THE DARK IS RISING sequence, by Susan Cooper

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...

I just finished listening to one of my favorite stories: The Dark is Rising series, by Susan Cooper. Although I think the audio would have read better by someone with a higher voice (most of the protagonists haven't hit puberty yet), the readers (Alex Jennings, Richard Mitchley) capture the ominous, atmospheric tone perfectly and do homage to the lilting, musical Welsh.  This story features five children in a retelling of the Arthurian legend, and the battle between good and evil, in the latest century.


It's one of my favorite stories, especially of the fantasy incorporating the Arthurian mythology. Even now, almost sixteen years after first reading The Dark is Rising, the writing captivates me. I know exactly what happens next, and yet, I feel the same sense of urgency Jane, Simon, Barney, Will, and Bran feel as they fight the battle of an era, facing an ancient world of great power and magic with sometimes only faith and imagination as a shield. I love the characters and the way the old magic interacts with each of them.

A word cloud incorporating reviews from Amazon and Goodreads

Critique

It's true that there isn't a whole lot of actual action. The Dark presents a subtle danger; it works through persuasion more than violence. This criticism apparently led screenwriter John Hodge to reinterpret The Dark is Rising novel by changing Will from 11 to 13 and from English to American;  eradicating the "lyrical" tone of the books; and creating action where Will "doesn't really do very much." (Read the 2007 NPR story, All Things Considered)

I wondered if people still enjoyed these books, between the dated language and epic scale, so I scanned reviews from Amazon and Goodreads to get a feel for popular impressions. Positive Amazon reviews come from people who fondly remember reading the books as children and purchase them to share with the next generation.

More negative reviews come from folks who are expecting a comparison to Harry Potter. I see reviews that recommend The Dark is Rising series to Harry Potter fans, comparing 11-yr-old magical Harry to 11-yr-old magical Will, ignoring critical differences in writing style and tone. Destiny plays a large role in the books, and destiny isn't as popular now as it was with Middle-Ages romances. One valid critique from a 17-year-old states, "The entire story just seemed too easy. Everything worked out according to prophesy, no interesting twists or such."

Following the Old Ones through time and space can also be a bit much for us mere mortals, and I'll admit, sometimes I come back to the narrative wondering what just happened. It's intentional on the author's part. This is the 20th century Arthurian legend, complete with quests, magics, and all the destiny one can pack into it.

Notably, people who prefer the Drews and the tone of Over Sea, Under Stone tend to dislike the rest of the series, while fans of the more otherworldly Will Stanton and his novel, The Dark is Rising, are more likely to approve the whole sequence. The former is more of a simple children's quest, and has a drastically different read (perhaps because it is written long before the others).

Even with the criticisms, those who stick with the books are impressed by Susan Cooper's love for her native England and Wales, a professed homesickness that creates a rich, unique tone for the books. Story and setting are linked by the history of Arthur, and Cooper thrives on this. The "lyrical" quality Hodge deemed impossible to convey in film is the quality fans follow with devotion. I know my friends and I memorized the poems in the books!

Did you know?

A cool fact about Cooper, from an interview:

"J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were both teaching when I was at Oxford and without a doubt influenced the lives of all of their students. As dons, they had set the rule that the Oxford English syllabus stop at 1832 and that it be heavy on Middle English and writers like Malory and Spenser, so, as a friend of mine says, they taught us to believe in dragons." 

Recommendations

I would pair the books of Susan Cooper with C.S. Lewis, Brian Jacques, T.A. Barron, T.H. White, Edward Eager, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the wonderful Diana Wynne Jones.

Awards and Author

For those interested, the Dark is Rising books are published between 1965 and 1977, and won numerous awards, including:

The Newbery Honor for The Dark is Rising (1974)
The Newbery Medal for The Grey King (1976)
The Welsh Tir na n-Og Award for The Grey King (1975)
The Welsh Tir na n-Og Award for Silver on the Tree (1977)
National Education Association Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children for The Dark is Rising (2007)
School Library Journal Top 100 Children's Chapter Books for The Dark is Rising (2012)

Susan Cooper won the Margaret A. Edwards award in 2012, conferred by the Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association. Cooper is a board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and contributed to "The Exquisite Corpse," an exercise she recommends to young writers. Definitely go to her site, The Lost Land of Susan Cooper, and read her interviews, comments, essays, and books. I've only read one of her novels other than the sequence, The Boggart, which I remember thoroughly enjoying. I hope you fall in love with her and her writing, as I have!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, a series by Cressida Cowell

The How To Train Your Dragon series, written by Cressida Cowell, is a fantastic epic-style story for third- or fourth- graders. So, as a 26-year-old, what do I feel these books uniquely contribute to the field of children's literature?

I'll admit that I saw the movie first and loved it, and still love it after reading the books. That being said, the books hold their own; each one is a fantastic story with potent moments that catch you by surprise. Cowell's intelligent choice to open and close the books with Hiccup the elder provides thought-provoking perspective of the adventures in contrast to the two-dimensional characters. Her inclusion of hilarious dragonese, sketchy illustrations, and copious references to body fluids and anatomy make the books funny while maintaining the setting and tone of the Isle of Berk's Vikings, all larger-than-life characters.

The dragon classifications truly place the tale in a universe of its own. There is huge potential for interactivity and creative energy these books could inspire in children, and at the least, I'm willing to bet every kid who enjoys these books has a favorite species of dragon.

While these books are likely written for an audience of young boys (frequent farting, belching, snot, and poo are hints), I imagine that young girls who enjoy a good swashbuckling tale and aren't afraid of less-than-dashing characters will also enjoy these books. Lovers of the movie may be surprised to find that the first two books are populated entirely by boys, with brief references to Hiccup's mother. This takes a turn in the third book with the introduction of Camicazi--the sword fighting, pick-pocketing,  tangle-haired daughter of Bog-Burglar chief Big-Boobied Bertha, whose "bosoms have killed before and they will kill again"(208, Book 3). So, pretty much as soon as they are introduced, the women in this series are not your standard sheroes.

The series delves deeper into the women of Berk with Hiccup's mother, Valhallarama. In the closing of Book 5, Hiccup (the elder) remembers his mother as a Great Hero, a warrior, a Quester, who guarded her emotions as carefully as she hid the broken ruby she carried. Moreover, Valhallarama's description in the book pretty much defies all our current standards of beauty: "Her lovely fat, white, muscly legs! Her thunderous thighs! Her soft little beard! Her excellent sword-arm! My little double-chinned Sweetheart..."(105-106, Book 5). Like most of the men in these books, the women are larger-than-life and provide a significantly different perspective of womanhood for young girls than most females they will run across in a typical epic.

As far as their place in children's literature, these are the books that I imagine a parent giving to a child before handing them Redwall by Brian Jacques, which is what I imagine comes before/in tandem with Tolkien's The Hobbit. Cowell's style provides the perfect launching-pad: there are songs, unlikely heroes, languages, creatures and humans who are neither good nor evil, and all of whom are fallible in some way. I'm a total fan of these books, and Hiccup and his fellow characters have completely charmed me, but of course, I am not eight or ten years old, so I am not the authority on these things.

If you liked these books, I recommend:

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
Voyage of the Basset, by James C. Christensen
The Sisters Grimm, by Michael Buckley

... and of course, the Redwall series and The Hobbit.