I love the whole of the Dark is Rising series. The coming of age/hero's journey story is wonderful. It is very exciting, a treasure hunt for the tools to save the world. My only "beef" with the book is that the description of the Old Ones leaves me lacking in either comprehension or fulfillment, I'm not sure which. ( )

#1415 in our old book database. Rated: Indifferent.
Adele rated: Bad. ( )

Reading for Newbery club in Children's Books group, Nov. 2021. I don't have high hopes after being so frustrated with the first of the series.

Better than the first, but still not of any interest to me. Destiny, Chosen One, Good & Evil having no nuance. The 11 yo boy is a bit smarter, but still makes mistakes that advance the plot. At least, if you're interested, no need to bother with the first, as the references to it here are insignificant.

I did like some bits. For example members of Will's family all view the same item, and while some feel a sort of reverence, others fear it. I would have liked to know the individuals in his family better, but at least Cooper acknowledged that they had identities.

I also liked the way Will was both a chosen one, and a child, and how Cooper expressed that: the Anglican choirboy vs. the last Old One.

It's very English. The author was born and spent early years in England. It doesn't break the letter of the terms, but imo it does the spirit:

"TERMS
1. The Medal shall be awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in English in the United States during the preceding year....
2. The Award is restricted to authors who are citizens or residents of the United States.... ( )

A classic example of the book is better than the movie. As a child, I loved the movie adaptation and finally picked up the book out of curiosity to discover the differences. Susan Cooper is a fantastic story teller and I look forward to reading the other books in the series. ( )

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 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. ( )