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358th out of 2,636 books
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4,869 voters
Over Sea, Under Stone (The Dark is Rising #1)
by
Susan Cooper (Goodreads Author)
On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that -- the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril. This is th...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
June 25th 2004
by Aladdin Paperbacks
(first published 1965)
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how great is ariel?? ariel is exactly this great:
i had never read this series, but had always wanted to. so ariel straight up mailed it to me! like santa! in june!
ariel, i have also always wanted a choker made of rubies and emeralds and sweet sweet diamonds.
while i am waiting for that,i will write a review for this book. obviously, there are going to be comparisons to that narnia series - british siblings shuttled off to a spooky house with secret passageways behind a wardrobe with an eccentric...more
i had never read this series, but had always wanted to. so ariel straight up mailed it to me! like santa! in june!
ariel, i have also always wanted a choker made of rubies and emeralds and sweet sweet diamonds.
while i am waiting for that,i will write a review for this book. obviously, there are going to be comparisons to that narnia series - british siblings shuttled off to a spooky house with secret passageways behind a wardrobe with an eccentric...more
45 likes · like · see review
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Okay, before I get started on this, I just have to say a wholehearted public thank-you to Ariel, who sent me a beautiful, shiny new box set of the entire Dark Is Rising sequence, after seeing I had one of the books on my to-read wishlist. When I opened the package and saw their beautifully-drawn covers, my inner ten-year-old did a backflip of joy, and my outer 26-year-old fawned over them in an embarrassingly Gollum-like fashion. So pretty, my preciousssss.
However, despite the love and joy, I do...more
However, despite the love and joy, I do...more
23 likes · like · see review
My initial reaction was that this felt well-worn: a Lewisian family of British children, summering in Cornwall, find a mysterious passageway behind a wardrobe. However, my initial reaction was dead wrong. The characters here are exceedingly well-drawn. The Drew children are bratty, catty, prone to shortness of breath and leg cramps. They're incredibly real, something that's all-too-lacking in a lot of children's fantasy literature. Barney, the youngest, with an Arthurian obsession, is especially...more
Over Sea, Under Stone is a classic tale with an Arthurian base, showing how kid power can be better than adulthood. It also shows the relationships of the forces of good and evil, and how they can create conflict, sometimes war.
Three kids, Barney, Simon, and Jane, go on vacation with their parents to visit their mysterious Great-Uncle Merry (Professor Merriman Lyon), sometimes called “Gumerry”. Upon exploring the Grey House, their vacation residence, they find an ancient manuscript crumbling w...more
Three kids, Barney, Simon, and Jane, go on vacation with their parents to visit their mysterious Great-Uncle Merry (Professor Merriman Lyon), sometimes called “Gumerry”. Upon exploring the Grey House, their vacation residence, they find an ancient manuscript crumbling w...more
3 likes · like · see review
Very few people [who know me at all:] are unaware that The Dark Is Rising is possibly my favourite series of books in the history of ever. Still, I haven't done a series of proper reviews for them, which is a horrible shame, and I'm going to do that this time through.
This is probably the fifteenth time I've read Over Sea, Under Stone, give or take a few times. Someone I knew recommended skipping it, since it's the most childish book in the series -- written, if I recall correctly, well before th...more
This is probably the fifteenth time I've read Over Sea, Under Stone, give or take a few times. Someone I knew recommended skipping it, since it's the most childish book in the series -- written, if I recall correctly, well before th...more
6 likes · like · see review
I saw Susan Cooper speak at a writer's conference back in February and have been meaning to read this sequence ever since then. (Never mind that the rest of the conference only had me itching to get back to my keyboard.)
If you haven't yet read The Chronicles of Narnia, you'll love love love this book. If you've already read it, you'll still love this book. Its characters are ever so much more engaging than Edmund, Lucy, Peter, and Susan are, and although the basic premise of good versus evil is...more
If you haven't yet read The Chronicles of Narnia, you'll love love love this book. If you've already read it, you'll still love this book. Its characters are ever so much more engaging than Edmund, Lucy, Peter, and Susan are, and although the basic premise of good versus evil is...more
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Not as strong as 'The Dark is Rising', which immediately follows it (and is the only other book in the series I've read at this point, so I can't compare to the later books) but still a dazzlingly good children's book. This book feels much younger, not only because it is aimed at a younger audience, though it undoubtedly is, but also in the sense that it doesn't dive as deep thematically. Oh, there are certainly tense moments of very real, immediate danger (the Big Bad threatening to leave young...more
Went on another orgy of reading and decided to reread these. I've always enjoyed them since I read the second of the series, The Dark is Rising, when one of the boys brought it home from school to read.
