Will Stanton, youngest of the Old Ones—servants of the Light who must battle the forces of the Dark, in order to keep them from ruling the world—goes to Wales in this fourth installment of Susan Cooper's marvelous five-volume Dark Is Rising Sequence. Recuperating from an illness which has robbed him of his memory of who he is, Will is sent to stay with maternal relatives on Clwyd Farm, in the shadow of Cader Idris, the great mountain home of the malevolent Brenin Llwyd, or Grey King. Here he meets the pale Bran Davies, a lonely boy his own age, and his beloved dog, Cafall, and through them regains his memory, and his knowledge of his task: to find the golden harp needed to wake the Sleepers—long slumbering knights who will rise to do battle alongside the Light, in their coming final conflict with the Dark. Together Will and Bran have many adventures, winning the harp and eventually accomplishing their purpose. But in the process they experience heartbreak, loss, and an astonishing discovery of Bran's true identity...

Published in 1975, The Grey King was the winner of the Newbery Medal in 1976, and it is not difficult to see why. Although not my favorite of Cooper's sequence—that honor belongs to the second book, The Dark Is Rising, which was a Newbery Honor Book in 1974—this is a powerful book, one that I find deeply moving, emotionally, and intensely involving. I have read and reread this book many times, from the moment I first discovered the series as a child, and am always heartbroken at the death of Cafall. Approaching that section of the book I always feel a strong sense of dread, and reading it I am always caught helplessly in a maelstrom of sorrow. But although this incident in the story stands out, there is also a strong undercurrent of feeling that Cooper captures skillfully, and with nuance: Bran's loneliness, Owen Davies' sense of lostness, John Rowlands' simultaneous wonder at and distrust of the Light, Carradog Pritchard's malevolent madness—a lostness of a different kind. These all come home to me, each time I read this book. So too does the strong sense of place and of atmosphere, something Cooper excels at capturing. One feels the beauty and enchantment of these Welsh mountains, and their ancient traditions and lore.

Rereading as an adult, I do question the cosmology of Cooper's world more than I did as a child, and am not convinced it is entirely coherent. In particular, the concept of High Magic, and how it works in relation to the Light and Dark (not to mention the Wild Magic, which does not come into play here, but which is dealt with in the previous title, Greenwitch), and how the (presumably) at one-point human King Arthur could be the representative of the High Magic—none of this was at all clear to me, when I really thought about it, and therefore felt unconvincing. I shall have to think about it some more, which is no great negative, for any book. In any case, I still found this as moving and as engrossing a read as ever I did, and am glad to have revisited it. Highly recommended to all young fantasy fans, although I think it is necessary to read the entire series in order, to get the most out of it. For my part, I look forward to my reread of the fifth and final title, Silver on the Tree. ( )

I liked Will a lot better in this story than the first two, probably because he had more "normal boy" moments. The memory loss for the first bit was kind of weird and I didn't really like the villain but I guess villains aren't supposed to be likable... but this plot about how Caradog Prichard tried to assault Bran's mom Gwen because he thought she was maybe a prostitute or something felt so out of place in a kids adventure book. The rest of the characters were fine though, I really liked Bran especially and I liked all the scenes with Will and Bran... which was most of the book. ( )

Historical Fiction

Wow. The characterization and dialogue in this volume kicked the series up to a whole new level. While remaining true to its YA genre, the emotional complexity here far exceeds its predecessor novels. I'm immediately moving on to [b:Silver on the Tree|11313|Silver on the Tree (The Dark is Rising, #5)|Susan Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364805592l/11313._SY75_.jpg|1358831]. ( )

This is book 4 of the sequence and we are back with Will and with out and out fantasy after the previous blend of adventure story with fantasy and the Drew children's return.

Will is sent to Wales to recuperate after a serious illness which not only weakens him physically, but makes him forget that he is an Old One, last of that mysterious group who serve the Light and oppose the rising of the Dark. At first he is unaware that he has to perform a quest to regain another object of power to help the Light prevail, and must do so without the help of his mentor, Merriman Lyon, although a boy with whom he strikes up a precarious friendship is instrumental in helping him succeed.

Bran, who it transpires is the Raven Boy from the poem Will memorised at the end of book 3, is an albino and a loner, his only close friend his father's sheepdog, Caffal. Will meets them when he starts to explore the hills, having had a small stirring of memory about what he is meant to be doing there, and the dog restores his lost sense of self. But they are opposed not only by the supernatural forces of the Grey King, a major force among the Dark, but by human stupidity and vengefulness.

In some ways this is far more of an adult book than the rest of the series because of the thread concerning the relationship between Bran's mother, his father, and the local villain. Will has to grapple with issues far in advance of his eleven and a half years, though not of his greater Old One self, yet he has sympathy for Bran's difficulties. There is tragedy for Bran, though probably not as affecting as it could have been as it was telegraphed long before the event. But in some ways it is the human story concerning Bran which is the most affecting part of the book. The fantasy elements are in some ways a bit grafted on and artificial - the sequence when the boys have to answer the riddles posed by the three "kings" and who their real identities are is a case in point. It is also rather odd that a major plot device concerns a wildfire - the eponymous book that introduced Will shows us that he can start and put out fires, but here he never even thinks to try extinguishing this one, and yet he is supposed to be a powerful wizard. I liked the book, but I didn't love it, so a 3 rating from me. ( )