The Dark is Rising (series review) ~ 4 stars

Review requested by Katie

     The Dark is Rising sequence, by Susan Cooper is a mix of Arthurian legends and Irish/Scottish/Welsh folktales where good battles evil in an epic battle that spans all time. Will Stanton is the youngest of the Old Ones, and he is vitally important to this fight. The three Drew children, Simon, Jane, and Barney, are also connected to the fight between the Light and the Dark in ways that even they don't understand.

     In Over Sea, Under Stone, the three Drew children are staying in the seaside village of Tressiwick with their Great-Uncle Merry, who, although he isn't actually related to them, has been a part of their family for as long as they can remember. When Barney finds an ancient map in the attic of the cottage they're vacationing in, it sets them off on a dangerous quest to recover something that will help the Light defeat the Dark forever: the grail. But agents of the Dark have learned about the map as well and they are closing in. I liked the atmosphere of this one - when I started I expected some fluffy story about three kids having a wonderful vacation on the seaside. What I got was just the tip of the iceberg of a very epic, fantastic story that just got bigger and better the further into the series I went.

     The Dark is Rising introduces Will Stanton for the first time, probably my favorite character. The youngest of the Old Ones, beings who wield incredible powers, Will is the last of the Old Ones, the Sign Seeker. It is his task to find the six signs that will be the second of the important tools that the Light can use to defeat the Dark once and for all. The Hunter, a fearsome champion of the Dark, has been assigned to stop Will and steal the signs for the Dark, and Will will need all his wits about him, as well as the help of the first of the old ones, Merriman Lyon. This book was the most complicated of the books. Will goes from a completely ordinary boy to something entirely different, and his journey involves a lot of far-fetched stuff that Susan Cooper somehow makes completely believable under the circumstances. This would be the book I'd reread the most times, just because so much happens.

     Book three of this series, The Greenwitch, is where Will and the Drew children meet for the first time. There's some tension at first as the four of them figure out how to work together, but they've got a very important job to do. The grail has been stolen by the Dark and they have to get it back. Also, a being that belongs to neither the Light or the Dark has possession of a clue that will help strengthen the Light. The Greenwitch is a creature of wild Magic, reborn every year by the women of Tressiwick in a ritualistic ceremony. Together will Merriman Lyon, also known as Great-Uncle Merry, Will and the Drew's have to retrieve the grail and strike a bargain with the unpredictable Greenwitch. What I liked about this book was that this time around, the Old Ones didn't hold all the answers, and the Drews played a very important part in the story, even though they were basically ordinary human beings.

     A new character is added to the group in The Grey King, a Welsh boy called Bran. Will has been sent to Wales for the summer to recover from an illness, and together he and Bran will go on a quest of their own to find a golden harp which must be used to wake the six Sleepers. In this book we get an entirely new setting with its own forces of High Magic, Light, and Dark. There were plot twists here, too, such as Bran's mysterious mother and a dog who can see the wind. What I enjoyed here was getting to see Will working mostly on his own. Merriman was busy elsewhere and wasn't able to help Will directly, unlike in the previous three books. As much as I liked having Merriman show up to save the day, it was good to see Will taking charge in this one, and really learning how to be both an Old One and an (almost) ordinary boy.

     The final installment of The Dark is Rising sequence is Silver on the Tree. In this book, the story takes a more fantastical turn as the allies of both Light and Dark start to gather. Will, Bran, and the three Drew's have a few final tasks to complete, but they are short on time and their enemies are everywhere. In this book, the adventures of Will and Bran are even more magical than before - not only are they stepping out of time, but they're also going to a new dimension in search of the crystal sword. Then the five of them, along with Merriman, have to finish what was started when the grail was found. The Dark is rising, but the Light has gathered everything they need to destroy it once and for all.

     The Dark is Rising sequence was a thoroughly interesting read. It was a pretty epic adventure, but didn't meander on for hundreds and hundreds of pages. It was to the point, which I appreciated because I could really get at the good parts of the story without having to read 2000 pages to get there. I also really liked Will, Bran, and the Drew's. Sometimes Merriman saved the day once too often, but he is the first of the Old Ones, so he has been around for basically forever and it would take a lot to defeat him. Also, the prominence of Arthurian legends and old folktales in the background of these stories was really intriguing. I've always loved mythology of any kind, and Scottish and Irish mythology isn't involved in stories as often as Greek mythology is, so it was a treat to find it here. And lets not even get started on Welsh folklore! After reading these books, I'd really like to see Wales and read some old Welsh stories.

     In other words, thank you, Katie! If you hadn't suggested this series I might never have picked it up on my own!

Link to author website: http://www.thelostland.com/works/yabooks/bk_dircollector.html

A Lantern In Her Hand ~ 4 stars

     A Lantern in Her Hand, by Bess Streeter Aldrich, is a book about pioneers and pioneer women. It reminded me of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as well as A Bride Goes West, which are both books about pioneer women. A Lantern in Her Hand tells the story of Abbie Mackenzie Deal, daughter of an Irish peasant woman and a wealthy Scottish man, a girl who wanted to grow up to be a lovely lady. But sometimes dreams don't come true just the way we imagine.

