The fourth installment in The Dark is Rising sequence, The Grey King, is my final completed read of 2022. It transports us to a brand new setting - Wales - as hinted at the end of Greenwitch. This book is not only rich in place, language, and legend, but also in Arthurian lore.

For me, it was the hardest book to read in the series so far due to a certain event that occurs (and which one anticipates, yet hopes won't happen).

In The Grey King, Will Stanton, the youngest of the Old Ones, must undertake his sole quest, which is no easy feat as he hasn't fully come into his power. Even before reaching Wales, Will faces difficulties as he falls seriously ill with hepatitis, forgetting not only his true identity but also the crucial verses revealed by the Greenwitch's secret. However, it is this illness that leads him to Wales as he is sent to stay with his relatives, David and Jen Evans, at their farm, Clwyd, to recover.

Upon his arrival, fetched by their son Rhys, the forces of Dark start to strike, but Will is blissfully unaware. At the farm, as he begins to regain his health (resembling a typical farm story where a convalescent child from the city experiences the magic of the countryside and enjoys delicious food), he meets a strange albino boy named Bran, who is shunned by others. Bran has a special dog, Cafall, and through them, Will is reawakened to the truth - the prophecy and his quest. But the Dark, in the form of the Grey King or Brenin Llwyd, is not just lurking; it is actively menacing, acting through willing minds and unleashing very real dangers.

The Grey King is firmly rooted in Welsh legends. Cooper weaves in elements such as the Brenin Llwyd, who haunts the mountains and acts through the ferocious Milgwn or grey foxes, and the magical golden harp, one of the Things of Power needed by the forces of Light to defeat the Dark. The setting and landscape are based on real-life places Cooper knew, and her descriptions give a vivid sense of the Welsh countryside.

One aspect that stands out throughout the sequence is how palpable Cooper makes the danger. In this installment, the danger escalates, translating into very real perils like the unrelenting fire on the farm. The Dark also acts through pliable humans, and along with the threat of the Dark, unsettling truths about Light are revealed.

Besides Will's quest and the battle between Light and Dark, this installment tells the tragic story of Bran and his complex relationship with his father, Owen Davies, as well as the seemingly crazed Caradog Pritchard. These characters' stories and relationships add depth to the book, and the fantasy element brings a surprise reveal.

Although this book had heart-breaking moments, I loved the sense of place, the secrets revealed, and Cooper's skillful weaving of legends with the quest story at the core. It left me excited to pick up the final installment and witness the ultimate confrontation between Light and Dark.

What on earth was thatttttt?

Content warning for animal endangerment and death.

I find myself in a rather strange state. On one hand, I'm eagerly anticipating the finale. I'm excited to see how everything wraps up. But on the other hand, I'm also not quite ready. There's a part of me that's reluctant to let go of this series. And yet, as always, I'm ready to binge-reread the entire thing. It's like a compulsion. Ha!

Also, I've been wondering about the audiobook. Was it handled by Richard Mitchley instead of Alex Jennings perhaps due to the large amount of Welsh in it? I'm not sure. But either way, I really liked it. The audiobook added a whole new dimension to the story for me. It made it even more immersive and engaging. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this series and for me as a reader.

I’ve been on a slow journey through Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising sequence for several months now.

Undoubtedly, it’s a significant series in the fantasy canon. However, my personal response has been rather mixed.

I’ve been quite disappointed with the novels as stories. They are excellent examples of methodical mythological remixing.

Yet, in adjusting the tone for a younger audience, Cooper seems to have removed much of the complexity and subtlety that makes novels such an interesting literary form.

Novels, to me, are fascinating. Their ability to engage and divert readers through intricate passages of description and narration makes them more crafty and less reliable than their dramatic and poetic counterparts.

The best writers can utilize this predatory nature to create stories that absorb the reader by teasing us with the hints and sharp edges of the darkness at the periphery of the light.

The previous volumes of this series lack the complexity and depth of conflict needed to maintain that interest.

I didn’t read these as a child, so I can’t say how I might have liked or disliked them.

But children understand darkness more than many people assume. Their lives aren’t the perfect, innocent world we often want them to be.

So, I think we do them a disservice when we insist that the fiction we give them ignores real and present darkness in favor of more abstract, “kid-safe” versions.

Ironically, given that most of its conflict concerns the battle between the Light and the Dark, The Dark is Rising sequence is mostly the latter.

With few exceptions, these are books where the main characters fight the powers of darkness on their holidays, on the side, and danger never seems more serious than having to flee from a bad man.

