Review: #352
Title: The Dark Is Rising Sequence
Series: The Dark Is Rising Sequence - all five books
Author: Susan Cooper
Read Before: no
My Comments:
Over Sea, Under Stone – A story that starts off too slow, and never gains enough momentum to make it a must-read. I found the first hundred pages or so to be bland and not enough things happening. While the general concept is pretty cool, being three kids finding a map that leads them to a quest for a grail of King Arthur’s origin. The author didn’t provide enough lore to let the reader invest into, so it seemed that the reason to retrieve the grail wasn’t compelling enough. The villains could do with some work too, as they felt lacking. A few things earlier on in the book were suspicious and you could guess what was going to happen. I felt that there were a lot of unnecessary moments that the author could have cut out, 5/10.
The Dark Is Rising – If it wasn’t explicitly in this collection, I would have never guessed that it was a sequel to Over Sea, Under Stone. Right from the beginning, the tone was different, and you can’t tell how it linked to the previous book. Even by the end of it, the link isn’t too obvious (the grail found in the first book is only mentioned briefly). The story is much darker and incorporates more fantasy elements. There were events that left you wondering what their significant was, there were also the occasional bouts of interests and excitement as things were explained (these sections were enjoyable). This book focuses on a new character. It’s better than the first book but the strange and confusing events that happen coupled with the lack of continuity holds it back, 5.5/10.
Greenwitch – The three kids from the first book make their appearance again in this book, however, the overall tone is in keeping with The Dark Is Rising and that is, fairly dark. Tim from the last book comes as well, and overall, the plot doesn’t keep you attached for long. By the end of the book, it feels as if nothing much has happened at all (the events aren’t that significant), and unlike the previous book, there doesn’t seem to be any urgency. What was good was that the author tied up the loose end that was in the first book, 5/10.
The Grey King – The story focuses upon Will again, and while the book isn’t as wild and straying far away as The Dark Is Rising, it’s still fairly hard to get into. You’d be surprised at some of the things that happen and there are a few events that you don’t understand the meaning of. It would be nice if the author explained the powers and purpose of the Old Ones more. Instead, we’re introduced to even more classes of beings, and at first, I didn’t realize that the titular Grey King was part of the Dark. The revelation about Bran at the end of the book was solid (although nothing spectacular or surprising), 5/10.
Silver on the Tree – The final part in this sequence, and does it deliver? Not really. The ending failed to awe, and there were no surprises here. The actual way in how the Dark were banished wasn’t that satisfying and didn’t feel like it fitted quite well. Like the previous books, the plot felt convoluted and didn’t make too much sense at times, it seemed to go everywhere. There were an overuse of the “Dark” and the “Light”. Every few sentences and they would be mentioned, it was tiring. There were some boring events and way too much talking. The Dark felt all talk and didn’t show much of their power (if they even have any), 5/10.
Overall – The biggest letdown is that even going through all five books, the author has failed to make you care about the characters. It’s not that they didn’t have enough character development, just that it failed to let the reader invest into it. The story isn’t spectacular, nor is the concept.
Rating: 5/10