Book four, The Grey King, set in Wales, is as grey and atmospheric as is Wales itself, pitting Will and his friend Bran against the powers of the Grey King. The third and shortest book, Greenwitch, brings Jane, Barney and Simon together with Will against the dark.

It was made into an absolutely abysmal film that should be avoided at all costs. The second book, perhaps the best known, The Dark is Rising, is the best of the sequence, a masterful tale of Will Stanton's rise to becoming a warrior for the Light. Against them are arrayed the powers of the Dark, determined to prevent its discovery. It is there, in the attic of the grey house, that they find an ancient clue that will point them the way to recovering one of the legendary Arthurian relics, the Holy Grail. The first in the sequence, Over Sea, Under Stone, follows the adventures of Simon, Barney, and Jane on holiday in Cornwall. Culling British and Celtic folklore and mythology for inspiration, as well as her own fertile imagination, Cooper has given us a robust series of truly epic proportions Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence, written between 19, is an example of a modern fantasy classic in the vein of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Lewis's Narnia Chronicles, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, and Rowling's Potter series. The Dark is Rising Sequence: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree Fantasy Book Review Book of the Month, October 2013

The dark is rising book 1