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daja57's review against another edition
3.0
In the final instalment of 'The Dark is Rising', all the characters from the previous books come together to defeat the powers of darkness. Will and Bran (whose true nature is divulged) have to travel through time to the Lost Land where they will undergo a series of tests in order to win a sword. Simon, Barnaby and Jane have rather more minor roles. Great Uncle Merriman acts as guide and controller. The most important scene is given to a bit player, the ordinary human sheep farmer John Rowlands.
The book is the opportunity for the author to display her descriptive powers. She also delightfully captures the rhythm and structure of spoken Welsh.
Many weird and wonderful things take place; it is clear that the author possesses .considerable powers of imagination. This, I suspect, is this book is loved by so many.
But the fact that Will is able to do magic, and immortal, and the promise repeatedly made by Merriman that there is no mortal peril, undermines the tension of the book. We know things are going to be all right so that the monsters and the horrors fail to terrify. And, as with the other books, no test is ever failed. Everything is too straightforward.
At the end there are two decisions made that could go either way and these stand out for me as the moments when the book escaped from being no more than a decorative fairy tale and nudged its way towards being a myth.
The initial relationship between Bran and a newly pubescent Jane also produced some moments of edginess, although the rift between Will and Simon which was a feature of book 3 had healed. The character of the King of the Lost Land was also one of the strengths of the book.
Of course, this is a children's book and I am judging it by adult standards. But for my money this book, though prettily written, was too tame.
The book is the opportunity for the author to display her descriptive powers. She also delightfully captures the rhythm and structure of spoken Welsh.
Many weird and wonderful things take place; it is clear that the author possesses .considerable powers of imagination. This, I suspect, is this book is loved by so many.
But the fact that Will is able to do magic, and immortal, and the promise repeatedly made by Merriman that there is no mortal peril, undermines the tension of the book. We know things are going to be all right so that the monsters and the horrors fail to terrify. And, as with the other books, no test is ever failed. Everything is too straightforward.
At the end there are two decisions made that could go either way and these stand out for me as the moments when the book escaped from being no more than a decorative fairy tale and nudged its way towards being a myth.
The initial relationship between Bran and a newly pubescent Jane also produced some moments of edginess, although the rift between Will and Simon which was a feature of book 3 had healed. The character of the King of the Lost Land was also one of the strengths of the book.
Of course, this is a children's book and I am judging it by adult standards. But for my money this book, though prettily written, was too tame.
rebecka2023's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
onewheeloneil's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This final entry in the Dark Is Rising Sequence felt like a bit of a letdown. The pacing felt off, and the tension was much weaker. It felt like every issue resolved itself without any action taken by the protagonists. Not my favorite.
protoman21's review against another edition
3.0
The big climax of the series and somehow it fell flat for me. Of course I lost interest seemingly with each successive book. I listened to the audio book and I found myself having a very hard time paying attention.
aroraback's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ratgirlreads's review against another edition
3.0
When I began reading this series, I found it hard going--everything moved slowly, and I found the absence of demands for logic from the characters to be frustrating. Will's total unquestioning acceptance of his identity as an Old One and the magical nature of the Light and Dark, for example, was hard to swallow. Characters' frequent knowledge that some special phrase must be said or certain item collected and protected seemingly came unexpectedly and from nowhere, which was frustrating--it seemed as though Cooper hinted at a vast world that she wasn't going to bother to build for her readers. Much as every fully human character winds up forgetting everything that happened in the battle between the Dark and Light, she seems quite happy to leave her readers in ignorance. If it weren't for the framework she incorporates of well-known myths (such as King Arthur), the reader might often be well and truly lost. However, as I went on in the series, I began to appreciate the lilting, unhurried, almost dream-like quality of the story, and by the time I read this book, I quite enjoyed it. Still, I would now like a sixth book, explaining how all the magical underpinnings of the world of the series came to be put in place, and how various characters acquired the knowledge that allowed them to go about their quests or even know there were quests to go about.
bickie's review against another edition
Discussion of Light v. Dark and how humans can be their own worst enemies. End reads like a call-to-arms for people to choose to be good.
I felt this book had a lot of plodding; the reason for the tests and fulfillments of prophecies were hard to understand. What would have happened if Will or Bran had NOT passed their tests or Jane had not gotten the message, etc? There was no real tension about whether they would be successful, and therefore, I kind of lost interest.
I did like John Rowlands' part in the proceedings and his philosophy.
Includes some racially-motivated, anti-immigrant bullying near the end that is not really explored in the rest of the novel; it seems to merely show that Will's family is pro-treating people as humans.
I felt this book had a lot of plodding; the reason for the tests and fulfillments of prophecies were hard to understand. What would have happened if Will or Bran had NOT passed their tests or Jane had not gotten the message, etc? There was no real tension about whether they would be successful, and therefore, I kind of lost interest.
I did like John Rowlands' part in the proceedings and his philosophy.
Includes some racially-motivated, anti-immigrant bullying near the end that is not really explored in the rest of the novel; it seems to merely show that Will's family is pro-treating people as humans.
redheadreading's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
There is a frustrating vagueness to this series as a whole but hot damn do I love Cooper's vivid imagery enough to still have a rollicking good time!