These stories are of the ancient and continuing battle between the Light and the Dark, except that the Dark is making one last bid to take over the world and people will not be able to choose which to follow. The Light is trying to stop them to keep that option open.
The Drew family has gone on hol...more
These stories are of the ancient and continuing battle between the Light and the Dark, except that the Dark is making one last bid to take over the world and people will not be able to choose which to follow. The Light is trying to stop them to keep that option open.
The Drew family has gone on hol...more
On vacation with their Great Uncle Merry three young children stumble upon an old map and suddenly they are thrust into an adventure they never could have imagined.
The beginning was a little slow getting into it and I even considered discarding it, but as I trudged along through it I found myself getting more and more intrigued. It had a feeling of The Chronicles of Narnia mixed with Nancy Drew, making it suspenseful, but fitting into the Fantasy mold. I wanted to read it because of the recent m...more
The beginning was a little slow getting into it and I even considered discarding it, but as I trudged along through it I found myself getting more and more intrigued. It had a feeling of The Chronicles of Narnia mixed with Nancy Drew, making it suspenseful, but fitting into the Fantasy mold. I wanted to read it because of the recent m...more
I read the first half of OSUS thinking it was a prequel, and I think that may have influenced my opinion of the book. I kept waiting for the action to start, when in reality it had been going on for quite awhile already. So far I'm not too impressed by this 'highly acclaimed series', but it's not bad either, so I'm still open to having my mind changed and willing to read the rest.
Reread in 2012: I've always had very mixed feelings about this book. It so sounds like a book (and series) that I wou...more
Reread in 2012: I've always had very mixed feelings about this book. It so sounds like a book (and series) that I wou...more
1 like · like · see review
This is the third time I've read this book. I read it as a child and again in my twenties. It still has all the charm of a summer's day on the coast of Cornwall. I remember how hot it got, with the wind off the sea, which was a unique experience for me. Cooper captures it better than I can say it here. I could easily imagine the house, the town, and the headland from Cooper's descriptions. She has a wonderful ability to create a scene. She also makes me feel like the children are really the age...more
8 likes · like · see review
"That struggle [between good and evil] goes on all round us all the time, like two armies fighting. And sometimes one of them seems to be winning and sometimes the other, but neither has ever triumphed altogether. Nor ever will, for there is something of each in every man."
--Great-Uncle Merry, p. 74
For a series that's about a titanic struggle between the Light and the Dark, The Dark Is Rising sequence has a great deal of grey area. This doesn't arise so much in this first book in the sequence. S...more
--Great-Uncle Merry, p. 74
For a series that's about a titanic struggle between the Light and the Dark, The Dark Is Rising sequence has a great deal of grey area. This doesn't arise so much in this first book in the sequence. S...more
Those 3 little stars look so pitiful, but really I mostly love this book because of what follows in the series. Taken by its lonesome, it's just a good adventure story of Simon, Jane and Barney doing their best against the forces of the Dark. The backstory isn't very fleshed out, with only a hint of Great Uncle Merry's true identity and the Arthurian themes that are so important later. But the children sound like real siblings and nothing they do seems beyond the reach of your average bright chi...more
I still can't quite believe I missed these books when I was a kid. They are so up my alley.
This is the first book in the series, which I didn't know until I'd already read the second one (The Dark is Rising). But really that's ok because this book involves an entirely different set of kids.
One of the things I like best about these books is that they stand the test of time. They don't feel particularly dated, which is really nice.
And I also like all three of the children in this book. They're sma...more
This is the first book in the series, which I didn't know until I'd already read the second one (The Dark is Rising). But really that's ok because this book involves an entirely different set of kids.
One of the things I like best about these books is that they stand the test of time. They don't feel particularly dated, which is really nice.
And I also like all three of the children in this book. They're sma...more
3 likes · like · see review
This one doesn't feel quite magical as The Dark Is Rising, and the 'adventure by the sea and in dark caves' theme is probably overused in children book already nowadays, but the prose still shines.
