Gamers like to refer to some video games as having sequences “on rails”, which means an action sequence where the player has little to no control over their movement but full control over their weapons (for example, being on a moving train that takes them along a pre-determined route while they fight off bad guys). Merriman Lyon (Great-Uncle Merry from the first book) pops in and out to help Will and offer him some guidance, but it’s mostly Will’s show. Will can defeat them, but only if he finds the six signs required to complete the “circle”. We are repeatedly warned that the powers of Dark will be at their strongest soon. Much like the recent era of Doctor Who, The Dark is Rising delights in using its title as a catchphrase. He discovers he is the last Old One, a group of incredibly powerful, immortal beings who fight against the Dark in the name of Light. Will Stanton is turning eleven years old. I complained about the lack of such terror in my review of the first book, but I can’t make that complaint here. Over Sea, Under Stone is firmly a juvenile adventure, whereas the threats and dangers in The Dark is Rising are more potent and terrifying. Of the first two books, it more stereotypically conforms to the monomyth and has that “epic” quality one desires in “epic fantasy”. The Dark is Rising is the second book in the sequence, yet it was the one that got adapted into an apparently awful film, and it was the one that gave its title to the entire series. I’m trying to think of how many other books’ sequels are more notable than the books themselves.

The dark is rising sequence books