Ysabel was the first Kay book I ever read. The Summer Tree was the second, and you want to talk about night and day. I didn't care for The Summer Tree (despite buying the trilogy just to get the backstory hinted at in Ysabel), and I don't think I have the rest of it anymore. The third Kay book, and the last one to date, though I've still got another on my shelf, was Under Heaven.
Hmmm I seem to have missed the Ysabel review (I didnt read it til ages after it came out) and for some reason I failed to comment on Under Heaven - no idea why because I *LOVED* it. A true return to his best work :)
Thanks for clarifying. It's funny how things we take for granted about our own history can be so foreign across the pond. I marvel that the books were supposed to take place in the seventies, because that's so different than the U.S. seventies I learned about in grade school!
I *did* mind the protags (except Will) having their memory wiped, it was my big problem with the ending. I had very very big issues with magic/sf-induced memory loss as a kid, I think I felt all my identity was contained in my memory. Now...I think if part of my memory was wiped, I'd still be the same person pretty much, just as brain-damaged people learn their old skills more quickly than new ones, even though they don't consciously remember their old skills. But my memory is still my right!
The red-haired rider from the Dark always creeped me out, which I found sad b/c I was in love with red hair as a kid. In fact one time just after reading The Dark Is Rising, I met a redhead I knew in school wearing a black sweater and it creeped me out. What I just realised reading your review is that even though I thought of her as a great person at that time, years later she did some very mean things to people. Weird...
Losing one's memory is such a personal thing. What you experience can change you, and to lose the memory of an experience so profound is rather heart-breaking.
The Dark is Rising
anonymous
April 20 2012, 13:55:24 UTC
I did read these as I child and I am impressed with your intuition; The Dark Is Rising was by far my favorite book! I was compelled by Will's awakening and I loved the contrast between his huge, grounded, human family and his sudden other self. I'm not sure what I would make of the Suzan Cooper books if I had met them as an adult and after the Fantasy genre had evolved as it has. I do think it is important to note, though that the Tolkein-like bits indicate not so much influence as common origin. These are very British books, even to the point of talking about it in the text. The Dark is what overwhelms the land every time an invader comes- before the land whispers its civilizing love into the new Celts or Chrisitians or whatever they are. Tolkein was also deeply immersed in myths of his nation-although he went Elves and Ents instead of Arthurian.
Re: The Dark is Risingcalico_reactionApril 21 2012, 02:30:32 UTC
Good point about the Britishness, though I will say through-out the series, there are nods to other classic fantasy books, intentional ones at that (Over Sea, Under Stone has a funny Narnia shout-out).
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Ysabel was the first Kay book I ever read. The Summer Tree was the second, and you want to talk about night and day. I didn't care for The Summer Tree (despite buying the trilogy just to get the backstory hinted at in Ysabel), and I don't think I have the rest of it anymore. The third Kay book, and the last one to date, though I've still got another on my shelf, was Under Heaven.
And thanks for the Cooper rec!
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http://www.thelostland.com/seaward.htm
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I read Ysabel in 2008, so it's been a while ago.
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I *did* mind the protags (except Will) having their memory wiped, it was my big problem with the ending. I had very very big issues with magic/sf-induced memory loss as a kid, I think I felt all my identity was contained in my memory. Now...I think if part of my memory was wiped, I'd still be the same person pretty much, just as brain-damaged people learn their old skills more quickly than new ones, even though they don't consciously remember their old skills. But my memory is still my right!
The red-haired rider from the Dark always creeped me out, which I found sad b/c I was in love with red hair as a kid. In fact one time just after reading The Dark Is Rising, I met a redhead I knew in school wearing a black sweater and it creeped me out. What I just realised reading your review is that even though I thought of her as a great person at that time, years later she did some very mean things to people. Weird...
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Losing one's memory is such a personal thing. What you experience can change you, and to lose the memory of an experience so profound is rather heart-breaking.
Reply
I'm not sure what I would make of the Suzan Cooper books if I had met them as an adult and after the Fantasy genre had evolved as it has. I do think it is important to note, though that the Tolkein-like bits indicate not so much influence as common origin. These are very British books, even to the point of talking about it in the text. The Dark is what overwhelms the land every time an invader comes- before the land whispers its civilizing love into the new Celts or Chrisitians or whatever they are. Tolkein was also deeply immersed in myths of his nation-although he went Elves and Ents instead of Arthurian.
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