Rating: 
Summary: Present-day Arthur
Review: This treasure hunt story is an adventure for all. Three Drew children visiting their Great Uncle find an ancient map in the house they are staying in. A map that leads them on a dangerous journey to find a grail. The grail that will fight the forces of the evil Dark. In this story what started as a game to the Drew children ends as a fight to the finish.
In this novel Susan Cooper incorporates the story of King Arthur and his quest for the holy grail. Though King Arthur is not a character himself, the themes are very much there. Knowing the story of King Arthur will help with the reading. One should know a bit about him before reading this book.
I recommend this book for people who love to read ten-yeas-old and up. This story can be slow at times but by just reading a little more, it will catch you and you won't put this book down.
Rating: 
Summary: The 20th Century Search For The Holy Grail
Review: The 20th Century Search for the Holy Grail
The author t "Over Sea, Under Stone" is Susan Cooper. With her amazing imagination Cooper made a modern legend come to life. The Drew family Jane, Simon, Barney and their parents take a holiday to Cornwall of Britain. Their Great- Uncle Merry rented a house of an old captains and the children stumbled over a manuscript that lead them into a grand quest. Though this journey has been wanted by dark evil people will stop at nothing to find and receive that manuscript that leads to a great treasure. The children set off on this adventure with the help of their great-uncle Merry who has the smarts of the old ancient times. They are going on a journey to the sacred grail.
With their amazing wits Jane, Simon, Barney, and great-uncle Merry set off on the quest not knowing who is evil and who is not. Some kind but suspicious characters are the Withers, Ms Palk and sometimes Uncle Merry. The children always have to be cautious and make sure that no one follows them on this great journey.
This book I would recommend to sixth grade and down. This is because this book did not amuse me but is an adventure and mystery book at the same time. For me though the only time it was amusing was when I read alone at night when exciting dangerous scene occurs. That is my opinion but I do recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Modern Authur
Review: Modern Arthur Most people believe the story of King Arthur Ended centuries ago. Not in Susan Coopers Over Sea, Under Stone In this book Jane, Barney and Simon drew with the help of there great-uncle Merry the search for an artifact that will give clues to the real life of Arthur. They nicknamed the artifact the grail. Through a series of clues the children get closer to finding the grail, also an evil group is trying to find the manuscript that lead the children to there first clue.
While this book has no direct link to the Arthurian myth it has similar themes, such as loyalty, bravery and a never ending fight against evil. This book will appeal to kids ages 8-10 because the conflict is a bit weak for my taste. I strongly advise no other age group to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Buried in my subconscious for years!
Review: I first read this series when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old. I was riveted then and I re-read the books many times, but I checked them out from the library and never had my own copies. Years later, in my 20s, I was talking with a coworker about children's books we'd loved. I described a scene for him that I especially remembered, and he immediately replied, "That's Susan Cooper's 'Silver on the Tree'!" I rushed out that very day and purchased the entire series to re-read and have for my own. As an adult, I definitely see the elements of this series that are specifically geared for children. However, its themes, its writing style, and its handling of conflicts are not "dumbed down" for the young audience, which I think makes them a good read for adults as well as a great bridge for kids (perhaps slightly older than I was when I read them) into more serious adult fantasy literature. In particular, I think this will be an excellent series to read with my son in between the Harry Potter books and the more ambitious Lord of the Rings series; it builds on the childhood comraderie themes of Harry Potter while introducing the larger good and evil conflicts of LOTR. As I said, there is very little dumbing down in these books, and some of the descriptions of villains, conflicts and supernatural experiences can be quite frightening. Because it is set in Europe, but apparently among otherwise "normal" people, it may be harder to help young children understand the story's place as fantasy than it is with Harry Potter, where all of the action takes place in an "alternate society". If your children are under 12, you would want to read these books along with them, or at least at the same time they are reading them so you can have discussions. I have also read comparisons between this series and both the Chronicles of Narnia and Madeline L'Engel's "Wrinkle in Time" books. It is less fantastical than L'Engel and more secular than Lewis.
Rating: 
Summary: A most interesting series.
Review: Of all of these, my favorite was the second book, 'The Dark is rising' which I would rate 5 stars.