Prior to reading it, I admit to being rather confused by the fact that The Grey King won the Newberry.

This just shows that past performance doesn’t always predict future success: this book is far better than the previous ones in the series.

For Cooper dares to put Will and his sidekick in much deeper waters than she has ever dared before, and the payoff is immediate and satisfying.

The Grey King comes closer to being the kind of tricky creature a novel should be.

Will visits some relatives in Wales as he recovers from an illness. (I don’t think this kid ever actually goes to school.)

It’s implied that the illness might be an attempt by the Dark to derail him, since for a while he seems to have forgotten the rhyme he learned at the end of Greenwitch.

If so, the attempt backfired spectacularly, since Will ends up visiting the exact place he needs to be to find the Golden Harp and wake the Sleepers. Destiny wins!

Cooper also experiments with structure, dividing the book into two parts concerning the two quests Will undertakes in Wales.

The previous stories were all quests of some sort, but this one has much more focus.

Merriman continues to make appearances in that annoying Gandalfian way of his, but it’s much less frequent and intrusive than before.

The Grey King feels like Will’s story, even more so than The Dark is Rising.

Except it’s also kind of Bran’s story.

A new character, Bran is special in terms of his heritage.

However, Cooper manages to strike a balance between building Bran up and giving Will enough to do to justify his presence as an Old One.

The two work as a complementary duo: Bran has a certain amount of fortitude and, of course, local knowledge, while Will has his own specialized knowledge as an Old One and the indomitable spirit that has allowed him to succeed in the past.

Neither could stand against the Grey King alone; together, they make a compelling team.

This is the first of the Dark is Rising books that feels like it gives the protagonists enough to do and provides a meaningful threat.

The previous books had intriguing puzzles and interesting main characters.

But the stakes, despite ostensibly involving the fate of the world, never seemed quite high enough.

In contrast, Cooper puts her protagonists in more danger here, with stakes that include their own lives and the lives of trusted companions.

Never has the Dark seemed like a more dangerous enemy than in this book.

One more to go. Silver on the Tree has a lot to deliver, as the last novel in this sequence, and the surprising quality of The Grey King compared to its predecessors only heightens my expectations for the last book.

Though I continue to enjoy Cooper’s writing and her use of British mythology in her stories, I hope the trend towards complexity seen here continues.

My reviews of the Dark is Rising sequence:
←Greenwitch | Silver on the Tree →

\\n  \\n

I somewhat put off reviewing The Grey King after finishing reading it, because I’m not entirely certain what there is left to say about it. I’ve already rhapsodised about it at great length. The use of mythology is truly captivating, as is the casual incorporation of the Welsh language. The home-ness of the landscape and the people add a unique charm.

The shades of grey and the adult touches when it comes to Owen Davies and John Rowlands, and Will Stanton’s interactions with them, make the story all the more complex and engaging. There are some truly beautiful passages, especially the section spent in Craig yr Aderyn. And there are genuine moments of horror, loss, anger, and fear that keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

Then there’s Bran Davies. He is one of the first Welsh heroes I encountered in fiction, and at the age of sixteen or so, he really made an impact on me. He is truly Welsh, speaking the language and thinking in a Welsh way, a part of the Welsh landscape and mythology. But he is also very human, with his vulnerabilities, anger, resentment, and a sense of strangeness, unhappiness, and aloneness. And his friendship with Will is just lovely, with the immediate rapport between them, and the ways in which Will being an Old One both damages and enriches it, as Bran adapts.

And let’s not forget Cafall. Although his presence is all too brief, he is so key to the plot and to Bran.

There are quite a number of more adult themes here, which take the story quite far from the world of Over Sea, Under Stone, which was almost entirely focused on Barney, Jane, and Simon. There’s Owen’s grief for Gwen, Gwen’s grief at betraying her husband, the jealousy and rivalry between Owen Davies and Caradog Prichard, and Arthur’s yearning for connection with his son. And of course, those shades of grey that I mentioned earlier. The conversation between John and Will about how the Light will ignore the good of a single person to pursue the greater good, and John’s reaction, really highlight to me that the humans are the real heroes of this series. And the villains too, because the Lords of the Dark choose to become what they are – they aren’t born that way, like the Old Ones.

Originally posted here.

Book #4 of The Dark is Rising young adult series is, without a doubt, my favorite thus far.

This particular installment of the saga takes us on a journey out of England and into the beautiful and mysterious land of Wales.

