THE GRAIL: Stolen And Recovered -- Review of "Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 9, 2017

THE  GRAIL:  Stolen  And  Recovered 

A Review of

Susan Cooper Greenwitch (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2002

                                            $8.99   147 pp   ISBN: 978-1-4169-4966-4

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     Book Three of Susan Cooper’s wild-and-crazy quintology begins with a newspaper article reporting the theft of The Grail from the museum to which it had been donated by the Drew siblings (Jane, Simon, and Barney) whose dramatic Quest of The Grail was told in Book One, Over Sea, Under Stone.   Soooo, now the Drew teens need to go on another Quest for The Grail [should we call it the Re- Quest??], this time in partnership with eleven year old Will Stanton, who has recently been inducted into the ranks of The Old Ones, the leaders of The Light [as told by Cooper in Book Two, The Dark Is Rising].

     This Quest (or Re-Quest) is very different from the original Quest, and it includes obtaining a secret manuscript, which task involves The Greenwitch referred to in the title of Book Three, which is one of the oddest beings I have ever come across in fantasy literature!

     I highly recommend this book, as I have the first two, and I am now in the process of reading Book Four.  Information on the author is available on her website www.thelostland.com

Victory Through King Arthur's Sword !! -- Review of Susan Cooper's "Silver On The Tree"

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Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 13, 2017

Victory  Through  King  Arthur’s  Sword  !!

A Review of

Susan Cooper Silver On The Tree (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2005

                                                       $8.99   275 pp   ISBN: 978-0-689-50088-6

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     This story, like those in the previous four books of this quintology, involves a multitude of characters, scenes, actions, and conceptions which carry the reader along in this remarkable tale, where you never know what is going to happen.  For me, the most significant factors were the Arthuriana:  not only King Arthur himself but also his sword (which in this story is surprisingly not called Excalibur), and Merlin (who was also present in the other four stories). Also deserving of special note is the strange place called “The Lost Land”, which appears to be a satire on and/or warning about existentialism which is expressed sarcastically by one of the characters there in this way:  “we are all actors in a play which nobody wrote and nobody will see” (p. 139) – a sharp contrast with the world-view of Tolkien’s Hobbit character Sam who expresses delight at “being inside a poem”.

     The story (and therefore the series as a whole) concludes with the defeat of the Dark followed by an ending which bears some similarity to the conclusion of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.  But the most powerful expressions of finality for me were the ones where characters refer to looking forward to the future blessedness “At the Back of the North Wind” (pp. 244 & 268), a poignancy also evoked by George McDonald in his book by that title. 

     For information on the author, you can visit her website www.thelostland.com. 

Surprises Galore In These Tales From Wales !! -- Review of Susan Cooper's "The Grey King"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 10, 2017

Surprises  Galore  In  These  Tales  From  Wales !!

A Review of

Susan Cooper The Grey King (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2003)

                          $8.99   165 pp   ISBN: 978-1-4169-4967-1

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     As with the first three books in her The Dark Is Rising quintology, this fourth book is so chock full of events (almost all of them surprises) that there is no way I can do justice to it in a short review like this.  I shall, therefore, restrict my comments here to perhaps the most important scene, the one pertaining to the magic harp shown on the front cover of the book.  By playing this harp at the close of this great story, Will Stanton, the newest of The Old Ones, fulfills the prophecy on page 151:

     “Fire on the mountain shall find the harp of gold

       Played to wake the Sleepers, oldest of the old. “

   

  It is these awakened Sleepers who defeat The Grey King.  As I read about this I was reminded of a similar scene in Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings, where Strider/Aragon walks The Paths Of The Dead, whom he awakens and then sends forth into the battle then raging on Middle Earth.

     I highly recommend this book as I have the previous three.

     Information on the author is available on her website www.thelostland.com.   

THE DARK IS RISING!! (And Almost Wins!) -- Review of Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 8, 2017

THE  DARK  IS  RISING !!  (And Almost Wins!!)

