 | |
| Author | Susan Cooper |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Alan E. Cober |
| Series | The Dark Is Rising Sequence |
| Publisher | Atheneum Press |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Pages | 216 |
| Awards | Newbery Honor |
| LC Class | PZ7.C7878 Dar3 |
| Preceded by | Over Sea, Under Stone |
| Followed by | Greenwitch |
The Dark Is Rising is a 1973 children's fantasy novel by Susan Cooper. The second in The Dark Is Rising Sequence , the book won a Newbery Honor. It has been described as a "folkloric tale of an English boy caught in a battle between light and dark". [1]
Will Stanton begins to have strange and magical experiences on his 11th birthday, which is at the winter solstice – a few days before Christmas. He discovers he is one of a group of an ancient magical people called the Old Ones, who are guardians and warriors for "the Light" (i.e. good), who are waging a centuries-long battle against the forces of "the Dark" (i.e. evil), whose evil power is rising. To fight back the Dark, the Old Ones need to find and reclaim four magical talismans (called "Things of Power") for the Light. The first of these is the "Circle of Signs" (a set of magical objects in the form of circles divided into four sections by a cross). Will is quested to collect all the Signs, so that the completed Circle can be used to ward off the forces of the Dark.
This book introduces Will Stanton, a protagonist in The Dark Is Rising Sequence, and features elements of British folklore that are especially associated with the Thames Valley, with Herne the Hunter making an appearance.
The Dark Is Rising was an American Library Association Newbery Honor Book in 1974. [2] Based on a 2007 online poll, the U.S. National Education Association named it one of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". [3] In 2012 it was ranked number 22 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal , a monthly with primarily U.S. audience. [4]
A film version, The Seeker , was released in 2007. Critical reception to the film was very poor. [5]
The BBC ran a radio adaptation commencing in 2022, an adaptation with some use of more modern idiom. [6]
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author of children's books. She is best known for The Dark Is Rising, a contemporary fantasy series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the Arthurian legends and Welsh folk heroes. For that work, in 2012 she won the lifetime Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association, recognizing her contribution to writing for teens. In the 1970s two of the five novels were named the year's best English-language book with an "authentic Welsh background" by the Welsh Books Council. In 2024, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named her the 40th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.
Children's fantasy is children's literature with fantasy elements: fantasy intended for young readers. It may also mean fantasy read by children, regardless of the intended audience.
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The Dark Is Rising Sequence is a series of five contemporary fantasy novels for older children and young adults that were written by the British author Susan Cooper and published from 1965 to 1977. The first book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone, was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel, and the sequence gets its name from the second novel in the series, The Dark Is Rising. The Dark Is Rising Sequence is used as an overarching title in several omnibus, boxed-set, and coordinated editions; but the title of The Dark Is Rising is also used for the whole series.
Silver on the Tree is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published by Chatto & Windus in 1977. It is the final entry in the five book Dark Is Rising Sequence.
Greenwitch is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published by Atheneum Press in 1974. It is the third entry in the five book Dark Is Rising Sequence.
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