The Dark is Rising or Chronicles of Prydain?

[HelenaRavenclaw]

(I know these books are usually marketed as "children's books" but many adults still enjoy them. Since I'd be reading them as an adult I thought it better to post here instead of the Children's Books forum.)

Which series is better in your opinion if you've read both:
The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper or The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander?

I'm interested in easy-to-read fantasy dealing with themes of Celtic mythology, which I know are present in both series. (Of course I'm familiar with Arthurian legends, stories from the Mabinogion, etc. from other sources so these "children's books" will not be my first foray into these realms.) I will say that I am someone who enjoyed Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials far more than Lord of the Rings (which often felt like an elaborate exercise in world-building but didn't connect with the reader as well as the other series). I'm not interested in watching any film versions so please base your recommendations on the books only. Thank you!

Seconding others for A Dark is Rising. Still have the books from when I was a teenager. Also second Mary Stewart.

I was thinking yesterday of reading this again - it's such a good Christmas book. I re -read The Grey King in October.
As mentioned above The mists of Avalon was also a favourite- however Marion Zimmer Bradley has a v bad legacy.

I read Elidor yesterday for the first time! Love Alan Garner but had never read that one :)

As for the OP question Dark is Rising for sure 👍

I often re-read TDIR and the Box of Delights at Christmas.

The Dark is Rising is a wonderful sequence of books. Really serious thinking and gripping writing. You might also enjoy Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Trilogy.

Need to buy TDIR now. Haven't read it for 40 + years but remember loving it.

Have you rest the Michelle Paver Soul Seeker series? (Starts with Wolf Boy? Wolf Blood?
Keep going past the first 5 chapters which seem horribly depressing. It then starts to build tension and gets much more thrilling. (Pre Arthurian but great.) And there's a long series to follow on too. Great book IMO

@Notquitegrownup2 Wolf Brother. And yes, they’re excellent.

The Dark is Rising is wonderful. I heard a radio 4 adaptation last winter which was sublime.

@DewinDwl the hardcover version of all 5 TDIR books in one is published by Bodley Head. Really nice version with blue / gold cover.

@FarEast totally agree with you about Ursula Le Guin, just to mention she went on to write more than just the original trilogy, for Earthsea. There are 3 further books.

You would almost certainly love The Last Light of the Sun, by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s set during the late Saxon period, King Alfred and the Viking invasions.

He’s a Canadian author whose books are sometimes described as “history with a quarter-turn to fantasy”.

The two Sarantine Mosaic novels are excellent too.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/104080

@FlemishHorse I love GGK, I have everything he has ever written.

👋Good to meet another fan! I don’t know why he isn’t better known in the UK. Maybe his books are too ‘fantastic’ for history lovers, and too ‘historical’ for fantasy fans? The quality of the writing is well up there with Philip Pullman, Alan Garner etc, and streets ahead of most fantasy fiction.

@FlemishHorse I agree with you so much. I started with the Fionavar Tapestry when I was still living in the Netherlands - my local library had the first book but none of the others (Dutch libraries tend to have large English language sections) so I ended up buying all of them and not eating much for a week. That was me hooked, I've just bought everything since. His stuff is so beautifully written and researched, complex, no easy resolutions or happy endings and he works so hard on his internal logic and world building.

Dark is Rising is timeless and magnificent and I frequently reread it over Christmas. Prydain is cute, but much more shallow imo.
Shout out for Letter to the King, while we're in that genre!

I read The Dark is Rising trilogy about 8 years ago, all through Dec and into the New Year. Perfect for this time of year.

Had never read it before and LOVED it. It will be such a treat for you

Find a cozy corner and get stuck in.

Also if you like Arthurian/Celtic stuff can highly recommend Mary Stewart's Merlin series.

The Crystal Cave is one of my favourite books ever.
Mary Stewart lived two villages from where I live and I only found out when I saw her obituary in the local paper.

Another vote for TDIR Sequence. I need to rereading, it's been a while.

Does anyone else find themselves reciting, on the 31st October:

On the Day of the Dead,
When the year too dies...?

Also another vote for the Crystal Cave series. I was introduced to it via the BBC drama and was not happy I was too young to take the books out of the library. Those books ignited my love of the Arthurian legends and steered the course of my life.

@Zucchero Letter to the King is brilliant, as is the sequel, and so well translated (I read it in the original Dutch when I was a child, then bought the translation for my DC and read it).

@DDewinDwl sorry I forgot this today! It's Random House Children's Books. Also says A Bodley Head Book 978 0 370 32942 0. Hope that helps you find it :)

And I messed my @ up....
That was supposed to tag @DewinDwl

And now reading the thread, another vote for Michelle Paver's Wolf Brother books. And the Eathsea books by Ursula le Guin. I re-read those quite regularly. Thank you also to those suggesting GGK. They sound right up my street as late Saxon/vikings is probably my favourite period of British history. That's one of my Christmas presents sorted 😁

Omg you all sent me right down memory lane.

The Dark is Rising series
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
The Crystal Cave, the Hollow Hill
The Mists of Avalon

My sister and I read and re-read all of them in our childhood, over and over again.

I would add The Once and Future King by TH White for any Arthur fans, it’s a lovely, lovely read.

"When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back."

Every December, baby. I enjoyed Prydain, but there is no. contest.

...Must the youngest open the oldest hills,
Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks,
There fire shall fly from the raven boy...

Okay, I'll stop now.

I loved The Sword in the Stone as a child. Started reading the second book in the Once and Future sequence and was so upset by the awful bit about the cat at the beginning that I had to stop. I have read them all since and they are brilliant. But there is a disturbing streak of cruelty.