Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #thedarkisrising, aggregated by home.social.
Found my copy of Susan Cooper’s “The Dark Is Rising Sequence” which was in a logical place in a bookcase - just not where I’d searched before 🤣
This was suggested as an alternative to Harry Potter in an older thread. Will see if our 10 year old likes it… 🤞 #SusanCooper #TheDarkIsRising
@seitenweiser Gerade entdeckt, es gibt ein BBC-Hörspiel mit dem Buch, das sich über podcast republic hören lässt. :)
https://www.podcastrepublic.net/podcast/1655117993 (allerdings muss man erst die App herunterladen).
It's that time of year again, I need to dig out my copies of #Hogfather and #TheDarkIsRising for their annual read. My partner rarely re-reads books which I find very strange.
#Bookstodon
I've been openly critical of Susan Cooper's structuring of The Dark Is Rising series of books.
Sequential battles to win amulets to complete a belt of power doesn't work for me.
However the rest of those books are still quite good enough to more than make up that shortcoming.
And here is the author speaking at Oxford University in 2017.
#SusanCooper #FantasyLiterature #TheDarkIsRising
"fight battles to get more strength levels"
I'm very over this approach - so many hours playing Diablo computer game?
Strangely the earliest example I've found is a British mytho-fantasy book series called The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper that first appeared in 1965.
Otherwise excellent, the repeated, inevitable victory by the books' main characters becomes increasingly irksome.
A nice bit of Welsh scenery to cleanse your Monday timeline; views from Craig-yr-Aderyn (Birds Rock) along the Dysynni valley.
"Through the door of the birds
Where the breeze breaks..."
Work finished, Satie's Gymnopedies playing, and a crucial evening in Will Stanton's awakening in The Dark Is Rising to read.
And... relax
I really enjoyed #TheDarkIsReading on twitter a few years ago. Is anyone else starting #TheDarkIsRising ? I'll be reading the first chapter and listening to the BBC Radio version with my 9 year old - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvp7
"Through the door of the birds where the breeze breaks..."
Following in the footsteps of Will Stanton and Bran Davies, high up above the Dysynni valley on Craig yr Aderyn (Birds' Rock), looking towards Cader Idris and the mountain fastnesses of Y Brenin Llwyd. A place that I have known since I was at primary school, but have never been to before except in my imagination.
I am SO very ready for someone to give THE DARK IS RISING Sequence by Susan Cooper the "Jackson's LotR" treatment. It is a travesty that we haven't been given a high quality TDIR movie series.
The 2007 debacle in no way qualifies.
Christmas Eve in my annual re-read of #TheDarkIsRising. A very important date in the book, it gets three chapters and marks a pivotal midpoint; Will gains the gift of Gramarye and the third sign, but Merrriman places too much strain on Hawkin's love for him.
Soundtracking this tonight with Vince Guaraldi's 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' which is suitably seasonal if lacking dramatic tension!
Starting my #TheDarkIsRising reread. The Walker is abroad.
The downer is though that mastodon.scot still isn't visible + boostable now either, though I maybe 2 months ago asked about once-suspended instances still not working.
Have to manually link to this #TheDarkIsRising + #TheDarkIsReading related #SusanCooper thing this way.
https://mastodon.scot/@vivdunstan/111292149723140645
(Likewise, still only 1 use of the reading tag seen here, me talking about it with someone else.
Also me: Susan Cooper is still alive?)
Looking forward to seeing #SusanCooper and #NatalieHaynes chatting about The Dark Is Rising and Other Stories at the #BritishLibrary on Friday. I’ll be tuning in online to watch - and #online tickets are still available to buy. You can watch online for up to 48 hours after. https://www.bl.uk/events/the-dark-is-rising-and-other-stories-susan-cooper-and-natalie-haynes-in-conversation #DarkIsRising #Fantasy #Classics #Myth #Myths #Mythology #Storytelling #Fiction #Bookstodon #Streaming #TheDarkIsRising #Literature
@reviewwales
2/2
I do wonder if she glimpsed the adult-baby future, exemplified by Trump and Boris fans, and tried to divert her older readers from such a fate.
