![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
The Dark is Rising
I've just got around to reading 'The Dark is Rising', a classic Young Adult fantasy series by Susan Cooper. I know a couple of my friends like it a lot, so I decided to give it a try.
My overall verdict is that the quality of the writing is excellent. Cooper has a way of writing magic so that it simply happens. There are some lovely descriptive sequences that really catch the imagination.
However, the series has one really big drawback: the plot is like a bad D+D scenario. All magic items were created in the ancient past, but there's no sense of how they were made or why, or why they can't be made again today. Each magic item or prophecy is basically a plot token. You have to collect plot token A, then you need token B to decipher it. Plot token C is required to enable you to get token D. Token D, when used in the correct time and place will allow you to collect prophecy E, etc.
The quality of the writing kept me going through all five volumes, but the lack of a cohesive sense of plot means that I won't read it again.
If anyone wants the five volume set, then it's yours for the cost of postage.
My overall verdict is that the quality of the writing is excellent. Cooper has a way of writing magic so that it simply happens. There are some lovely descriptive sequences that really catch the imagination.
However, the series has one really big drawback: the plot is like a bad D+D scenario. All magic items were created in the ancient past, but there's no sense of how they were made or why, or why they can't be made again today. Each magic item or prophecy is basically a plot token. You have to collect plot token A, then you need token B to decipher it. Plot token C is required to enable you to get token D. Token D, when used in the correct time and place will allow you to collect prophecy E, etc.
The quality of the writing kept me going through all five volumes, but the lack of a cohesive sense of plot means that I won't read it again.
If anyone wants the five volume set, then it's yours for the cost of postage.