The Dark Is Rising

Author: Cooper, Susan

A higher-level, more advanced reading than Harry Potter. There was a movie made from the book, but the books are so much better you can just forget the movie ever existed. This one has been around for several decades, but never garnered the critical mass-market attention that some other fantasy works have, which is a shame since this is certainly one of the best young adult epic fantasies ever written. These are loosely based on Celtic and English legends and stories. Downsides: lengthy descriptions that would bore some younger readers, and the characters and plot are complex; this is not a simple Harry Potter tale. This is the story of Will Stanton, the last of the Old Ones - immortals who protect the world from evil. Will comes to this knowledge of his fate on his 11th birthday. To prevent the Dark from conquering the world, Will must collect 6 signs. It’s a gripping story with fast-paced action, an interesting quest, and a smart and surprisingly complex protagonist.

Booklists having this book

Best Fantasy Books You've Never Read

Most astute fantasy readers have heard about the hyped-up authors – those authors who are often touted as the “best” in a genre; they are quite often the first fantasy... Read more

Other books by Cooper, Susan

The Dark Is Rising

Harry Potter did the English magician story very well, but it also overshadowed some incredible books with similar settings. Will is a chosen one of sorts, one of the few... Read more

Over Sea

Three children on a holiday in Cornwall find an ancient manuscript which sends them on a dangerous quest for a grail that would reveal the true story of King Arthur. Read more

The Dark Is Rising Sequence

One of the best YA epic fantasy series. Well-developed characters that are stereotypical but still exhibit a surprising amount of depth. A standard save-the-world plot, but one that still evokes... Read more

Greenwitch

Includes an excerpt from the next story in the Dark Rising Sequence, 'The grey king.' Read more

The Grey King

Includes an excerpt from Silver on the tree. Read more

Silver On The Tree

"And Where the Midsummer Tree Grows Tall by Pendragon's Sword the Dark Shall Fall." The Dark is rising in its last and greatest bid to control the world. Six individuals... Read more

The Dark Is Rising

A higher-level, more advanced reading than Harry Potter. There was a movie made from the book, but the books are so much better you can just forget the movie ever... Read more

Over Sea

Part of Cooper's Dark Is Rising fantasy, "Over Sea, Under Stone" is now available in this digest edition. Read more

Greenwitch

Simon, Jane, and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great-uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil -- Dark. They... Read more

The Grey King

In this volume of The Dark Is Rising sequence, Will Stanton, visiting in Wales, is swept into a desperate quest to find the golden harp and to awaken the ancient... Read more