     Abbie Deal has a beautiful voice and beautiful dreams. She thought she would become a lovely lady someday, a famous singer, but when the chance came, she married the man she loved instead and moved to Nebraska. She postpones her dreams and helps her husband to farm and tame the prairie. On the wild frontier with only a few neighbors for company and work for three men to be done, Abbie learns hard lessons about life. As the years pass, they begin to have small successes, life begins to have a certain rhythm and order, and Abbie holds onto her dreams and keeps singing. Then there are the five children, and Abbie postpones her dreams again so that she can save money to send them to school. She watches them get married and move away to start lives of their own as the hands of Time move steadily forward. Will dies, and Abbie is alone except for her children and now grandchildren. She grows older, frailer, she cannot sing, and she cannot travel anymore. At the end of her life, she didn't become the lovely lady that her hopeful six-year-old self dreamed of. But she is a lovely lady all the same - a lovely lady who has lived a long life of love and joy in the middle of a loving group of family and friends.

     I enjoyed A Lantern in Her Hand for a variety of reasons. First, it was a well-told story that covered a huge span of time - from very early in Abbie's life until the day she died. Reading this book was almost like reading a very interesting biography, especially since Bess Streeter Aldrich actually based the life of Abbie on her own mother. A Lantern in Her Hand is a good example of a pioneer book that really portrays the reality of what it was like for them to do what they did. This book also went a step further than most pioneer books and described the life of a pioneer woman in a time when the pioneers had become part of history instead of the cutting edge of history. That was a treat, and something I've been unable to find in other pioneer books I've read. Those pioneers didn't die once America was settled, but you don't often find a book that talks about what they did with the rest of their lives. A Lantern in Her Hand is definitely unique in that respect.

     The other thing that really impressed me in A Lantern in Her Hand was Abbie herself. It's hard not to relate to Abbie as you see her growing up, getting married, having a family, and gradually getting older and older until you suddenly find she's a great-grandmother. Pioneering wasn't the theme of A Lantern in Her Hand, even though it played a significant part. For Abbie, family and friendship was everything. Her strong, enduring pioneer spirit really shows in the entire book, but so does the vital importance of family to her. It was also eye-opening to read about a character who aged by decades over the course of the book, not months or a handful of years as you'll find in most other books. Experiencing a character on that many levels and at that many stages in a life was eye-opening. In that respect, A Lantern in Her Hand was very much like a biography.

     To close, I'd suggest A Lantern in Her Hand to anyone. It was great material, and though the story was long and detailed, the language wasn't complicated. Just the experience of having read the book was rewarding to me, and it was a book that really made me think about life - not just Abbie's but mine and my family's. A book that can do that to you is one worth spending a few evening's reading, and A Lantern in Her Hand, despite being someone's life story, isn't a very big book. It could easily fit into two or three afternoons. So get it, read it. It's a little gem of a book that I'm very glad to have picked up.

Link to Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation website: http://www.bessstreeteraldrich.org/

     You know the book was written a long time ago when the author has her own museum. Sometimes the old books are the best.

Shadowfell ~ 4.5 stars (guest review)

Guest post by jayden robyn.

     Shadowfell is the first in a trilogy for young adults by respected fantasy author Juliet Marillier. It is set in Alban, a world not unlike a fantastical Scotland, and follows the story of a sixteen-year-old girl named Neryn.

     Neryn has been on the run for the last three years of her life, because of a secret she holds: Neryn can call the Good Folk, fairy-like creatures that inhabit Alban. A Caller is born only once a generation, if even that often. If Neryn’s magical ability is revealed, she will be captured and sent to the cruel King Keldec, and she will be forced to do his bidding.

     Alone and wary, Neryn is searching for a place called Shadowfell, rumored to be the hideaway of the rebels who seek to bring down Keldec’s rule. With help from the Good Folk and a mysterious stranger, Neryn journeys to find Shadowfell, which she worries may just be a rumor.

     Marillier’s writing is lyrical, and her characters are well-written and multi-dimensional. Neryn is a likable heroine; she is tough, and despite going through tragedies at a too-young age, she stills retains a kind heart. Neryn is not your typical heroine—she has no fighting ability, rather slipping away into the woods whenever danger approaches. While this starts to become a bit of a problem for me in the second installment, I liked this aspect of Neryn in this book.

     Flint, the troubled anti-hero of the trilogy, is very well-written and likable. While he struggles with the double life he leads, he is kind to Neryn and respects her. The romance that develops between these two is clean, as well as slow burning, a relief from the cases of instant-love that appears in many books today.

     There were several very likable characters among the Good Folk, and although they talk in thick Scottish brogues, I found them easy to understand for the most part. In fact, several of the Good Folk were probably my favorite characters out of the entire book.

     The story, your traditional quest tale, is slow-paced, but it never really dragged despite its 410 pages. Marillier manages to balance Neryn’s book-long journey with meetings with the Good Folk, close encounters with Enforcers, the men who do the king’s bidding, and finally, meeting the rebels of Shadowfell. Despite its dark moments, Marillier keeps a beam of hope shining throughout the story. The ending is not a cliffhanger, rather wrapping up the story of book one while still leaving more to be discovered in the second book. There was only one small instance in the book that I think would probably not be age appropriate for some under 14—however, the particular moment was not presented crudely.

     Shadowfell is my favorite book by Juliet Marillier, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good fantasy read—I’m not sure that it would appeal to those who aren’t into fantasy.

Link to author/Shadowfell website: http://www.julietmarillier.com/books/shadowfell.html