The Dark Is Rising
On the eve of his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that animals shy away from him, that snow is falling on his English village with unnatural weight, and that he is the last of the Old Ones, ancient servants of the Light locked in a long war with the forces of the Dark. Guided by the mysterious Merriman Lyon, Will must find and gather the six Signs of power scattered through time and landscape before Midwinter Day, or the Dark will rise for good. Susan Cooper's second and most beloved volume in The Dark Is Rising Sequence, first published in 1973, weaves Arthurian and Celtic legend through the snow-locked Thames Valley in a quiet, atmospheric middle-grade fantasy that has stayed on classroom shelves and family bookcases for half a century.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Dark Is Rising
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Second in the Dark Is Rising sequence. On the day before his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton learns from a stranger named Merriman Lyon that he is the last of the Old Ones, charged with finding six Signs to hold off the Dark.
The Dark Is Rising is the second book in Susan Cooper's series of the same name, after Over Sea, Under Stone. It is widely considered the strongest entry in the series and is sometimes recommended as a standalone read.
Yes. A 2007 film adaptation titled The Seeker was released. The film departs significantly from the novel, and Susan Cooper publicly disowned it. Most fans consider the book and film effectively unrelated.
The Dark Is Rising was written by Susan Cooper, published in 1972 by McElderry Books, Margaret K..
The Dark Is Rising is 256 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Dark Is Rising takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
The Dark Is Rising is a standalone novel by Susan Cooper, not part of a series.
The Dark Is Rising is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.