great Signs of the Light, which, when joined, will create a force strong enough to match and perhaps overcome that of the Dark. Embarking on this endeavor is dangerous as well as deeply rewarding; Will must work within a continuum of time and space much broader than he ever imagined.

  I really love the ideas of riders and signs. 

 And, it’ll be even better if the signs require seeking. Every sign seeking is a task for Will, and they’re all great, I love every minutes of them, especially that require traveling through time. Oh yes, I hate time traveling, but somehow, I can accept this kind of arrangement inside the story. So I enjoy this story pretty much…and I Will is one of my favorite characters in this book. After all, he is the Old Ones, so unlike others children with some reckless actions…Will isn’t like that, at least lesser.  

Greenwitch

“Never dismiss anyone's value until you know him.”

  All will come into a circle, isn’t it? Now…Will and Jane and Simon and Barney finally met!!! And I love how the characters interact with each other. Unlike some story that they met and suddenly became friends, you can see the tension between them all!!!! 

 However, to me, the story is a bit too fast, so when I’m not even sure what happened, the story ends.

  Simon, Jane, and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great-uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil -- Dark. They are not at first aware of the strange powers of another boy brought to help, Will Stanton -- nor of the sinister significance of the Greenwitch, an image of leaves and branches that for centuries has been cast into the sea for good luck in fishing and harvest. Their search for the grail sets into motion a series of distubing, sometimes dangerous events that, at their climax, bring forth a gift that, for a time at least, will keep the Dark from rising.

  Oh! BTW, I love the Greenwitch. It’s one of my favorite characters in the entire series, even though she showed up only a little, but I really like the conflict character. So started from this story, you’ll need to read The Dark is Rising and Over Sea, Under Stone to understand everything, since everything started to connect together. In the previous book, you can simply read them without connecting, but if you don’t want to lose the prophecy, you’ll need to read the first two stories.  

The Grey King

“Still in the black hemisphere the stars blazed and slowly wheeled; beneath them, Will felt so infinitesimally small that it seemed impossible he should even exist. Immensity pressed in on him, terrifying, threatening--and then, in a swift flash of movement like a dance, like the glint of a leaping fish, came a flick of brightness in the sky from a shooting star... He heard Bran give a small chirrup of delight, a spark struck from the same bright sudden joy that filled his own being.”

  Oh…the story is getting better, especially with Will becoming insane. (I’m just kidding…) But I still don’t really understand that part. 

 Never mind, but the story is good and exciting. Especially when the good v.s. evil part isn’t seem so important to most of us but in the end…they matter. Oh! And great characters were add in as well.

  "Fire on the Mountain Shall Find the Harp of Gold Played to Wake the Sleepers, Oldest of the Old..."

  With the final battle between the Light and the Dark soon approaching, Will sets out on a quest to call for aid. Hidden within the Welsh hills is a magical harp that he must use to wake the Sleepers - six noble riders who have slept for centuries.

  But an illness has robbed Will of nearly all his knowledge of the Old Ones, and he is left only with a broken riddle to guide him in his task. As Will travels blindly through the hills, his journey will bring him face-to-face with the most powerful Lord of the Dark - the Grey King. The King holds the harp and Sleepers within his lands, and there has yet to be a force strong enough to tear them from his grasp...

 

  Welcome Bran!!!!! (Loud applause please.)

And Will is back again!!!! Yeah!!! I really love the back ground story of Bran, it’s like…so unexpected. Although some reader might have think of it according to his mother’s name…but since it took me a long time to realize that this is a king author related story…I didn’t think that much. But I still love his story, and it’s a key point to the future event. That’s why I gave this story four stars. It’s unique, it’s special, the story line is great. It’s probably my second favorite story among the five.  

Silver on the Tree

  “The future cannot blame the present, just as the present cannot blame the past. The hope is always here, always alive, but only your fierce caring can fan it into a fire to warm the world.”

  This story is my favorite of them all? Why? I think in the end of the story, although there are some tiny part that I’m not so satisfied, but I think the quote of this story is pretty good, especially for children. (Actually, the written words of this book is quite good, it’ll be a nice choice for children English learner.)

  The Dark is rising in its last and greatest bid to control the world. And Will Stanton -- last-born of the immortal Old Ones, dedicated to keeping the world free -- must join forces with this ageless master Merriman and Bran, the Welsh boy whose destiny ties him to the Light. Drawn in with them are the three Drew children, who are mortal, but have their own vital part in the story. These six fight fear and death in the darkly brooding Welsh hills, in a quest through time and space that touches the most ancient myths of the British Isles, and that brings Susan Cooper's masterful sequence of novels to a satisfying close.

  However, you might ask, if the ending is that good, how come I only give it four stars? The only thing I’m not satisfied is the ending and the role for the Drews. First, I think the ending is rather quick…it lacks of the tension part of a great adventure story. It’s excited…but makes my heart race? Not really. (The only reason that my heart race during that time is due to the earthquake.) 

 And, since the Drews were mortal, unlike Will and Bran…their parts seemed to be…less important in the end…and I dislike that. Why? They should also be important, not just as a sidekick. So for Jane, Simon, and Barney lovers, you might be a bit disappointed. But for Will and Bran lovers (Like me!) You’ll find plenty enough of their time in the last part.

  So that’s the end of this review…and well…hope I won’t take it so long to have another one next time.  

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