The Dark Is Rising Sequence

The Dark Is Rising Sequence

The Dark Is Rising is a series of five contemporary fantasy novels for older children and young adults, written by the English author Susan Cooper and published 1965 to 1977. Alternatively, The Dark is Rising is the second novel, published in 1973.

The series is sometimes called The Dark is Rising Sequence, which is the title of its UK omnibus edition (first 1984) and its US boxed set edition (first 1986). It depicts a struggle between forces of good and evil called The Light and The Dark and is based on Arthurian legends, Celtic mythology, and Norse mythology. Both magical and ordinary children are prominent throughout the series. It was inaugurated in 1965 with the U.K. publication of Over Sea, Under Stone by Jonathan Cape. The sequels were published 1973 to 1977, almost simultaneously in the U.K. and the U.S. Volume four, The Grey King (1975), won the Newbery Medal recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." and the inaugural Welsh Tir na n-Og Award in category best English-language book with Welsh background. The concluding Silver on the Tree (1977) also won the Tir na n-Og Award.

The novel The Dark is Rising features Will Stanton, age 11, who learns on that birthday that he is an "Old One" and thus destined to wield the powers of The Light in the ancient struggle with The Dark. In the U.S. it was a Newbery Honor Book (finalist for the Newbery Medal). A 2007 film adaptation, titled The Seeker in America and The Dark is Rising in Britain, makes important plot and character changes from the book.