A probably utterly dreadful movie may have trampled the characters and themes of the books into the mud.
That photo in the OP might make a reread even better. But I might just skip the level-boss fight paragraphs.
#Bookstadon #TheDarkIsRising #MythicalBritain
https://i0.wp.com/www.murrayewing.co.uk/mewsings/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Dark-Is-Rising-1.jpg?ssl=1
Following in the footsteps of Susan Cooper today in the hills above Aberdyfi. First a revisit to the Eglwys Gwyddelod ('Church of the Irish') Bronze Age cairn circle - my previous visit was in dreary rain a decade ago, today a complete contrast with wonderful views.
Then to Llyn Barfog (where Arthur cast out the afanc and The Lady appeared) and Carn March Arthur (the hoofprint left by Arthur's horse).
#SusanCooper #TheDarkIsRising #SilverOnTheTree #Arthur #FingerpostFriday #WalesCoastPath
#TheDarkIsRising - superb adaptation - please tell me the rest of the books will now be adapted in the same way.
#podcasts listened to in 2022 - no particular order, what’ve you listened to?
#ukrainecast #restishistory #restispolitics #putinskrieg #vocalscope #easygerman #neurodiversitypodcast #nakedpravda #achtmilliarden #lagedernation #duolingofrenchpodcast #doomsdaywatch #outtolunch #soulmusic #songsinthekeyoflaugh #allesistanders #makingSenseWithSamHarris #imbiss3000 #thedarkisrising #inwritingwithhattiecrisell #ukrainianlessons #5minuteukrainian #putin #warontruth #womenwhotravel #thisamericanlife
If you loved #TheDarkIsRising by Susan Cooper, do not miss out on the song by prize-winning #Filk artist #JuliaEcklar on Bandcamp: https://juliaecklar.bandcamp.com/track/the-dark-is-rising
I am I think now up to date once more with #TheDarkIsReading and liking the book more than when I started. The protagonist has more agency now and there is more to it than just him undergoing a series of strange encounters. It's still a bit "the Dark is Rising and you must defeat it by completing a series of arbitrary tasks", but the book is more about atmosphere than plot, and Susan Cooper's evocation of atmosphere is masterful.
#TheDarkIsRising
A suitably chilling ending to #Bbcradio4's fantastic adaption of #TheDarkIsRising: the dark is certainly rising in this country right now. And who's going to turn it back this time?
#ToryEvil
Tried to listen to the remaining episodes of #TheDarkIsRising that I hadn't got around to listening to yet and... I just can't. I haaaate the narrator's gravelly portentous tones - they make every scene sound like a cheesy movie trailer.
And Merriman sounds far too young.
I really feel like I'm missing something somewhere, because everyone else seems to love this adaptation, and I don't.
The radio adaptation of The Dark is Rising has finished. This is something I started with some trepidation, because The Dark is Rising sequence were so influential in my childhood. These books may explain my love of folk-lore, my love of strange traditions, mythology etc...
The adaptation is superb in every way. The script, the acting, the sound design, and the music all come together to create something truly special.
The BBC's #TheDarkIsRising podcast has been pretty great, and the songs have been a big part of that.
They're here: https://orcd.co/sixsigns
Six Signs: Six Songs.
Credited to:
· Johnny Flynn
· Robert Macfarlane
· Héloïse Tunstall-Behrens and Luisa Gerstein
I've totally earwormed myself with this stuff and see no reason why you should not be similarly afflicted.
Episode 12, the final episode of #TheDarkIsRising, tells about the joining of the signs and Will's return home - as a hero belonging to two worlds now.
The joining of the signs is symbolised by the various voices of the Old Ones weaving themselves into the prophetic poem, united yet distinct in character like the signs. We also get a glimpse of the Hunting of the Wren (skipped in episode 8), which heightens the gathering at the smithy.
Once again the background music became a bit too heavy for me (too 1980s?) just as the Stantons walk home.
But I loved the very radio-y end, beyond the final sentence of the novel: radio announcements (starting with @exitthelemming) suggesting a journey through time, with the Dark rising over and over again in human minds and actions, in the shape of violence and pollution, culminating in the climate catastrophe threatening our world. Encouraging us to act against it, and against the Dark inside us.