Here, Will Stanton makes an unexpected friend in an albino boy. However, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this boy is not what he initially appears to be.

The tale takes a darker and more sinister turn, leaving me on the edge of my seat and eagerly anticipating the next (and final) book of the series.

I can't wait to see how Will will face the challenges that lie ahead and how the story will ultimately conclude.

The Dark is Rising series has been a thrilling and engaging read, and I'm excited to see how it all ends.

It is truly an enjoyable experience to come back to this series with a different degree of accumulated age and wisdom, as well as a more profound understanding of the Arthurian tales that flow beneath the surface of each book. Although Dark is Rising holds a special place as my favorite, this one is a very close second. After delving into other series that have explored similar themes (such as The Raven Cycle and The Sarantine Mosaic in particular), these adventures now seem like familiar ground.

During this reading, I couldn't help but feel that the first half of the book was a bit rushed. This is understandable considering it is a middle grade novel. However, the imagery, emotion, and description utilized in the second half are of such a high caliber that they would fit perfectly in a 600-page novel. I will be wrapping up my reading with Silver on the Tree very shortly.

I remember having a profound love for Over Sea, Under Stone during my childhood, likely due to the Drew children. There is indeed a great deal to cherish about The Dark Is Rising and Greenwitch as well.

However, upon rereading and listening to this series as an adult, this particular installment has become my favorite, and it's evident why Susan Cooper was awarded the Newbery for it. The conflict escalates, the true natures of key players are unveiled, and the relationship between Bran and Owen Davies is堪称 one of the finest father-son reconciliations in children's fiction, if not in all of literature. I adore how the reader witnesses their growing understanding of each other as Bran matures and fulfills his destiny. I also have a great affection for the relationship between Bran and Will.

The descriptions of the Welsh hills, lakes, mists, and moors are, in my opinion, more vividly depicted and memorable than the landscapes in the other books of the series. This book strikes all the right chords, drawing on legend and myth to develop Cooper's themes. I'll be sorry to conclude my reread, but I'm eagerly anticipating Silver on the Tree.

As an aside, the narration is truly outstanding. Alex Jennings read the first three books and was also excellent. But from what I gathered elsewhere, Richard Mitchley had a greater proficiency with the Welsh language, which is present in this book in snippets, and Alex Jennings will resume with the final book. Both narrators come highly recommended.

This book presents a wealth of Welsh folklore.

It also delves into the story of the son of Arthur Pendragon and Guinevere, a boy named Branwen (Bran).

Interestingly, in the original Arthurian legends, there were no children (at least not from Guinevere). So, this book offers a truly fascinating and unique reinterpretation of these age-old legends.

Overall, the series provides a refreshing perspective on British and Welsh folklore. It was ahead of its time in many ways, bringing new life and depth to these well-known tales.

Kudos to Ms. Cooper for her remarkable work in creating this engaging and innovative series that has captured the imaginations of readers everywhere.

You know you have an intense love for a book from your childhood when you make a special effort during trips abroad to visit the places where the story takes place. Cooper's fourth novel in the DiR series is so deeply immersed, no, completely drowned! in all things Welsh that you can't resist the urge to go there and explore. Which I did many years ago. Her works in this series, especially, are resplendent and filled with all kinds of British lore, especially Arthurian, and more. But in this penultimate volume, she reaches new heights in weaving them together. Plus, we even get to learn some Welsh along the way.
Will Stanton, the kid/Old One, travels to Wales to recover. There, he meets a strange albino kid and his dog and engages in a battle against the dark forces of the Brenin Llywd, the Grey King. Now, if you're not familiar with these and were born within the last, say, 20 years, the phrase "fights the dark forces" might have a different meaning for you, something loud, blaring, and colorful. Here, it refers to more subtle things, like changes in the weather and shadow, strange stones of unbearable, crushing weight, local farmers driven insane by the Grey King, and ghostly fox/wolves.

It's a captivating and mysterious tale that takes readers on a journey through a world filled with magic and danger.

Update, 8/8/18:
I'm upgrading this from four stars to five without hesitation. 39-year-old Pierce now realizes how much he enjoys this book more than he remembered. Maybe it's because he can now appreciate aspects that were beyond his understanding 25+ years ago. He's even referring to himself in the third person, which is a bit odd, and threatening to continue this way throughout the review. Please, stop that!