Of the whole series:
It was a good story, a good plot, and a pretty good ending, considering. It was a story about good and evil, the Light and the Dark, fighting each other. There were five magical items that needed to be collected, and, basically, which ever side got all of them won. The five items were; the Grail, the belt of Signs, a parchment, the harp of gold, and a the crystal Sword. There is a poem in it which I likes a lot, and I memorized it. It tells some of the story in itself: "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 shall return, and one shall go alone." "Iron for the birthday; bronze carried long;
Wood from the burning; stone out of song;
Fire from the candle-ring; water out of thaw;
Six signs the Circle; the Grail gone before." "Fire in the mountains, shall find the harp of gold;
Played to wake the Sleepers, oldest of the old;
Power from the Greenwitch, lost beneath the sea;
All shall find the Light at last, silver on the tree." All in all, this series really got my attention. At first I wan't very enthusiastic about it, but now that I've read it, I look back and wonder; why didn't I think I would like it?
The only thing that wasn't all that good was the ending. I suppose their aren't many other ways it could have ended, though.
Rating:
Summary: It's great to see these books still available
Review: These, and Ursula le Guin's Earthsea trilogy, were the only fantasy titles I could find, in the mid-eighties, for a fantasy-mad 11-year-old boy. I'm very pleased to see so many reviews for them here. Clearly they are delighting readers of today as much as they delighted Matt and me.
Unfortunately, I read the second book first (probably because the first book wasn't in the library at the time and I didn't want to risk spoiling the single-volume edition I bought for Matthew). I was, therefore, disappointed in the first book., although there is actually nothing wrong with it. But even when I re-read the series I felt it didn't quite fit. It was as though it was intended as a stand-alone novel. I then discovered that Susan Cooper had written it for a competition where the entries had to be novels in the style of Edith Nesbitt. Possibly if I had read the books in their proper order I wouldn't have experienced this problem.
I thoroughly recommend this series (and, indeed, any book by Susan Cooper) to all fantasy-mad readers, whatever their age.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: I forget when I first read the series, but I loved it, and still do. My mother loves the books, too - she read them as a child. And now my brother in the eighth grade is starting to read them - he doesn't always get into books as much as my mom and I, but he's enjoying the series so far. Overall, I strongly recommend these books to anyone with an interest in mythology, fantasy, or the paranormal. I suppose I should include a bit about the books - Susan Cooper combines ideas from British and Celtic myths with a more modern setting, in England and Wales, with a memorable cast of characters. It's a really great story about people from myths with ancient magic living in a modern world.
Rating:
Summary: Left me speechless!
Review: I recently did The Dark Is Rising for a school book report, and everyone in my 2nd hour Language Arts class fell in love with it.
This series is one of the best series I've read in a long time,
(besides Harry Potter.) If you're interested in science fiction or fantasy books, I believe these are for you, no matter what age you are.
Rating:
Summary: Pity there are only five stars...
Review: ...I would like to give this one a 6. The quality of the writing in this book is unsurpassed. I read this series when I was in the fifth grade, and it has remained in my list of "best books", even after reading such works as Les Miserables and War and Peace. The imagery, the plot, the sheer brilliance of these novels is almost impossible to describe. The books' greatest strength is the imagery. Susan Cooper is, bar none, one of the most descriptive authors of our time. She has the ability to paint a scene, a setting described in such detail as to leave no ambiguity. These books are not just for children. I read these when I was much, much younger, but the content and style are suitable for adults as well. There are levels of symbolism and allusions which may or may not be wasted on children. These books have been compared with Harry Potter, to the detriment of both parties. J.K. Rowling is a talented writer, but her skills simply are not in Mrs. Cooper's league. Both have excellent storytelling capabilities and creative imaginations . However, Susan Cooper far surpasses Rowling in both imagery and plot. I still can remember details from the story, years after having read the books. I remember staying awake all night so as to finish a book, it held me in such suspense. These stories truly are masterpieces. Read them.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: This book is for everyone who enjoys fantasy! I started reading this series with "The Grey King" and then went on to the others. This is a series that if you like it, you will want to reread it all over again! The character I most related with was Bran. Susan Cooper did a wonderful job on all of these books. If you're bored and looking for a few good, can't put them down reads, you just found them!
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