[HPFGU-OTChatter] Dark Is Rising thanks and etc.

[Neil Ward]

Rosmerta said:

<< But I did want to say thank you to the many people who recommended "The
Dark Is Rising" in a thread I posted at the beginning of the summer. >>

Firstly, welcome back!

So many people had mentioned The Dark Is Rising sequence, both here and on
other fantasy lit lists, that I decided to give it a go.  I've just finished
the fifth and last book in the sequence.  I loved the whole set, but I did
find the first and last books less enjoyable than the middle three, for
reasons that I can't go into, for lack of time.   The second and fourth
books - The Dark Is Rising and The Grey King - are superb.

Is it better than Harry Potter?  It's different.  There are some parallels,
but it's different in style.  There is more poetry in the writing and the
approach to adventure is more subtle, perhaps, than JKR's, and more retro
(understandably, as these books were written decades ago).

I have to dash to work now, so apologies for this brief burst of enthusiasm
for TDIR.  If you have only read the first book, you really *should*
continue, as the significant character of the series is introduced in book 2
(The Dark Is Rising) and it really starts to earn its keep as a "classic" of
the genre.

Neil