Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper

Silver on the Tree is the fifth and last book in the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I highly recommend reading the other books before this one, and if you continue with this review, you may encounter some spoilers on those books. The series is about an ancient and timeless fight between the forces of the Light and of the Dark. Our main character, Will Stanton, is the youngest of the Old Ones of the light and has been seeking out the power objects of the light to keep the dark from rising. He also is sometimes complemented by the Drew children who also play an important role in this battle and were the ones to find the Holy Grail. The dark is aware of their plans though and will try to stop them at all costs.

This last book Will is seeking out the last power object, a special sword that should only be wielded by the Pendragon. The Pendragon happens to be a friend of Will's from Wales and is a strange boy whose Albino-ism and parents make him very special indeed. With the help of the Drew children they are set on the right path to find the sword and will journey to a lost land where the dark is waiting for them. They have to succeed though, or everything they've done before will have been in vain and the dark will rise.

The Drew children weren't in this book as much as they were in some of the others. But I really didn't care because I found their parts the most boring anyway. It should have been interesting, but I've never really connected to them as characters. I have mixed feelings about Bran, the Pendragon. He is an interesting character but not really likable to me. Will has always been my favorite and Cooper does a marvelous job of showing the old one and the small child in him throughout the book.

There is a lot that goes on in this book and it can be hard to follow at times. I can see how the characters in the book have trouble remembering things because even I do and I had just read them a few pages back! Since it is a children's book they may have even worse problems following along and the language in this book is a bit tougher. But it is still quite interesting and Cooper does a good job of finishing the series off. I'm always sad to see it end but I am glad she didn't stretch it into something that wouldn't have worked as well.

Great series and a good ending to it. Anyone of any age could read this book and I always enjoy returning to it.

Silver on the Tree
Copyright 1977
275 pages

The Grey King by Susan Cooper

The Grey King is the 4th book in the Dark is Rising series. If you have not read the first three books, I highly recommend you do or you will be somewhat lost with this book. For those not familiar with the series (and this could be considered a spoiler) it involves an age old battle of the Light vs the Dark. There are great objects of power that both sides want and Will Stanton (youngest of the Old Ones of the light) has been busy collecting them as he is the sign seeker.

This time, Will has a new quest. After a dreadful sickness causes him to lose a lot of his strength, he is sent to family in Wales to recover. There he starts to regain his memories as a Old One and meets a new friend in Bran. Bran is a unique boy, he was born albino and his best friend is a dog as unusual as him. As he remembers, Will realizes that he must find a golden harp and wake the sleepers (whoever they may be) and he'll need Bran's help along the way. But he is weak, and the dark is always looming.

Bran is a very unique character for this book. But his dog is even more fantastic. There is a mysterious sense surrounding both and Bran has a lot of interesting history. Will played a fairly prominent role in this book as he is probably my favorite character in all of the series. Surprisingly, Merriman was barely in this one and I found I missed his character. There were a few side characters, but they weren't developed as much as they could have been.

This one had a fairly exciting plot but it was a bit more on the serious side and some of it was pretty dark material for a children's book. That being said, it wasn't offensive, just upsetting at parts. There was a lot of adventure and I think the bad guys were definitely more menacing in this book which made for a good read. This book can move slow at parts and doesn't describe some of the background for those not familiar with Arthurian legend. But despite that, its still a pretty good read.

I do love this series and all the books are well worth reading in the series. I highly recommend it for anyone.

The Grey King
Copyright 1975
208 pages

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

This is the third installment of the Dark is Rising series. It should not be read as a standalone and I highly recommend reading the first two books ahead of this one for all the background information on the characters that they contain. It is vitaly important to read this book for the rest of the series though as there is a lot of information contained within. If you continue with this review, please be warned that there are spoilers for the previous books ahead.

From the first book we know that the Drew children had found the holy grail despite the forces of dark trying to get it first. That cup has now gone missing from the library and Merriman Lyon, the mysterious figure in both the Drew children's lives and Will Stanton's (last of the old ones from the 2nd book), believes that it is being taken back to where it was found. With both the children and Will along, they return there to try to find it. But they return at a unique time of the year. The festivities of the Greenwitch are being held and Jane Drew is allowed to come watch her making. She is a sad figure made of plants and is released into the sea with the wishes of the townsfolk every year. But in fact she is very powerful, more than most humans will know. The dark wants this power and the children, Merriman and the rest of the light will have to defeat them to get it.

