The Dark is Rising (by Susan Cooper)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over twenty years since I first came across Susan Cooper. My sons had been given a copy of ‘Over Sea, Under Stone’ which they enjoyed - and which I re-read in December. Not long afterwards I spotted the sequel, ‘The Dark is Rising’, in a discount store. It was very good value and we were delighted to learn that there were others in the series.

‘The Dark is Rising’ does not, at first, seem to be a sequel. The children in the first book are not mentioned. Instead the book focuses on a boy called Will who, at the start of the book, is about to celebrate his 11th birthday. It’s right before Christmas, and the weather is cold and snowy, and odd things seem to be happening…

Will is the youngest of a large family; he has five older brothers and three sisters. They live on a farm in a small village. Since it’s a children’s book there’s not much scene-setting; we meet Will and one of his brothers as they go out to feed some of the animals, and spot a hunched old man, apparently a tramp, watching them.

It’s not long before Will discovers that he’s different from the rest of his family. His 11th birthday signals some astounding discoveries about who he really is, and the dangerous but vitally important role he has to play. It’s not immediately obvious who is to be trusted, and he has to make some difficult decisions. In this he is guided by an old man called Merriman Lyon - and he’s the link to the first book.

It’s a classic story of good versus evil, set firmly in the real world. Will’s 11th birthday is at the end of 1962, which was the era of the ‘big freeze’ in the UK, so it’s historically correct. The author attributes the terrible weather to the evil ‘dark’. There’s a time travel/fantasy element too - Will is part of a group who can appear in different time zones, and has other special abilities, although it takes him a while to understand and use them wisely.

The writing is excellent, the characters well-developed, the action fast and in places quite tense. I must have read this book twenty-odd years ago, but did not remember it at all. It is not necessary to have read ‘Over Sea, Under Stone’ first; this stands alone. But I find it more enjoyable to read a sequence like this in order, as the author intended.

I look forward to re-reading the others in the series in the next few months.

Definitely recommended, for fluent readers of around nine or ten and upwards, or as a read-aloud for slightly younger children who like exciting adventure stories.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews