I remember absolutely loving these books as a child. I started with "The Grey King" when I was in the 5th grade and trying to read all the books that appeared on the "Newbery Medal" poster that was on the wall of the school library. That poster lead to my reading a lot of fantastic books, but the "The Dark is Rising Sequence" definitely had the most lasting impact on my memory. Feeling a desire to revisit the series, I picked it up when I went home for Christmas and brought it back to my home in Japan. This Spring I picked it up and finally gave the entire series a rereading. 20 years have passed since I picked up "The Grey King," but it still holds up remarkably well (truly the best in the entire series). In fact the entire box set was really satisfying to reread, though the books with the Drew Children never achieve the same level as the stories that focus on Will Stanton. I definitely recommend the stories to anyone who enjoyed the Harry Potter books, but keep in mind that these books, while dealing with the fate of the entire world, are much simpler in their narration than the much longer Harry Potter books. ( )

If your young readers enjoy the Harry Potter series, they will enjoy these also. Susan Coopers books are more serious. They books are full of magic and dark evil. You won't find the humor like the potter books, but you will find page after page suspense

I first read this series ten years ago when I was still in primary school. My teacher mentioned it to me as something she thought I'd like and she was right. When I found it again a couple of years ago I read the whole series in about a week and remembered why I adored it. I will credit this series forever as the one that made me fall in love with reading and it will always hold a place in my heart. A simply wonderful fantasy that has the ability to hold my attention effortlessly. I'm not sure that it would be as special to me if I was reading it now for the first time but as it stands, this series is one of my favourites of all time. ( )

Pre09:
Characters: Love the lead and the other old ones. The rider is great too.
Plot: Convoluted as crap. Not really the selling point.
Style: Gothic all the way. Very memorable. Love the sense of wonder as a kid. ( )

This 4th entry in "The Dark I Rising" sequence was the Newbery Winner the year it was published and definitely the best in the series so far.. For my taste, one of its strengths is that the Drew children don’t appear. My adult son who read the series before I says I'm too hard on the Drew children; he likes them.

The story takes place in Wales and we get deeper into the Arthurian legend. The new character, Bran, is interesting and you care about both Bran and Will. Will’s task, with Bran’s help (who turns out to have a pivotal part to play in the contest between the Dark and the Light) is to wake—with the golden harp—the six who must be roused from their long slumber to be ready for the final battle between the Dark and the Light. The Grey King is the spirit of the mountain determined to keep Will from succeeding. This is the best book in the series so far. It also gives such a good description of Wales that now I would like to go there. That will please my older son, who gave me this set, because Wales is one of his favorite places. ( )