Greenwitch might have lacked a strong villain, but The Grey King makes up for it. First, there's the Grey King, who is more powerful than Will in terms of raw strength. Then there's Caradog Prichard, the most annoying character in the series so far. He's a normal man, not allied with the dark, but his spitefulness towards others makes him unwittingly do the dark's bidding. Will even remarks that he's being thwarted not by the Grey King but by this "mouse" constantly getting in the way. I truly despised Prichard more than the actual villain. The Grey King knew what he wanted and went after it, while Prichard was just an ignorant jerk who thought he was always right.

In this installment, we're introduced to Bran. A friend and I used to argue about who was better, Will or Bran. I was firmly on Team Will. Bran is cool, but he's also moody and arrogant, which made it hard for me to like him. Granted, he's an albino who gets teased at school and has an overbearing, pious father, so maybe I should cut him some slack. Still, Will is cooler, even if he might not be as important as Bran in the grand scheme of things. I can't remember much about the last book, so I'll soon find out if that statement is accurate.

I still really like The Dark Is Rising, but I admit that The Grey King is the superior book. It has a lot going for it on multiple levels. It won the Newbery Medal in 1976, and I think it's well-deserved. Besides the great story, there's deeper character development, a richer world based on Welsh language and geography, more tension, and some darker themes. There was even one sentence that made me think attempted rape was implied, although kids might have thought it was just kidnapping. The book also makes heavy use of Arthurian legend, and it's very well researched. For example, Cafall is the name of Bran's dog, which is also the name of King Arthur's dog. We also learn how to pronounce Welsh, and it's not easy!

The audiobook narration by Richard Mitchley was great, except for a couple of times when he forgot to use British English for Will, so he and Bran sounded the same. I'm pretty sure this is the best book in the series, but I'm not sure if it's my favorite. It's a tough call because the story in The Dark Is Rising is more to my liking, but The Grey King wins in all other categories.

Original Review, 8/16/10:
This book made me want to learn Welsh, but, of course, I never did. It takes place in Wales, and the character named Will (I think) gets very ill and forgets his special task due to a fever. He's sent to a relative in Wales to recover, but the forces of darkness are still after him. Stuff happens, and he meets an albino boy (or maybe he was just really blond). The blond boy turns out to be very special too, but different from Will and his other friends. I think he's King Arthur's son, and I'm pretty sure he's a bastard (in the sense of being illegitimate). Will eventually remembers his task and does stuff, but I'm writing this review 19 years after reading the book, so my memory is a bit hazy. These are the worst reviews ever! Lesson learned: write reviews while the book is still fresh in your mind.

It has become almost a tradition for me to reread this series annually at this particular time of the year. This year, I was determined to finish it before we stepped into 2013. The 2012 reread of The Dark is Rising was a bit of a struggle for me as I was dealing with anxiety and depression issues. In fact, I very nearly didn't manage to get around to reading it this year. However, since it is my go-to comfort reading, I decided to firmly plant myself down today with the book in hand. Of course, it was the same old, battered copy that I've had for ages.

In my opinion, this is the point in the sequence where the story starts to introduce more subtlety. There are so many aspects that I notice each time I read it. For example, Owen Davies' shame, Guinevere's betrayal, and John Rowlands' speech about how the Light can be just as cruel in its absolute cold justice as the Dark in its horrors, from a human perspective. I still feel like I'm uncovering new layers of this world with each reread, noticing the tiniest details. Like in Silver on the Tree, Will still doesn't fully understand how the Old Ones do what they do, and Merriman says he's still too close to being human.

Obviously, I believe that these books are well worth rereading, otherwise I wouldn't keep doing it. I guess I'm preaching to those who already understand where I'm coming from, if not quite to the converted. I truly think these books are beautiful and worthy of our attention. Sometimes, I wonder what the story would be like if it was told from a different perspective, like Jacqueline Carey did with Lord of the Rings in Banewreaker/Godslayer.

Thinking about this right now reminds me of Assassin's Creed 3. Here come the spoilers: You begin playing as a man named Haytham. He has Assassin skills and methods, so you assume he's an Assassin. At least, that's what I thought, and most people I know thought the same. You assume that the enemy you're fighting is the same as in the previous games, because the differences are only hinted at through subtle cues. And then one of the men is initiated into the Order... as a Templar. Imagine The Dark is Rising from that perspective - a young man, let's say, struggling to complete the quests set for him, fighting against a force that wants to unbalance the world and remove the necessary check that his side provides. The other side breaks the mind of a human who opposes them and punishes people severely for even thinking about betraying them. Now that could be really interesting.

