12. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

The Dark is Rising is the second in a sequence of five books - The Dark is Rising Sequence. It's very simple. There is the Dark (boo) and the Light (yay!). The Dark is Rising. If the Dark (boo!) is to be vanquished, the ancient order of the Light (yay!), the Old Ones, must come together to find the six great symbols - Wood, Bronze, Iron, Water, Fire and Stone. (If you want a measure of the depth of my love for these books, I have so far had no need to refer to the books for any detail. Let's see if I can do the whole thing...)

When the Dark comes rising,
Six will turn it back,
Three from the circle,
Three from the track,
Wood, Bronze, Iron,
Water, Fire, Stone
Five will return
And one go alone

(It's a shame I can't find a way to make money out of this)

Will Stanton, otherwise ordinary Buckinghamshire boy, discovers on his 11th birthday that he is the last of the Old Ones. He is the Sign Seeker. Basically, it's up to him - but he'll get a lot of help. The other major players are three normal children, Simon, Jane and Barney; King Arthur's son, brought by Merlin through time to a distant Welsh valley and now called Bran; Merlin himself, slightly disguised but not much, and the oldest of the old ones - the Lady. The Dark (boo!) is represented by the Rider - a genuinely menacing figure with ice-blue eyes.

The Dark is Rising is the first time we meet Will - the reader goes on Will's journey of discovery with him. And what a journey it is: terrifying, exhilarating, magical, richly imagined, beautifully executed. There is a chapter, towards the end of the book, when the sky has gone almost black. Will is left stranded in the middle of nowhere, all alone. He has one last task to complete, but the Dark (boo!) is gaining power and strength with every passing minute. The air is literally alive with their shrieks of victory. Will completes his mission, and summons Herne the Hunter. Herne answers Will's call, and drives the Dark to the furthest reaches of the sky. The quality of the writing is in the depiction of Herne, who is just as frightening, and more powerful, than the Dark (boo!) - and he has no allegiance to the Light (yay!). He is ruthless, without pity, the perfect hunting machine. It is one of the most powerful passages of prose in any book of its kind I have ever read.

The sequence builds to the final confrontation - when the Light (yay!) will either drive the Dark (boo!) away forever, or be wiped out. I've got goosebumps just thinking about it.

The Dark is Rising helped pave the way for Harry Potter - and for Lyra Belacqua. It is better written than the Potters, and less alien (and didactic) than the His Dark Materials trilogy. It is steeped in myth and legend, but its learning is lightly borne.

If I was allowed to have the experience of reading one book for the first time again, I think it would be this one. I carry it with me in my soul somewhere, I think.