The Dark is Rising or Chronicles of Prydain?

76 replies

HelenaRavenclaw · 24/11/2023 16:30

(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!

OP posts:

Bookist · 04/12/2023 15:42

Alltheyearround · 27/11/2023 17:20

As I recall Garner came from a WC background, but went to a Grammar as he was very bright. I wonder if he experienced some prejudice reflected in the Owl Service?

''He was the first member of his family to receive anything more than a basic education, and he noted that this removed him from his "cultural background" and led to something of a schism with other members of his family, who "could not cope with me, and I could not cope with" them. Looking back, he remarked, "I soon learned that it was not a good idea to come home excited over irregular verbs"

He wrote a great autobiography called 'Where shall we run to?'

He's 89. I'm going to send a Christmas card to authors who I have loved this year and he is in the top 10. Amazing mind.

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My lovely Dad was from a very humble, working class background. His Mum was barely literate and had left school at 14.

Anyway, my Dad was very intelligent and won a place at grammar school in 1950. But despite usually being top of the class in both Maths and English he regularly suffered discrimination from the 'proper' middle class grammar school boys. I think it was actually worse that my Dad dared to be smarter than them.

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