Over Sea, Under Stone (Dark Is Rising Sequence)

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Updated review---Wow! I can't believe I read this almost 7 years ago and still haven't returned to finish the series until now. It really is a great start to a story. Once again, I loved traipsing through the Cornish countryside with Simon, Jane, and Barney. The addition to this story of some King Arthur archaeology is fantastic and still one of the points I love best about this book. I listened to it this time on audiobook, which enhanced the experience. Alex Jennings was the narrator and all I can say is it's fantastic!

This natural beauty clearly has a stunning secret eager to be told, and we can’t wait to uncover more of its magic. Thomas Malory in Morte Darthur (1485), Richard Wagner in Parsifal (1882), and other authors and composers have based works on the quest for the grail. Is the quest in Over Sea, Under Stone like or unlike the quest in one of these other works? One day not long after that, a burglar breaks into Grey House. Curiously, the burglar ignored traditional valuables like jewelry or cash and instead went straight for the bookshelves. The parents are mystified by this, but Simon, Jane, and Barney believe they know the truth: The burglar was looking for the old map manuscript. Now that they realize the value of the manuscript in their possession, the siblings decide it's time to come clean to Merriman about everything. After hearing their story, Merriman confirms what they were all thinking: The manuscript is a treasure map. Moreover, the treasure in question is none other than the Holy Grail for which Arthur's knights famously quested. And finally, Merriman admits that the children are in great danger, for there are forces of darkness--"The Dark," as he terms it--after the Grail who will stop at nothing to retrieve it. And while Merriman worries for their safety, he also encourages them to seek out the Grail so they can claim it on behalf of "The Light," as the alternative is too dark a possibility to bear. Due to its color and overall appearance, Serpentine is sometimes confused with Jade and other green gemstones. However, we know just how special this gemstone is, and we hope you love our Serpentine jewelry collection just as much as we do.Although sometimes mistaken for Emeralds or Green Topaz, Peridot is a spectacular gemstone in its own right.

Mr. Hastings: Agent of The Dark, lets Jane believe he is the town Vicar. He leads the Dark members battling Merriman and the Drew children in the search for the Grail. Over Sea, Under Stone was repeated once in 1997 a few months before The Dark Is Rising and again in November 2016 by BBC Radio 4 Extra. It has never been made commercially available. What makes this book a little more that just a children’s adventure, is one the historical/legendary aspects that come in for the mysterious manuscript and treasure are related to Arthur and Arthurian lore, as are the forces of dark that have been unleased. Also with the children being the ones to ‘find’ the map, an element of destiny, even prophecy (even though not specifically mentioned) comes into play for it is clear that it is they who must find the treasure. Great Uncle Merry (we are given an idea as to who he could be, but I won’t spoil the fun) helps and is there to protect them when needed (even distract the ‘villains’), but never takes the lead or tries to takes over the treasure hunt. Again, the danger, that comes from the Withers as well as some other characters representing the ‘dark’ is far more sinister than in an ‘ordinary’ children’s adventure. Now, onto The Dark Is Rising itself! Spending a book with Will and the other Stantons feels like a lovely idea right now. I remember her very clearly: she was British, a contralto. A gentle delivery, but with a lot of life for the children, particularly Barney, and even more gravitas for Gumerry. She read this book to me a good twenty times between the ages of eight and thirteen, and she was all that is right and proper.They recognise a drawing of the local coastline that may be a kind of map, with almost illegible text, but Barney realises that the map refers to King Arthur and his knights. The children decide to keep the discovery to themselves. Over 90% of Diamonds found in the ocean are of gem quality, whereas less than 60% of Diamonds sourced on land are good enough to become gems. Among narratives intended for children it features fairly sophisticated use of English, with an extensive vocabulary and complex sentence structures. [6] Mr. Withers and his sister Polly: Over-friendly tourists who invite the Drews on their boat; they are agents of the Dark.

Thompson, Raymond (2 July 1989). "Interview with Susan Cooper". Taliesin's Successors: Interviews with Authors of Modern Arthurian Literature. The Camelot Project. The Robbins Library, University of Rochester . Retrieved 13 January 2011. urn:oclc:47702235 Republisher_date 20120604054202 Republisher_operator [email protected] Scandate 20120602124417 Scanner scribe11.shenzhen.archive.org Scanningcenter shenzhen Source a b The Dark is Rising series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-03-03. The ocean provides inspiration for countless creations around the world, and is home to some of the most magical natural phenomenons. We're privileged to be able to bring so many sea-born and sea-inspired stones to you, and we hope you cherish them and their stories just as much as we do.The prices of Pearls fluctuate depending on where they’re found – Pearls formed in salt water are valued much higher than freshwater Pearls. Susan Cooper’s Newbery Medal-honored five-volume series The Dark Is Rising is one of the most enduring works of young adult fantasy in the latter 20th century. Cooper’s mythic tales paid distinct homage to the legends that inspired them — particularly those of King Arthur, and the Mabinogion — and her reverence for this lore suffuses these engrossing adventures without weighing them down with self-importance. while i am waiting for that,i will write a review for this book. obviously, there are going to be comparisons to that narnia series - british siblings shuttled off to a spooky house with secret passageways behind a wardrobe with an eccentric older relative and some christian mythology thrown in for funs. It starts out feeling very Narnia-esque; a family siblings go to stay with an eccentric uncle professor and then the kids discover a passage behind the wardrobe. Even if that wasn't the world's biggest Narnia nod, it's still clever and sweet. Once the kids found the map in the attic, it felt very Boxcar Children-esque (my favorite books when I was a kid). They have to work out the clues to solve this mystery before the bad guys get there first (and how bad they were -- creepers!) And by the halfway point it had just morphed into a full-on Grail quest and I'm over here fist pumping. :D Joel Chaston writes, "Reviewers noted that the book begins as a mystery-adventure story and becomes a sort of morality tale full of mysticism and elements of Arthurian legend. Because it later became a part of a series, Over Sea, Under Stone has continued to gain new readers. In a 1976 Horn Book essay, "A Second Look: Over Sea, Under Stone", Dwight Dudley Carlson argues that Cooper's superb abilities as a storyteller, the novel's clear delineation of good and evil, and the believability of the Drew children have contributed to its lasting success with young readers." [5] Publication history [ edit ]

On a side note, while this story is set in a fictional Cornish village, among the events are a carnival and a floral dance (though this was not in spring) which reminded me very much of the spring festival Flora Day in Helston which I recently came across in another book set in Cornwall. I wonder if this was the inspiration? Over Sea, Under Stone isn't my favourite book of the sequence, but it's still worth reading if you can get into it for the light it sheds on the later books. Over Sea, Under Stone is a contemporary fantasy novel written for children by the British author Susan Cooper, first published in London by Jonathan Cape in 1965. Cooper wrote four sequels about ten years later, making it the first volume in a series usually called The Dark is Rising (1965 to 1977). Amethysts are a renowned favorite among gemstone collectors and crystal enthusiasts, and can be sourced from a number of coastal areas around the world such as Brazil, South India and Nova Scotia. Learning where your gemstone was originally found is always fascinating. Almost all gemstones are formed under the Earth’s surface; however, they can be retrieved through various natural processes such as faulting and volcanism. Some gemstones are also brought to the surface through mining.Amethysts can be obtained from all over the coast. Finding precious and semi-precious gemstones on beaches is more common than you may think; they can appear naturally in the area, or be carried ashore with the help of the tide – and Amethysts are no exception. In chapter six, Barney tells what he knows about King Arthur. What could Barney add to his telling to help us better understand Over Sea, Under Stone and the other novels in The Dark Is Rising series?