What also makes me love this book is how the characters and the family life feel so natural.
What worries me right now is that I have three books of this sequence already, including the last one, but I haven't got two books in the middle. I think I should complete my collection first...
What also makes me love this book is how the characters and the family life feel so natural.
What worries me right now is that I have three books of this sequence already, including the last one, but I haven't got two books in the middle. I think I should complete my collection first...
1 like · like · see review
So this book has been published for 20 years now, so I'm not too concerned with spoilers. I picked this up on recommendation of an internet friend without knowing much other than it was children to young adult and fantasy based. As soon as I realized it was a King Arthur related tale, I made the connection betweek Great Uncle Merry (Gumerry) and Merlin. I was pleased to see Barney make the same connection at the end of the book. :-)
I really enjoyed the characters in this book as well, they felt...more
I really enjoyed the characters in this book as well, they felt...more
THE SEARCH FOR THE ELUSIVE PENDRAGON
This fascinating page-turner kicks off Cooper's excellent 5-part Fantasy series called THE DARK IS RISING. Although residing in the USA, the author reveals her fondness for Coastal Britain, as she whisks her protagonists on incredible journeys of self-discovery, historical treasure hunts and even Time Travel itself. In this signature book, the three Drew children are vacationing in Cornwall, when they accidentally discover an ancient map. Now this manuscript...more
This fascinating page-turner kicks off Cooper's excellent 5-part Fantasy series called THE DARK IS RISING. Although residing in the USA, the author reveals her fondness for Coastal Britain, as she whisks her protagonists on incredible journeys of self-discovery, historical treasure hunts and even Time Travel itself. In this signature book, the three Drew children are vacationing in Cornwall, when they accidentally discover an ancient map. Now this manuscript...more
It starts off a bit slow and, admittedly, it didn't hook me right away. It took me two or three weeks to make my way through this book when I usually finish books two or three times longer in a matter of days. That isn't saying much when you consider the book is aimed toward a significantly younger audience ("Ages 11 and up"), though, and I've read it the first time through at the grey old age of 29. The slightly slower pace and childish discoveries are perfect for children and adolescents, howe...more
I think kids today are more sophisticated readers when it comes to plot that they were fifty years ago, so a book like this might seem slow paced and boring compared to Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. Still, we might not have these later novels were it not for the ground breaking work of Susan Cooper. The Dark is Rising Sequence, of which Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book, stands as one of the models that today's j-fantasy is based on. Rick Riordan owes as much to Susan Cooper as One Direct...more
There are certain books that must be read at certain times of year. Alice in Wonderland should only be read in the summer. The Phantom Tollbooth should be read in late February on a really overcast day. And since it's December, that means its time to reread Susan Cooper.
I'm tempted to give all five books 5 stars, but I really do like some of them better than others, so -- exercising restraint here -- four stars.
At this point it's hard to separate out the memories of my nerdly adolescent passio...more
I'm tempted to give all five books 5 stars, but I really do like some of them better than others, so -- exercising restraint here -- four stars.
At this point it's hard to separate out the memories of my nerdly adolescent passio...more
I don't know how many times I've read this book, but it's a good candidate for the argument in the Feedback forums for sorting out multiple read dates -- I must've read it at least twenty times, I suppose, and one day I'm going to run out of editions on GoodReads to shelve. Never mind.
I really have nothing new to say about this book, of course: it's comfort reading of the first order, for me. I think I used to say that as this is the most childish book of the sequence, it can be skipped, but hon...more
I really have nothing new to say about this book, of course: it's comfort reading of the first order, for me. I think I used to say that as this is the most childish book of the sequence, it can be skipped, but hon...more
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The Dark is Rising Sequence is one of the best young adult fantasy series out there. It predates Harry Potter by 30 years, and I see some definite inspiration for JK Rowling's later writing.