In episode 11 of #TheDarkIsRising there are no painful, far-reaching choices for our protagonist to make anymore nor looming temptations to resist. Just things to remember: Despite the impressive scene of the Wild Hunt, Will is merely drifting along, following orders, witnessing events and words unfurl and unfold.
More than anything, the first half of this episode indulges in the atmosphere of the scene and the prophetic verses that foreshadow so many adventures yet to come. Miles Yekinni fills these lines with mysterious power, promise and wonder as he speaks them. (But I wish they had evoked the landscape around Windsor in a little more detail …)
The character who still has the freedom to make a decision - the lost, broken, suffering, beautiful soul at the heart of this scene - is Hawkin, finally understanding, finding peace, compassion and love again, returning home - redeemed at last on his deathbed, a rather Christian idea.
A slow start to the day, but now to turn my attention to the penultimate episode of The Dark Is Rising
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvp7
Listening to the penultimate #TheDarkIsRising and having some thoughts about how storytelling portrays balances of power.
Because, when you think about it, The Dark was always the underdog in this story, and that is actually quote common in stories.
So where are the stories for people who are genuinely struggling against overwhelming odds?
Okay, so that was probably one of the most stupid things I’ve done this year: went out for a walk in the dark with the dog. Decided to go to the unlit woods. And I decided to listen to #TheDarkIsRising while I did that.
I’m never going to sleep again.
Episode 10 of #TheDarkIsRising is no longer confined to a besieged interior space like the village church or the manor, but moves out into the Thames Valley of Buckinghamshire, additionally opened up by the rain that transforms the snowy landscape into a floodplain. (As I was listening, my mind kept jumping to flashing echoes of Philip Pullman’s “La Belle Sauvauge” with its dizzying sequence of flood scenes that leads the children along the floods of the swollen river through a supernatural island world).
The attack of the Dark becomes more focused, since the Black Rider and Hawkin target Will personally by kidnapping his sister Mary. One of the most visually stunning episodes, which requires a lot of description to capture the wonder of the dead king in his burial ship and the beauty of the Sign of Water. While I liked the music, it became a bit too much for my taste as the ship glided into the river.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4lzy?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
Listening to #TheDarkIsRising and thinking what a shame the Norwegian Nazis ruined the Sun Cross as a symbol.
Episode 9 of #TheDarkIsRising tells of the Dark attacking the entire village community, gathered at the Manor to seek protection from the cold. An acoustic challenge: How do you make cold audible?
The episode also tells of the Dark rising specifically inside one single man: Hawkin, declining Merriman's appeal to return to the light.
Very complex spatial layering (headphones on!): left - right, foreground - background, dampening, reverberation. Will and the narrator at the Center, from the left the Dark trying to enter; from the right, the villagers, with Hawkin triumphantly summoning the Dark, in sharp contrast to the sweet melodies from Paul playing the old flute: "Greensleaves", "Silent Night", … Then, as the Old Ones gather to form a circle, they and Will at the front, spread from left to right, as everything else fades. The Great Hall of the Light blissfully clear in sound, compared to the manor.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4lzx?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
I've got into the habit of listening to the daily #TheDarkIsRising episode on BBC Sounds as I'm walking the dog. It would be more atmospheric if we had the sparkling snow and frost from the other week (as opposed to today's cold rain), but it still feels very appropriate for this dark winter period.
@greywarbler Ever done one of those day per book day December reads for #TheDarkIsRising the way they used to have on the bird site?
I can't remember the tag used for it & it was never anything I did, but rereads as per the events in the book happened for many some years.
A few of my favourite things (Book edition):
#AnnLeckie
#TheDarkIsRising
#DouglasAdams
#LawrenceMiles
#LockedTomb and #TamsynMuir
#LordOfTheRings
#MurderBot
#NKJemisin (esp. #BrokenEarth)
#OctoberDaye and #SeananMcGuire / #MiraGrant
#RobinHobb (currently on Rain Wild Chronicles)
#ASongOfIceAndFire
#TerryPratchett
#UrsulaVernon / #TKingfisher (esp. #Digger)
#WatershipDown
#YoonHaLee