I would have liked to know what was so powerful about the six riders and why they had the power to stop the Grey King. And Bran's family history, when discovered, leaves me anxious to pick up the fifth book.However, true to Cooper's style, I felt the book lacked a bit in the explanation area. At one particular part, after experiencing a character death, I swear I lost the ability to breathe for a couple seconds. There was also much more emotion in this book. Rather than dreading a book focused solely on Will, I found myself eagerly turning page after page. It made him human, it made him relatable, it made him the child that he is, and it made him lovable. It was so nice to see Will struggle with something for a change.

And it is Will's task to wake - with the golden harp - the six who must be roused from their long slumber in the Welsh hills to prepare for the last battle between the Dark and the Light.This is to date my favorite book of the Dark is Rising Sequence. For Will is the last-born of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to saving the world from the forces of evil, the Dark. But when he met Bran, the strange boy who owned a white dog, he began to remember. Will Stanton knew nothing of this when he came to Wales to recover from a severe illness. There is a Welsh legend about a harp of gold, hidden within a certain hill, that will be found by a boy and a white dog with silver eyes - a dog that can see the wind. Having said that it was compelling, magical and certainly full of mystery! Read more

This was a poignant and tense part of the book for me that somehow does not often get mention – I liked the way in which Susan Cooper brings together the longing question of humanity ‘where do I come from’ to the legend aspect of her saga.This fourth book in the Dark is Rising sequence was the first book in the series that I have read and had it not been for the Newbery Award it would not have been my choice. Finally he is able to ask and face those questions that were previously unspeakable. For Bran the boundaries surrounding ‘his story’ have been tightly controlled by his father. As we learn more of his story themes of separation, roots and belonging emerge. Will, recuperating from hepatitis and staying with his Welsh uncle and aunt overcomes the Dark evil with the help of Bran, a young boy whose origins are clouded in mystery. This quote reflects the book, a mix of myth, legend and humanity.Set in the mysterious Welsh countryside this is a story woven with myth and Arthurian legend.

‘For a moment he seemed no more than an uncomplicated small boy, caught up in bubbling wonder by a marvellous sight’.

The Grey King by Susan Cooper