Product Description

"WHEN THE DARK COMES RISING, SIX SHALL TURN THEM BACK...."

When Will Stanton wakes up on the morning of his birthday, he discovers an unbelievable gift -- he is immortal. Bemused and terrified, he finds he is the last of the Old Ones, magical men and women sworn to protect the world from the source of evil, the Dark.

At once Will is plunged into a quest to find six magical Signs to aid the powers of the Light. Six medallions -- iron, bronze, wood, water, fire, and stone -- created and hidden by the Old Ones centuries ago. But the Dark has sent out the Rider: evil cloaked in black, mounted upon a midnight stallion, and on the hunt for this youngest Old One, Will. He must find the six great Signs before the Dark can rise, for an epic battle between good and evil approaches.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3481 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Amazon.com Review

"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 will return, and one go alone."

With these mysterious words, Will Stanton discovers on his 11th birthday that he is no mere boy. He is the Sign-Seeker, last of the immortal Old Ones, destined to battle the powers of evil that trouble the land. His task is monumental: he must find and guard the six great Signs of the Light, which, when joined, will create a force strong enough to match and perhaps overcome that of the Dark. Embarking on this endeavor is dangerous as well as deeply rewarding; Will must work within a continuum of time and space much broader than he ever imagined.

Susan Cooper, in her five-title Dark Is Rising sequence, creates a world where the conflict between good and evil reaches epic proportions. She ranks with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien in her ability to deliver a moral vision in the context of breathtaking adventure. No one can stop at just one of her thrilling fantasy novels. Among many other prestigious awards, The Dark Is Rising is a Newbery Honor Book and a Carnegie Medal Honor Book. (Ages 8 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Review
Psychology Today "Susan Cooper is one of the few contemporary writers who has the vivid imagination, the narrative powers, and the moral vision that permit her to create the kind of sweeping conflict between good and evil that lies at the heart of all great fantasy. Tolkien had it. So did C.S. Lewis. And Cooper writes in the same tradition." -- Review

Review
"So perfect is the match between Alex Jennings' voice and this mysterious magical tale--that it is difficult to imagine any other voice reading these words." -The Horn Book Magazine

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Customer Reviews

Rich and "Dark"
Susan Cooper has yet to equal "The Dark is Rising," the second book of her classic Dark is Rising Sequence. Independent of the first book "Over Sea Under Stone," this is also darker, more magical, more intense, and one of the most beautifully written fantasy novels in existance.

Will Stanton is an ordinary boy, until his Midwinter eleventh birthday. On that day, he ventures out into a seemingly changed world. There, he encounters a sinister Dark Rider, then a beautiful white horse that leads him to a hidden place, where he finds two of the Old Ones -- the mysterious Lady and Merriman Lyon, one of the stars of the previous book. The Old Ones are immortal, powerful, wise, and it turns out that Will is the last one born.

And as an astonishingly cold winter settles over England, Will is taught some of the ways of the Old Ones, who fight the Dark (forces of evil, like the Dark Rider). He has one of the signs of power, but must get them all: Iron, Bronze, Stone, Wood, Fire and Water. And he must contend with the Dark Rider, his own failings, and a mysterious stranger whose future is inextricably entwined with his...

Susan Cooper is at her peak here. Will Stanton's adventures have a sense of unreal mystery and magic about them, where the slightest actions can have significance, time is easily manipulated, and two kinds of reality intersect. Welsh mythos and legend is interwoven more deeply here, including hints of the Arthurian tilt that was featured more prominently in "Over Sea, Under Stone." At the same time, Cooper accurately displays a more human side of Will, the side that is deeply attached to his family and home.

Her writing also becomes much more detailed here. In her first Dark is Rising novel, Cooper's writing was relatively spare and lacking in detail. Here, she more than makes up for it with intricate details about the halls of the Old Ones, the bustling farmhouse, and the eerie woods where the Walker wanders.

Nowhere to be found is the British-kids-on-holiday atmosphere. It's replaced by an warm atmosphere, and one of shocking, powerful magic. This isn't magic infringing on our world, but rather Will stepping from one to another. Her dialogue is more believable, even the little old lady bleating about the snowstorm; and Will tends to think, act, and talk like an eleven-year-old boy who is aged before his time.

Will himself is an astonishingly three-dimensional character: he flips between being a smart, quiet eleven-year-old to being an Old One, with all the power that suggests. This transition is not one that is handled lightly, as he gradually loses his innocent, boyish outlook and learns more about the battle between evil and good. Merriman Lyon is a more majestic character than in "Over Sea, Under Stone," and the reader gets a saddening view of the sacrifices he's had to make for his battle against the Dark.

Susan Cooper does an astonishing job with "The Dark is Rising," a spellbinding fantasy that secured the Dark is Rising Sequence as a classic. Truly an entrancing, magical novel.

Scintillating reading
I read this series as a child and I remember having a little difficulty with it at the time. Certainly the books in the series "The Dark Is Rising" are excellent, but they are often prone to long lengthy descriptions that ably bore initially interested children. In this particular case, I suspect I skimmed long sections of this book when I grew bored of its long descriptive passages. The books themselves are complex. It did not surprise me that the author, Susan Cooper studied under J.R.R. Tolkien (of "Lord of the Rings" fame), and I would hasten to add that she, far more than Phillip Pullman, is his current successor. She weaves British and Celtic myth within her stories, beautifully. This book itself is a good one, rare in its kind because the protagonist (your typical pre-adolescent who learns of great powers) has a happy home life and two parent household. I can think of almost no other fantasy series where this is the case. Usually if the child DOES have two parents, one is missing and must be rescued. Not so here. Will has his own adventures and, at the same time, people he cares about who care for him. In this book there is no bully to be defeated or difficulties at school. The Dark and Light characters are well drawn and there is a depth to each and every character that I appreciate. On the whole, I would recommend these books to those kids who are adept readers. Definitely the child who has single-handedly finished a "Lord of the Rings" book will zip through this series with few problems. Harry Potter fans may also wish to graduate to a higher level with this story. Readers may wish to start with the first book in this series, "Over Sea, Under Stone", before moving on to "The Dark Is Rising".

Harry Potter lovers...
If your child loves fantasy, romance and magic this series is a MUST! It has probably been about 20 years since I finished the series and I can still quote parts verbatim. I had to wait for Ms. Cooper to finish each book before I could read it - buy your kid the full series now!