![]() ![]() It is Will's task to seek six magical Signs, each in the form of a cross within a circle, which, when united, will provide the ultimate weapon against the Dark. Will Stanton is the youngest child (and, significantly, the seventh son of a seventh son, no less) of a large English farming family who, on the eve of his eleventh birthday, learns that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortal beings whose task it has been since the dawn of time to protect the world from the forces of the Dark. This novel revels in its archetypes, but where a lesser writer would turn a novel like this into an exercise in going through the motions, Cooper weaves a gripping and dreamlike story that reminds us exactly why archetypes have the power they do. Readers today will instantly recognize all of the mythic tropes Susan Cooper brings to bear in this tale. Seeped in mystery, magic, atmosphere and a very keen sense of the significance of mythology and history, there's more to inspire wonder in this small, haunting book than there is in most entire trilogies. The results are tangible: The Dark Is Rising is one of the best fantasies ever written, young-adult or otherwise. ![]() Clearly there wasn't as much pressure back then to crank books out like processed food. The Dark Is Rising continues Susan Cooper's famed young-adult fantasy saga, though its release eight years after Over Sea, Under Stone illustrates just how different today's publishing practices differ from those of thirty years ago. ![]()
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