So, I've been delving into Cooper's Dark is Rising series. Strangely, as a kid, despite hearing numerous accolades and knowing it had won a plethora of awards, I never got around to reading it. This particular installment, for example, won the Newbery, one of the most prestigious American awards for young adult fiction. However, the predominant feeling I've had so far is: why?

Don't misunderstand me. There are indeed moments of excellent description and engaging story-telling. But it's built upon a framework that simply doesn't hold up. In theory, we have an epic struggle between Light and Dark (oh, where do I even begin), yet despite the narrator's frequent reminders, we never truly grasp the stakes or have any tangible reasons to care. In this book, the only thing that piques our interest is the crazy guy on a sheepdog-shooting spree, but that's not even regarded as a proxy for the larger, magical conflict – it's just a rather inconsequential offshoot.

Look, if you're like me, you're far more concerned about an innocent non-magical dog being safeguarded from the lunatic neighbor with a shotgun than about a magical harp being retrieved via a riddle game from a cave so it can be played by a lake to awaken six ghostly Arthurian knights who show up, do nothing but nod at the protagonist, and then disappear.

Aside from the incoherence of the narrative structure, we also need to discuss Will Stanton. The supposed protagonist of the series, Will is an 11-year-old with the powers of a mighty wizard that he "inherited" (I'm not a fan of the hero-by-blood trope), which were unearned (injected into him Matrix-style with a book), and, perhaps worst of all, cost him nothing to use. You know what this amounts to? The central character is nothing more than a mobile plot advancement device. Four books in, and I couldn't tell you a single thing about Will as a person – is he curious? Generous? Bold? Shy? No clue. But he'll suddenly know how to magically solve whatever problem arises, just because.

Except, of course, when he doesn't, because he needs not to solve it yet. For instance, in the second book (The Dark is Rising), when Will is introduced and shown how powerful he is, the first thing he can do is start and extinguish fires at will. He does it several times in that book; it's a fairly well-developed plot point. So imagine my astonishment when a major event early in this book is a wildfire that it never occurs to Will to even attempt to put out: "But Will, beating hopelessly with his long flat-tipped broom, felt that nothing could halt or check the inferno before them." Boy, it sure would be a great time for someone with supernatural powers to, say, extinguish a fire. Yep, we could really use someone like that right about now. Look, maybe you're thinking, the whole mountainside is on fire, that's a bit much to ask of even an immortal wizard whose entire personality has been replaced with pure power! Yet even when it's just a single burning branch tumbling over a ledge toward a dry and unburnt area, there's no mention of Will trying to put it out; they just watch it go, helpless to stop it... because they need to flee the fire to a specific location, you see (that magic cave where the harp is).

I don't place all the blame on Cooper; clearly, a competent editor should have called her out on this massive inconsistency. Heck, later in the book, Will's powers are constantly being nullified by the Grey King (the regional Lord of the Dark, Local 211) when they would too easily defuse the dramatic climax; why not just start that earlier and have the Grey King make Will's level 1 Fire Extinguisher spell fail? Or why not at least have the amnesia (specific to his powers, of course) that Will inexplicably starts this book with persist a little longer as a lazy excuse for his not remembering what he did two books ago, instead of just as inexplicably removing the amnesia and stating specifically that everything had come back to him?

Okay, I'm just beating a dead horse at this point. Look, I'll say it again, certain storytelling passages were effective; I liked the boy Bran's origin story (mainly the non-magical parts, but even the magical part too). I adored the Welsh setting and wasn't even deterred by Cooper's extended lessons on Welsh pronunciation embedded in the dialogue – I liked it as a reader, and it wasn't implausible for a Welsh boy teaching his new English friend the ropes.

But seriously, people, a Newbery? Were we really that desperate for kids' books in 1975? At this stage, I'd say the only book in the series truly worth reading is the first one (Over Sea, Under Stone), which is a great puzzle-solving treasure hunt starring three completely ordinary kids (before Will showed up!) set in Cornwall. (Greenwitch is okay, mainly because those kids return; but the magic is also a bit more intriguingly original, and human emotions are actually central to the magical outcomes.)

I'm going to continue and read the last one – not because I care whether the Dark that has supposedly been Rising all this time will finally stop hitting the snooze button, but because the ordinary kids will be back, it's also set in Wales, and if Cooper can return to the trippier magic of Greenwitch, it won't be a total waste of time. And at least then I can say I gave the series a fair chance.

As for this book, if you're still undecided... I do not recommend it.