The Dark Is Rising (The Dark is Rising, #2) in Into the Forest

Jan 09, 2017 mark monday rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: rain-man-reviews, alpha-team, legendarium, first-loves, inbetweenworld

The Dark Is Rising does no wrong
Each word in place so perfectly;
And I have loved you oh so long
Cherishing your company.

Young Will was my delight,
Merriman my heart of gold
Christmas cheer my heart of joy
All thanks, my lady Cooper.

You have been ready at my hand
To grant me what I often crave:
A wintry chill across the land
Villains dark and a child brave.

Black Rider was my delight,
Maggie Barnes my heart of gold
Christmas menace my heart of joy
And tragic Walker to sting the soul.

Thy battles betwixt D ...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Rebecca rated it really liked it

Fantasy which re-animates my local myths, such as Herne the Hunter, but loses a point for omitting Uffington... where St George slew the dragon and Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings and Kate Bush went Cloudbusting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRHA9W...

...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Sienna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I have this theory about winter, and Christmas (or your seasonal celebration of choice — Yule would be the most appropriate to mention here), of which probably everyone I know in New Zealand has had more than an earful: in the northern hemisphere, the holidays help us get through the long cold months, or at least the first of them. We step outside ourselves to think of loved ones, decorate trees, perform annual rituals rooted in our childhoods (or as an escape from them), and in doing so we make I have this theory about winter, and Christmas (or your seasonal celebration of choice — Yule would be the most appropriate to mention here), of which probably everyone I know in New Zealand has had more than an earful: in the northern hemisphere, the holidays help us get through the long cold months, or at least the first of them. We step outside ourselves to think of loved ones, decorate trees, perform annual rituals rooted in our childhoods (or as an escape from them), and in doing so we make those few daylight hours brighter, the waxing nights more bearable. I love that time of year. Our family traditions revolved around food, with a hearty brunch and Christmas crackers after morning presents (my grandparents always got each other so many shirts) and a Mexican feast in the evening: enchiladas, salads, Spanish rice, tamales, empanaditas, yum! Though I grew up in Southern California, where our roaring fires were ornamental at best, my last five years in the US were spent in chillier climes. I relished the snow.

The southern hemisphere, by contrast, offers no such respite from winter. There aren't even minor holidays to get us through in New Zealand, with a conspicuous gap between Queen's Birthday in early June and Labour Day in late October, nearly five months of damp, misty weather to endure without a break. Christmas represents the start of summer and the silly season, with lamb roasts and pavlovas and fresh fruit and, bizarrely, elaborate winter scenes at department storefronts like Smith & Caughey, even though everyone's just waiting to get out of town for their beach holiday up north. It's lovely wearing flip-flops and sundresses, but I find Christmas here so depressing in its unfamiliarity. It feels wrong.

That lengthy preamble is just to say that Will Stanton perfectly captures that enthusiasm for the holidays, for snow, for the magic we may never even have felt as children but are nonetheless convinced ought to be a part of our celebrations. The fact that this constitutes a major theme of The Dark is Rising endears it to me in ways that make an objective rating nearly impossible. The characterization is stronger in this one in spite of the large cast, and the writing is at times staggeringly beautiful (had to fan my writerly self after "I am fire-fretted and I flirt with wind"). I struggle with monochromatic good-versus-evil showdowns and didn't find the plot particularly compelling, but was so delighted with the Book of Gramarye and the pagan elements and the music that I made it through without much sighing or eye-rolling, except when Cooper used the word "sepulchrally" again. My only major complaint is to do with the incredibly unsatisfactory backstory of the Old Ones. We know next to nothing about their lineage and mythology, not to mention how or why Will is the last of these enigmatic immortals, but the remaining books will presumably rectify the problem. ...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Adriel rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, spooky-christmas-books, j-fiction, award-winner

I remember this book being epic. I got so excited while listening to the audio book that i borrowed the print version from my brother. Except, it's an exciting book when being performed by an older british man, less exciting when read in print. I also kept feeling like i was missing something, like, if i had majored in mythology i would understand why the Great Hunt had to save the day. I think the first half, focused as it is on Will's family was interesting, but when he just goes through the m ...more

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Nov 25, 2009 Angela Randall marked it as to-read

Shelves: we-own, essential-reading-for-teens, 20th-century, fiction, kids, young-adult, fantasy, essential-reading-for-kids, kids-1001, kids-1001-12plus

We own this as part of The Dark Is Rising Sequence. ...more

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