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Summary: Great sequence
Review: The Dark Is Rising sequence is absolutely wonderful, and I couldn't put any of them down after I picked them up! I've read a lot of other reviews, and it seems to me that I feel the same way as many other people that have reviewed this book! After I finished the sequence, it left me breathless. I memorized the poem type thigs, you know, "When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back." and "On the day of the dead, when the world too dies" and still remember them to this day. I'd love Ms. Cooper to do another book about this same subject. I mean, Will had a humongus burden carring that by himself, and no one else remembering, well, except the other Old Ones, and I'd like to see a book in which Older Will comes back into the book along with everyone else to do something, who knows? I loved the books!
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Summary: I loved this book!
Review: The Dark Is Rising sequence is an absolutely wonderful collection of books! I first read them when I was in about the 5th grade, and loved them then. I checked them out again at the library this year, in my eighth grade year, and fell in love with them all over again. I loved the way that Susan Cooper based the book on Celtic and English legends and stories, and I think that that gave the books a lot of life. After I read these books, I wanted to be an Old One. I seriously did, and after I realized that that probably wasn't going to happen, I decided that I could just keep the Light inside of me and help people out. I know, I know, I sound ridiculous, but some books just affect me in a way, and this sequence did. These are classic good against bad books, with a different twist that makes them unique.
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Summary: What a Book!
Review: I'm going to echo the words of so many other reviewers here, it doesn't matter how old one is, this is an excellent book. I first read it at 13 or 14..now so many years later I still feel the wonder that I did back then.One of the best good vs. evil books ever written. Highly recommended for everyone.
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Summary: A book that will touch your soul forever!!
Review: When I was a child, I soaked up Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, L'Engle...the classics. I was in my 30's when I found Susan Cooper's "Dark" series. I loved it - I think this battle of good vs. evil is true on some level in life today...Read this whole series and find yourself falling into an alternate reality not unlike the Perelandra series. And then read the Harry Potter series for a lighter moment. Have a great life!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent novel. Not just for kids
Review: I first read this book when I was in 8th grade and I thought it was great. The same goes for "The Boggart", the only other Susan Cooper book I have read aside from "The Dark Is Rising" sequence. Anyway, like I said, I loved the book. The way it was written was amazing, I've read a great many books in my life so far, many of them by award-winning novelists who have written many books and have international recognition (Stephen King, Terry Brooks, and J.R.R Tolkien among them), and Susan Cooper stands among them for all they're worth. This book touches your mind in ways that many books cannot even come close to. It is simply incredible. And as the header suggest, I'm not in the agegroup of 9-12, and I still think the novel is excellent, even when I read it now at 22. So, don't be discouraged by the target agegroup, if you love great literature and reading about myths and legends, don't hesitate to pick up this marvelous book.
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Summary: Incredible Book. A "must-read".
Review: This book about a boy who searches for one of the six signs that will inevitably help the "Light" triumph over the "Dark" (both comparable to the warring forces shown in "Star Wars") is a FANTASTIC book and an INCREDIBLE read. This book will keep you on pins and needles till the end, which still leaves you hanging. I did not want to put it down, and I'm sure nobody who reads it will, either. Excellently written, with superb parallels to everyday life and engrossing details of the paranormal, this book is one-in-a-million (if you don't count the rest of the series, which is just as good).
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Summary: Masterpiece quality research
Review: Susan Cooper's work in The Dark Is Rising series of books, floored me the first time I read them. I have now re-read them (several times) and find them just as fascinating each time. But now I want to know what sort of young adult Will Stanton and Bran Davies (Merlin and King Arthur) turned into--all right then--the Sorcerer and the Pendragon. Whatever. The last line in Silver on the Tree is "We have a long way to go." I want to know where they went. And what happens when one of them inadvertently remembers everything. Somehow. Can we really be content with Will Stanton being sentenced to be the only one who remembers everything? What a burden! How could you ever live a normal life, or be thought of as normal by other people? These are all questions that Ms. Cooper might answer in a sequel novel for the adult curiosity experiencer. Ms. Cooper, of course, does not touch the second world war and its effects/affects--which happen at the same time as her story. Other readers I notice, appreciate the family scenes--which bring about a sense of intimacy lacking in many other books.... The research for these books must have taken Ms. Cooper considerable time--although she herself has obviously lived much of the family material. It would be interesting to know if she has a male child who can steap in and out of time and read your mind as well, hear your secrets and thoughts before they emerge. I salute you Ms. Cooper, and thank you very much.
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Summary: WOW!!!
Review: READ IT. Will is is great peril on his quest for 6 signs that one day will help the light defeat the dark. The excitment went on and on. There was scarcely a moment with nothing interesting happening.
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Summary: The best book in the series
Review: This book is awesome. The descriptive language and mental pictures it produces are the best. Susan Cooper is to be commended for this supreme achievment.
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Summary: One of my absolute favorite series!
Review: Just to give you a hint about what this series is like, my other favorite series are; The Time Trilogy-Madeleine L'Engle, The Prydein Cycle-Lloyd Alexander and The Chronicles of Narnia-C.S. Lewis. This excellent series is like each of those in different ways. While I was reading this sequence, I found myself purposly reading slowly, because I wanted the pleasure of reading such good books to last as long as possible. And it gave me my dream of going to live in England when I am older. The words of a book reviewer say it better than I can "..If the reader's preference is for high fantasy steeped in Welsh and Arturian legend and yet perfectly intermeshed with daily reality, there is no better.." One of the most delightful things about this sequence is the subtle hints that run throughout. That does make it a little difficult for younger kids to read; I would actually reccomend this more to early teens than pre-teens. Susan Cooper is one of the authors I wish to someday be like. The way she can write realistic family scenes and then go and write about journeys through magical lands is truly fantastic. Also the way her descriptions make you picture something so perfectly. The likable yet realistic characters in the sequence are another thing that makes it so wonderful. Also the imaginative fantasy lands and places. Over Sea, Under Stone is a bit more light & simple than the others, but is very enjoyable and engaging all the same. The Dark is Rising is probably the most dark, (as in gloomy, depressing) but it's interesting and imaginative and I really like the scenes with Will's family. Greenwitch is pretty short, but I liked the way they brought the Drews and Will together. The Grey King is probably the one I'd pick if I had to pick a favorite; (though it's a hard choice!) I love the Welsh setting, the whole story, and Bran is one of my favorite characters in the sequence. Silver On The Tree is an excellent ending, with the Lost Land, and the Midsummer Tree, and just everything!! I am definatly reading these books many more times! I want to buy them, but at the bookstore they only have them as a set with those ugly newer paperback covers. I want to find the ones they have at the library, with the original covers (I think) from the 70's.
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