The Dark is Rising
Jan. 2nd, 2004 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wahleeSweeney asked for a review, and I am happy to oblige. :D So without further ado,
Loved it. Will be rereading again very very soon. I know for sure that there are nuances that I missed on my first reading, simply because I was so eager to find out what happened that I hurried through passages. Cooper did an excellent job of weaving together old legends with new magic-- and the way the magic worked was so much fun. I loved the idea that there were different kinds of magic, and that there were rules about how they interfered with each other. The High Magic and Wild Magic and Light Magic and Dark Magic all coexisting, sometimes working together, sometimes standing in each others way--- great stuff.
I liked that while the magic worked outside of religion, and religion was shown to be ineffectual in some ways, this sequence was not as blatantly anti-religious as His Dark Materials. And although the ending is rather sad, with very few people remembering what happened, it is not without joy and hope. And thankfully the Dark is Dark and Light is Light-- no one is switching sides here, and there's no sudden turnaround at the end where the evil people turn out to be not so evil after all. I hated that about HDM.
I felt kind of sorry for Simon. He didn't really get much to do, did he?
Can't decide whether I ship Will/Jane or Bran/Jane. I liked the idea of Will/Jane before we ever met Bran, but then Bran is the one who noticed that she was pretty, and who gave her a pet name. Is very difficult to get authorial intent here-- neither is canonical, I suppose, but they're not anti-canon either.
Loved Merriman. Great Cute Old Wizard.
There were other things I wanted to say, but I can't think of them now. Must read again. Then perhaps may be more coherent.
Now must go to work. :P
Loved it. Will be rereading again very very soon. I know for sure that there are nuances that I missed on my first reading, simply because I was so eager to find out what happened that I hurried through passages. Cooper did an excellent job of weaving together old legends with new magic-- and the way the magic worked was so much fun. I loved the idea that there were different kinds of magic, and that there were rules about how they interfered with each other. The High Magic and Wild Magic and Light Magic and Dark Magic all coexisting, sometimes working together, sometimes standing in each others way--- great stuff.
I liked that while the magic worked outside of religion, and religion was shown to be ineffectual in some ways, this sequence was not as blatantly anti-religious as His Dark Materials. And although the ending is rather sad, with very few people remembering what happened, it is not without joy and hope. And thankfully the Dark is Dark and Light is Light-- no one is switching sides here, and there's no sudden turnaround at the end where the evil people turn out to be not so evil after all. I hated that about HDM.
I felt kind of sorry for Simon. He didn't really get much to do, did he?
Can't decide whether I ship Will/Jane or Bran/Jane. I liked the idea of Will/Jane before we ever met Bran, but then Bran is the one who noticed that she was pretty, and who gave her a pet name. Is very difficult to get authorial intent here-- neither is canonical, I suppose, but they're not anti-canon either.
Loved Merriman. Great Cute Old Wizard.
There were other things I wanted to say, but I can't think of them now. Must read again. Then perhaps may be more coherent.
Now must go to work. :P
no subject
Date: 2004-01-02 09:21 pm (UTC)And Merry is lovely. :D :D :D :D :D
Let us know how the reread goes. >:D