The series is based on ancient celtic, norse, and Arthurian legends. It's rather difficult to give a good overview of the entire series, but for a young adult fiction series, it has a lot of dark imagery (though not much, if any, real violence). There is a lot of fascinating description of pre-Christian Briti...more
The series is based on ancient celtic, norse, and Arthurian legends. It's rather difficult to give a good overview of the entire series, but for a young adult fiction series, it has a lot of dark imagery (though not much, if any, real violence). There is a lot of fascinating description of pre-Christian Briti...more
Upon exiting a train at St. Austell station, Simon, Barney, and Jane Drew's ordinary holiday visit to Cornwall, England becomes the farthest thing possible from ordinary. The day after reaching their destination, a home known as the Grey House, a rainstorm strikes the harbor, confining the children to the house. With nothing else to do, they explore the vast rooms and multiple hallways and soon discover a hole behind a heavy wardrobe which leads to a long-forgotten attic and its many deep, dark...more
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I first came into contact with this series as a grade-schooler when I checked out an audiobook of The Grey King on vinyl record(!!) from my local library. It was book 4 in the 5-book series, probably not the best place to start, and a bit confusing. But I loved it. Recently I decided to go back and find out what the series was all about. So I've been checking them out from LA county library on CD to give the series a go from the beginning.
The first book, Under Sea, Under Stone, surprised me by b...more
The first book, Under Sea, Under Stone, surprised me by b...more
(Margaret A. Edwards Award Winning Author) Fantasy, especially when mixed with ancient civilizations or mythology is my favorite genre. This book is a bit dated at times, and the siblings get along a little too well, however, it kept me turning pages to follow the clues along with the Drew kids and discover whom the bad guys were. I felt like the book could have gone further, been more descriptive. I feel like I should read her later books to understand just why she is the recipient of the Edwar...more
I found this a well written book with interesting intensity and the ongoing mystery around the uncle. I ended up reading the entire series, thinking I would pass it along to my children. I ended up not doing that. For one thing, after five books, there was one line at the end of the last one that ticked me off so royally that I suddenly saw the entire series in a completely different light. I felt betrayed, led by the nose, and as if someone had attempted to convert me to a specific beleif syste...more
Rereading these books now to my children after many many years. Susan Cooper wrote the first book in the series as a standalone, I suppose, writing the other 4 after quite a few years had passed, and this is possibly my favourite of the set; although I may stand corrected, I recall Silver On The Tree being particularly memorable.
Where to begin? Many writers have drawn on the various stories of Camelot the Mabinogeon (Lloyd Alexander, Guy Gavriel Kay, Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley... the...more
Where to begin? Many writers have drawn on the various stories of Camelot the Mabinogeon (Lloyd Alexander, Guy Gavriel Kay, Mary Stewart and Marion Zimmer Bradley... the...more
It doesn't matter that this book was written 30 years ago, it easily withstands the test of time. It's actually superior to so much of the children's literature that's being put out these days.
The writing harkens back to a time when children were expected to have a much higher reading ability at a far younger age than they're allowed to get away with today. This book doesn't talk down to its audience whether it be child or adult, it doesn't dumb down the vocabulary or spend pages repetitively go...more
The writing harkens back to a time when children were expected to have a much higher reading ability at a far younger age than they're allowed to get away with today. This book doesn't talk down to its audience whether it be child or adult, it doesn't dumb down the vocabulary or spend pages repetitively go...more
I bought this for my son a couple of years ago, who read the first couple of pages and then didn't pick it up again. I picked it up recently because I had nothing else that was new to me in the house, and I have to have *something* to read at all times. So I read it. And I see why my son wasn't enthused, but I persisted.
Cooper's first book in this series seems to be written for smaller children (I would have torn this up in a day at about 6 or 7 years old, but maybe that's just me); it took me a...more
Cooper's first book in this series seems to be written for smaller children (I would have torn this up in a day at about 6 or 7 years old, but maybe that's just me); it took me a...more
I originally read this book when I was about 11, and at the time it was my least favourite in the series. I had read The Dark Is Rising first, and grown very attached to Will, and was horrified and offended that he wasn't even in the book. Who were these interloping Drew children? Of course I got used to them as I read the rest of the series, and now find them quite real and sympat. Only Barney's epiphany about Merry's name right at the end seemed contrived.
I imagine I was also offended by the l...more
I imagine I was also offended by the l...more
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Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London'...more
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“Once upon a time... a long time ago... things that happened once perhaps but have been talked about for so long that nobody really knows. And underneath all the bits that people have added the magic swords and lamps they're all about one thing - the good hero fighting the giant or the witch or the wicked uncle. Good against bad. Good against evil.”
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11 people liked it
“And at the last all shall be safe, and evil thrust out never to return. And so that the trust be kept, he said, I give it into your charge, and your sons', and your sons' sons, until the day come.”
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3 people liked it
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