dustydigger
2/9/2014
Synopsis :
When Simon, Jane and Barney Drew go to stay with their Great Uncle Merry in the Cornish village of Trewissick, they are all looking forward to a long summer holiday of hilltop picnics and seaside jaunts. But when Barney discovers an ancient map from King Arthur’s day, they suddenly find themselves up against the minions of a mysterious dark power, many of whom appear in the unlikeliest of guises. Luckily for the children, their enigmatic uncle turns out to be something of an expert on ancient maps and Arthurian legend, with mysterious powers of his own. Can the Drews decode the map and discover the invaluable treasure it leads to before the dark forces manage to get their hands on it?
This first book in Susan' Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence starts out a a Enid Blyton like mystery adventure,but it rapidly becomes darker.Characters on the surface maybe seemingly harmless,but they may be quite cold,ruthless and willing to stop at nothing to obtain what they desire.The villains here are really quite unsettlingly dark and even terrifying.Several times I had a definite frisson of unease and anxiety along with the children.The beautiful scenery of Cornwall in the blazing summer heat covers something quite cold, nasty and genuinely frightening.Gradually too the exciting treasure hunting becomes a part of the battle of good and evil that will be developed in Cooper's later books.
Wellwritten,with unusual characters,a brilliant sense of place,and unrelenting tension and adventure,this is an excellent puzzle book too,as the children solve the mysteries in a convincing way,and of course there is the enigmatic Mery Lyon - Merlin. Very enjoyable