I finally finished Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. I started it a few years ago and just got around to reading the last two books, The Grey King and Silver on the Tree. It's a strange series; I'm not quite sure of my motives for finishing it. Stubbornness, maybe, or an somewhat idle curiosity. It's interesting, but dry. You feel that the author deliberately set out to create a Middle-Earth or Narnia that knocks the reader upside the head with its explicit non-Christianity. Not that I mind at all if a work of literature is not Christian, but going out of your way to make a work non-Christian seems as contrived as dragging in unnecessary and awkward Christian elements when they have nothing to do with the story. The same is true of any religious or philosophical system. Whatever the story is, let it be that and just tell the story. Let the reader draw his own conclusions.

Aside from that, the world-system present in the books is downright gloomy and frankly pretty boring. It's good ol' dualism, with two forces, the Light and the Dark, competing against each other for mastery of the world, or some such thing. But their striving feels more like a modern courtroom battle than any glorious battle of old. Both sides are governed by a Higher Magic, something that seems to be right out of the Enlightenment, and must abide by its rather arbitrary and boring laws and decisions. The series feels a bit like a video game wherein the hero has to overcome various random obstacles to get the prize, whatever that is, only to be given another set of clues and can proceed to yet another level before they can defeat the Big Bad Guy at the end of the game.

So why did I read all five books? Well, they were interesting, and well-written enough that I kept hoping if I hung in long enough I'd get through the preliminary muck and get to the good stuff. It never really happened. All the elements of a good story were there but they somehow never managed to come together and stay together. There were definitely good bits though, and scraps for the imagination to feed on. I'm grateful for Peculiar's orophilia: the setting of the majority of The Grey King, Cadair Idris, seems spectacular and seeing the pictures of the mountain made the story much better.

So if you want a diverting, light read, I'd recommend them. If you're looking for something more heroic and hearty look elsewhere.