The Grey King (The Dark Is Rising Sequence) [UNABRIDGED]

Rating:
Summary: This book was a little confusing but a great one.
Review: I like this book because there is a lot of action,mystery,fantasy,suspense,and most of all great description.The Grey King is about a legend in North Wales about a harp of gold,hidden within a certain hill that will probably be found by a boy named Will,and a white dog with gold eyes a dog that can see the wind named Cafall.Will also meets a boy named Bran,now Bran,Will,and Cafall are now on a quest to ceaze all bad.I think The Grey King definitely deserves 5 stars.So that is why I like The Grey King.

Rating:
Summary: The Grey King
Review: "There is a Welsh legend about a harp of gold hidden within a certain hill that can be opened by the youngest and seen with silver eyed." This was a puzzle that Will Stanton, the last of the "old ones" had to solve and help Bran Evans learn the secret of his birth. Will, Bran, and his silver eyed dog Cafall need to face many dangers and even death to fight the forces of evil, the Dark. When Bran finds the harp of gold then the six sleepers will be awakened to prepare for the last battle between the Dark and the Light.

This book captured my interest and attention especially when Will, Bran, and Cafall reach the inner chamber of the secret cave and meet the Dark (in person), Merriman and a mystery person. Both Bran and Will accurately answer the 3 questions and open the chest that harbors the golden harp. During the conversation that follows, it is known that the mystery person is none other than the famous King Arthur - Bran's father. With this knowledge, Bran has to face the death of Cafall by the hands of a neighboring farmer who had embraced the forces of the dark and form a lasting bond with his "father" Owen Davies, who had befriended and helped his mother, Guinevere.

The battle between the Light and the Dark is a fight that goes on even to this day, but I've never read a series of books that enthralls and entertain a reader like these books written by Susan Cooper. When you know that this eternal fight has King Arthur and Merlin on the "good" side, it makes the book even better. However, as I'm an impatient reader, this book can get a tad boring with endless descriptions and a lesson as to the correct pronunciation of the Welsh words, which did not help me in the least bit, as I am even more confused.

Rating:
Summary: The Grey End
Review: The Grey King, by Susan Cooper is a book about adventure. This book revolves around a boy named Will Stanton. The boy is the age of twelve and is sent to Whales to be nursed back to health by his relatives. During this time, he goes on quests or adventures to awaken the ancient sleepers. The ancient sleepers are the last hope for good to prevail against evil. This evil is controlled by The Grey King who tries to stop Will from completing his quests.
In the story I can relate most to BRan becasue he is the mysterious boy who is different from all the other people. I used to be like this when I was going through middle school. I was the kid who was just a little more differnt than your average kid. Bran displays this perfectly with his pale skin and mysterious appearances.
Overall, this book was a good book. My least favorite part was the end, maybe becasue I thought the end was a little too rushed. There seemed to be a lot of information being crammed into a few pages which made it hard to understand. This gave it an unpleasant end.
This book would be good for readers who like adventure or mystical stories. To me, it seems like a twsit between The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and The High King by Alexander Lloyd. If you like either of those books I strongly advise you to check out The Grey King by Susan Cooper.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This forth installment in "The Dark is Rising Series" seems to combine elements from the previous four. The "Hardy Boys" feel of the first book unfortunately returns, and while not full blown is enough to pull the book down somewhat.

On the up side though some of the mystique of the second book that emulates "Dark Shadows" is there, standing side by side with the third books more complex immagery. So in the end were this book made into a movie, while it would have been doable in the 60s, lacking anything that would have looked too cheasy, it would also be possible to be done in the 20th century without adding in two hours of mindless action that didn't occurr in the book, just to make the f/x guys happy (do the cave, the Grey King, and a time travel scene for Gwene and Bran, then send them on to the next movie with a smile and a months paycheck for two weeks).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: It is a great book it has very good adventure and emotional roller coaster and a good conflict I loved it and i think it's good for all 6-7th graders (yes i did perposely write no puctuaction)

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: "The Dark Is Rising" is a hard book to top, but Susan Cooper nearly matches it in "Grey King." A stunning, atmospheric Welsh fantasy tinged with Arthurian legend, it also introduces one of the most important and unusual characters in the classic series.

In the aftermath of a nasty case of hepatitis, Will Stanton has temporarily forgotten his mission from the Light: to recover a golden harp, with the help of the "raven boy" and "silver eyes that see the wind." When his family sends him to Wales to recover from the illness, he regains his memory when he meets an albino boy his own age named Bran -- which means "raven." Bran's mother "Gwenny" vanished many years before, and his stepfather has devoted himself to religion and penitance. Bran's only friend is the silver-eyed dog Cafall.

Will acquaints his new friend with more information about the battle with the Dark, while Bran acquaints him with information about Wales that can help Will find the golden harp, and wake the Sleepers under the hill. But the malevolent Grey King is spying on them with magical warestones and trying to wrest the harp from Will. To stop the Grey King, Will must learn the secret of Bran's past and evade the dangerous farmer Caradog Pritchard...

Atmosphere is thick and enticing in "Grey King" -- Cooper has clearly come a long way from the fluffier "Over Sea Under Stone." This book, unlike "Greenwitch," does not handle the Drew family, or even much about Merriman: it's all about Bran and Will, who are given equal parts of the plotline. Though there are many other characters, these two are the core of the story.

Here the Arthurian theme, which has been present in a smaller way throughout the series, becomes more pronounced and integral. Cooper continues interweaving mythic elements into it, such as the Sleepers, Cafall the dog, and the Brenin Llwyd. Fans of mythology and other mythic-themed stories such as the Prydain Chronicles will have a heyday.

Will is very much like he is in "Greenwitch" -- sometimes he's an ordinary preteen boy who starts yelling "Achtung!" at the top of his lungs, and sometimes he is the wise and ancient Old One, with knowledge he learned from the book of Gramarye. Bran is an instantly sympathetic character, a very ordinary boy with an extraordinay past; he, like Will in the second book, gradually grows into a unique and more powerful person. Caradog Pritchard will inspire disgust from his first appearance onward, while the tragic Owen Davies will gain the sympathy of the readers despite his insulated life.

Perhaps the worst thing about reading "Grey King" is the knowledge that there is only one more book in this series. But if that book is half as good as "Grey King," then it will be quite a ride before the end.

Rating:
Summary: Read it in class..BORING!!
Review: some of the chapters were good but most of them were just so boring! I mean its not like a book where you wanted to keep on reading and never put down. if you want a good read read a george orwell or orson scott card book not this one.

Rating:
Summary: OK but somewhat boring read!
Review: OK..not a bad book,but we read it in class.and its not a book we wanted to keep on reading and reading and reading,i mean some of the chapters are good but the rest are extremely boring..i wouldn't recommend this book to anyone,if u want a great read read orson scott card or george orwell books not these.

Rating:
Summary: The Grey King
Review: Susan Cooper did a wonderful job on The Grey King. It was very mysterious. It was about a boy named Will and a boy named Bran who need to stop an evil magical king and his followers. Or else the world will be in peril. They are the only ones who can stop him!

Rating:
Summary: The Welsh Side of Arthurian Legend
Review: This book moves Will Stanton from England and Cornwall to Wales, and introduces Bran, a complex and somewhat thorny adolescent character. The two young men, each with unusual gifts, must learn to work together and in the process grow as individuals as well. This is a somewhat dark book--closer in tone to The Dark is Rising, but without some of tht books lightness and humanity. In this book you can feel the metaphysical dark pushing in on the world.