A review of

Susan Cooper The Dark Is Rising (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2001)

                        231 pp    $6.99    ISBN: 978-0-689-30317-3

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

       

   It is very interesting and very important to note the unusual fact that Susan Cooper's famous Sequence has the same title as the SECOND book in this Quintology, NOT the first book, as is usually the case whenever a series has the same title as one of its books.  This is due to the fact that the title of the second book (the one under review here), The Dark Is Rising, is also the underlying theme of the entire Sequence.  The first book, Over Sea, Under Stone, is an introduction only -- the seriousness of the whole story is NOT disclosed until the second book!!  The first book is interesting and fun and a good read but is not nearly as powerful as the second, which, by the way, won the Newberry Honor Book Award!

   

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  It is also interesting to note that in Cooper's world-view, the conflict is between The Dark and The Light, NOT between the dark side and light side of the The Force, as in Star Wars. It is far, far more serious than that.  I normally do not quote from other reviewers but I shall now present two reviews, the first from Amazon, and the second from Psychology Today because they are so pertinent and so well expressed that I feel I MUST present them here:

 "Will Stanton discovers on his 11th birthday that he is no mere boy. He is the Sign-Seeker, last of the immortal Old Ones, destined to battle the powers of evil that trouble the land. His task is monumental: he must find and guard the six great Signs of the Light, which, when joined, will create a force strong enough to match and perhaps overcome that of the Dark. Embarking on this endeavor is dangerous as well as deeply rewarding; Will must work within a continuum of time and space much broader than he ever imagined."  --  Amazon.com

"Susan Cooper is one of the few contemporary writers who has the vivid imagination, the narrative power, and the moral vision that permit her to create the kind of sweeping conflict between good and evil that lies at the heart of all great fantasy. Tolkien had it. So did C. S. Lewis. And Cooper writes in the same tradition." -- "Psychology Today"

     Amen and Amen!!!  

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Three Modern Teens Are Drawn Into A Quest For The Grail -- Review of Susan Cooper's "Over Sea, Under Stone"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 6, 2017

Three  Modern  Teens  Are  Drawn  Into  A  Quest  For  The  Grail

A Review of

Susan Cooper Over Sea, Under Stone (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2000)                          

                          $5.64  304pp  ISBN: 978-0689840357

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     Last week I had the exciting experience of coming across a great fantasy author, Susan Cooper, who has been around for a LONG time but was unbeknownst to me before then.  I liked her book about Nessie so much that I decided to review it and to read her other books, beginning with the one under review here, WHICH – GET THIS, begins the same way (!!):  three teenagers [while rummaging through old stuff in the attic in the old house where they are vacationing] happen upon a (hitherto unknown to them) very old strange map which leads them onto a quest for the Holy Grail!!  I swear I am not making this up!!   Just as I was NOT on a quest for a fantasy author, so they were not on a quest for the Grail – in both cases it just happened (or did it??).

    There have been MANY stories about Grail Quests, but I have NEVER read (or heard of) any that are anything like this one!  And, that is all I am going to tell you because I do not want to give away the story.  The only other thing I will tell you is that this book is the first book of a quintology, and that I intend to read the other four books, and, in fact, I began reading the second one last night.  So, stay tuned and I will give you a review of that one. 

Nessie Revealed!! -- Review of Susan Cooper's "The Boggart and The Monster"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

February 2, 2017

Nessie  Revealed!!  (Or  Nessie  Bids  Adieu  To  The  Loch!!)

A  Review  Of

Susan Cooper The Boggart and The Monster (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1997

                          185 pp   $7.99   ISBN: 0-689-81330-9

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     I am a long-time fan of the Loch Ness Monster; and, when I lived in Philly, a friend of mine was a scientist who belonged to a Loch Ness Monster scientific study organization, and under its auspices he traveled to the Scottish Highlands, (which, by the way, is a great setting for stories).  My “bet” is on the dinosaur theory, which, by the way, is mentioned in the book under review, which is one of the most interesting and well written stories I have ever read penned by a long-time author whom I have just now discovered by means of a Goodreads email I received yesterday from one of my fellow speculative fiction writers in the Lost Genre Guild.  Cooper “gives away” the story in the jacket blurb, which I shall not repeat here so I do not need to issue a spoiler alert! 

    In re the name of my reviews blog, let me just say that the book itself is not “new” but rather is “newly discovered” (yesterday!) by me!  Ha!  Ha!

     I have already started, beginning today, to read Cooper’s other stories, beginning with the quintology titled The Dark Is Rising.  I will let you know what I think of it after I have completed reading it.

     Information on the author is available at her website www.thelostland.com.