The characters were a bit rushed in this book. Will, who I normally love, just didn't seem like his normal self and took too much of a backseat in this story. The Drew children were bratty, except for Jane. Merriman, who is a mysterious figure, should probably have just a bit more detail shown for him to keep him compelling. I do like that they brought the dog back for this book as I thought he was a neat character.

The plot drags a bit and while it has the potential to be very exciting, it is kind of lackluster. That's not to say this isn't a good book. It is still very well done, just not as good as the first two. Since it is a children's series it can be simplistic at times, but there is nothing offensive within the book. It does have its scary moments, but they aren't too bad and all but the meekest should be able to handle them.

While its not my favorite of the series it still does provide a good amount of important information. I definitely recommend reading it as a part of the series.

Greenwitch
Copyright 1974
131 pages

Over Sea Under Stone by Susan Cooper

Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book in the Dark Is Rising series. Despite that, I always seem to read this 2nd as the 2nd book (The Dark is Rising) is my favorite book and I always read it first. But really, this book is kind of a side story to the rest of the series despite it being first so it doesn't really matter the order your read the first two.

The Drew children, three siblings, are on vacation at a mysterious place called the Grey House in a quaint little town by the sea. They are their with their parents and also their mysterious Great Uncle Merry who always seems to be searching for something. When it rains the first few days they are there they take to exploring the house and find a mysterious treasure map that seems to indicate something about King Arthur. However, they aren't the only ones who want to find what is at the end of that treasure hunt. Some not so nice characters are about and the only thing standing in their way is the children and Great Uncle Merry. They have to see who will reach the end first and keep the treasure from going to darkness.

I really like the way the children were written in this book. They all had distinct personalities and differences about them. Another great thing about Susan Cooper's characters is that they are never all one or the other. The bad characters have good qualities and the good characters must sometimes do things that are unsavory. I was surprised to see that the parents were largely absent from this book and really weren't the greatest of characters when they were there. But I suppose Uncle Merry made up for them being lackluster.

This is an adventure story with just a touch of mystery. It is very appropriate for children with nothing unsuitable for reading. In fact, this is actually a children's series, although adults may enjoy it as well. The plot as a whole is good but isn't as great as some of Cooper's others. It does run a bit slow in parts and tiresome, but largely it is good. It is different from the rest of the series though and with some exceptions, doesn't share very many characters with the other books as well.

I do love this series and think that this makes a good side story to the rest of the books. I highly recommend the whole set to anyone, adult or child.

Over Sea, Under Stone
Copyright 1965
252 pages

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

This has been one of my favorite fantasy series since I was a child. I still take the books out and read them about once a year and they haven't lost their charm for me. Although, beware, if you have seen the movie based on this book (The Seeker) it was terrible and didn't represent the book at all. The Dark is Rising is actually the second book in the series (after Over Sea Under Stone) but I always read it first since it is my favorite. It doesn't seem to effect my reading of the books at all.

Will Stanton is getting ready to have his eleventh birthday. But some strange things happen before that, animals start acting weird about him and he gets a present for his birthday that everyone seems to want. It is a buckle for his belt that is shaped like a circle with a cross inside, and it is one of the signs. You see, Will Stanton is the sign seeker, the last of the old ones to be born in the world and a key to their fight against the dark as it struggles to prevail against the light. Will must find all six signs before it is too late and the darkness takes over.

I really like Will as a character. I think Cooper, the author, did a great job of mixing young boy and timeless old one into his character. At least to me it seemed seamless. I also like that she didn't have her good and evil people be one or the other. Those on the side of the dark seemed like your average every day people you've known forever, and those on the light were sometimes ruthless to achieve the end means. This is more realistic to me than all or nothing.

As said before I like how she explored good and evil in this book. And her ideas for the signs were pretty neat too. Since it is a kids book there isn't anything that could be considered inappropriate or offensive in this book. But honestly, even though it is a kid's book, there is plenty here for adults to enjoy as well. I would judge this to be a good book to read with the family. Its captivated me for over fifteen years anyway.

Definitely one of the better fantasy fictions out there. And the rest of the series is good as well. I heartily recommend this book to just about anyone.

The Dark is Rising
Copyright 1973
244 pages