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Book ReviewsThe Dark Is Rising Sequence: Silver on the Tree/The Grey King/Greenwitch/The Dark Is Rising/Over Sea, Under Stone |
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Book: The Dark Is Rising Sequence: Silver on the Tree/The Grey King/Greenwitch/The Dark Is Rising/Over Sea, Under Stone
Written by: Susan Cooper |
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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Six signs shall burn all according to plan...
Rating:
3 / 5
This series was recommended to me and I was told that it would change me life and such. Well it didn't, but that doesn't make it a bad story. The Dark is Rising is different, not something I expected.
I think I woudl have enjoyed the story much more if I wasn't 17 and into hard-core epic fantasy. The entire story just seemed too easy. Everything worked out according to prophesy, no interesting twists or such. It just felt wrong for it to be too easy, something that should have been complicated, especially for the high level of incorporation of Celtic myth and legend.
I think what irriatated me the most was Will and the entire arrogance of the Old Ones. He was just so high on his horse throughout most of the novels. "He suddenly got the spell from ages of knowledge past". The entire instant knowledge was pure cheating, and I HATE cheating in novels.
The entire thing about the memory and forgetting really bugged me. It wasn't fair that the Drew children at the end, after going through the apocalypse and back should forget all they learned. It was as another reviewer said, without development what is the point of their envolvement.
Even though the direct plotline lacked complexity Cooper's writing style and just sheer magnitude of the setting and scenery was incredible. While reading I could feel the wind of the beach and imagine standing on the cliffs of England and Wales. You got this sense of landscape that was trully a work of art.
Of all the books my favorite was Greenwitch. I think it was because the plot centered mostly on Jane and her female connection with forces of nature and myth. My only beef was that it was way too short.
The most annoying book was probably that last, Silver on the Tree. Everything fell into place too neatly. The Old Ones were as arrogant as ever and even Bran (who was so cool in The Grey King) viewed the Drew children as nothing but mortals at one point or another. I felt sorry for the Drew's because the ways of the world were set up that to matter you had to be born to power, not earn it through development and ingenuity.
Conclusion:
I like the books, they were a nice escape to the vast landscapes of Wales and England. The Drew children were the best part becauase they were funny and had character. However, I don't recomemd this book to adults or teens (as the books say they are marketing to). The plot line is too basic. It is like trying to read Chronicles of Narnia as an adult, it is hard because of the simple, easy language. Same here, they just don't possess a challenge.
P.S. Even if you don't read this books, buy that last one "Silver on the Tree" just for the poems. They are the COOLEST!! Reminds me of the time-traveling devices' poem in Dragonlance, pretty and prophesy-like. ;)
Great read, but not a great ending.
Rating:
2 / 5
I read a review before I read these books, that proclaimed they were written in the tradition of R. R. Tolkein. As I progressed through the entire series, I just loved the great adventures, the fantastic characters, and all that the mortal children were learning as they worked through saving the world as they knew it. While this book is written in the grand style of R. R. Tolkien and other greats like him, it is not in his tradition whatsoever. Tolkein's stories were absolute good against absolute evil; his characters learn and grow, and everyone is better off in the end. At the end of Cooper's book, the children completely forget everything that happened. Their great relationships that were formed, the lessons they learned, and strength they gained, were totally gone. The rest of the characters, good or bad, those who were true to the cause of the light, and those who were evil and traitorous, and put in serious jeapoardy the lives of the children, all ended up in a happy and wonderful life together.
So, read it if you choose to. It's a terrific story, and a great ride. But if the characters forget everything that happened, and the bad guys don't get theirs, then give me a really good reason for the story to have happenend at all. Just know what's coming, and don't get your hopes up for something worthy of Tolkien.
So very happy....
Rating:
5 / 5
Okay, this isn't really so much a review as just being excited that I tracked these books down. I was having a discussion with a couple of friends earlier tonight about books we read when we were kids. I remembered having read this series and absolutely loving it when I was about, oohhh, 10 or 12 or so, I guess (I'm 25 now). However, I could only vaguely remember the plot and could recall absolutely none of the titles (and the one I thought I did remember I had wrong). It all came flooding back, though, when I looked in the children's book category and found "The Dark is Rising" in the series section. I thought I was going to cry I was so happy to have actually tracked it down. I could talk about the story being compelling and all, but it's pretty obvious that these books must've made an impression if I remembered them after almost 15 years. Now I want to see if I can find my old copies and read them again.
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