The mother of one of my students came to me and said, "My son has just recently begun to read for pleasure, since discovering the Harry Potter books. Now he has finished them, and I don't know what to suggest he read next. I told her, "When I was in fifth grade, I also fell in love with a series of books about a boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday who he really is..."

Thank you so much for your excellent site. I first read "The Dark is Rising " series over 20 years ago when I was about 12. I was immediately captivated by the authors imagination and the the whole feel of this imaginary , mythical world. I have lost count over the decades as to how many times I have re-read the series , however I believe that I enjoy them a little more each time. Now that I have a child of my own I look forward to introducing him to Will Stanton, Merriman, Bran, Cafall and all the other wonderful characters. 

Thank you again.

Elizabeth Noll

What a wonderful page to find! I was amazed to hear (by reading other letters) that many people have experienced the same emotional bonding ,with the people and places in Susan Cooper's DR series, that I have. I too have travelled to Wales (I'm Australian) in order to walk in the shadow of the Grey King, to sit by Llyn Barfog and to hear the mountains sing! Thank you for the chance to learn more about the writer who first fired up my love for all things Welsh and Arthurian, and who has kept me inspired for the last 25 years!  I  had just finished reading the series again (don't ask me how many times I have read it - I lost track years ago!) when I found this site - so all the feelings that are stirred up by doing so, are bubbling away just below the surface. Thank you again for some wonderful reading. 

 May the Light prevail.

Anne Olsen

Hi, I have only just discovered your web site and want to tell you how much I enjoyed it. Will come back and visit it again when I have more time. I have read Susan's books for longer than I can remember. I remember being at school and discovering "The Dark is Rising" and then having to wait for her to write the other books in the series. This series has always been at the top of my favourite fantasy list. I love it. 

Over the years I have read her other books as they have been published too. Some are a bit hard to get hold of - New Zealand is not well known as a place  where it is easy to get hold of some things.

Gerd Hennen

Anna Lyczmanenko

Dear Mrs Cooper,
I love your books and have read almost all of them. I have a question regarding your book The Silver On The Tree. Why at the end are the three Drew children not allowed to remember the things they did for the Light? Also, why weren't they going to see Great Uncle Merry again? Are you going to tell what happens to them or if they ever by accident remember anything? Will you write about what might happen to Will?

Chris Gates

While fooling around with my computer, it occurred to me to try a search using 'Susan Cooper.  I found your website:

I'm quite impressed at the level of workmanship that went into the creation. The biography, booklist, and comment sections were nicely thought out. I read her books in my early teens and fell in love with them. I'm now in my late twenties and still find/make time to read them once or twice each year. The characters and imagery are fantastic! It makes me yearn to meet people such as Will Stanton and Bran Davies.

I'd like to ask some questions regarding the 'Dark is Rising' sequence including:

Does Will ever join Merriman?
What does Will do with the rest of his life and does he ever use his powers/abilities?
Does Will ever recover the golden harp at the bottom of the lake?
What was in the second chest located in the middle of Bird Rock in 'The Grey King' that Arthur never hoped to use?
Do the Drew children and Bran Davies ever successfully recall their adventures throughout their lives?

As you can very well see, her influence is strongly felt.

Bear

Hello Mark!

I just had to tell you how much I love your Susan Cooper website... I believe that I first read The Dark Is Rising series in 5th grade, now I'm 33 years old and have read them countless times! Every year or two I have to read them again, it's like visiting dear friends. Susan Cooper did for me what no other author could have possibly done, made me know that there is more to life than what most people see. I recommend her books to all my friends. I can't imagine my life without Will or Merriman... I think my favourite is The Grey King, I was always just fascinated by her descriptions of Wales, and ever since then I have loved anything Welsh, from listening to the music of Carreg Lafar, to reading The Mabinogion. Recently I picked up The Grey King and a map of Wales to plan a future trip where I could visit the places that I had read about for so long, and just about fell off my chair last night when I found exactly what I had been wanting right here on your web site! These books have been such a big part of my life for over 20 years, thank you so much for making this site for all of us to see! 

Much Magic.

Simon Hardy

I have been delighted that I have found a Web Page dedicated to Susan Cooper and the "Dark is Rising" series. I first read the books at the tender age of ten almost twenty years ago. I can remember buying some of them in a book shop in Southwold in a shop that was once owned by E H Sheppard (artist on the A A Milne books).

Simon Hardy

Anita Jays

I have just ravenously read all the Dark is Rising sequence and a strange coincidence occurred. Just recently I was invited to stay at a cottage in Wales that my friend's father owns and where did it turn out to be? The farmhouse nearest the Bearded Lake! The house is a five minute walk from the lake and is mentioned in Silver on the tree. Wow! 

Dean Hughes

I really enjoyed your website. I have been a tremendous fan of Susan Cooper's for a long time now. I ran across the Dark is Rising series as a kid looking through the library for something interesting, and WOW! I have since re-read this series several times. I recommend it to all of my nieces and nephews. They were like a gift. 

 Nice job.

Andy

Mark,

First let me thank you for capturing and holding onto a piece of my childhood. I read the Dark Is Rising series when I was in grammar school, and it was etched in my mind for good. I just repurchased the series again, and in doing research I stumbled onto your fine website. Your documentation of Susan Cooper's life, works, and inspiration is fantastic.

Thank you for a wonderful site.

Lori Farrell

I was inspired to search for a Susan Cooper site by an experience I had this
morning. The mother of one of my students came to me and said, "My son has just recently begun to read for pleasure, since discovering the Harry Potter books. Now he has finished them, and I don't know what to suggest he read next. I told her, "When I was in fifth grade, I also fell in love with a series of books about a boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday who he really is..."

The Dark is Rising series had an enormous impact on me as a child and has
continued to affect me through yearly readings as an adult. No other series of books has moved me so profoundly, has made me yearn so for a sighting of the landscapes it paints, has made me feel such a loss at its end. From the time I discovered The Grey King in 1977, I have wished I had Susan Cooper's gift for writing, her ability to transport a reader to another place, time, and perspective.

My husband is planning a family trip to Britain next summer. When he asked where I would like to go, I immediately said, "Wales, a particular part of Wales." It was nice to learn from your website that I was not alone.

Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Victoria Dixon

You have a wonderful site.  I, too, had to return to this mystical place I'd never seen. My first trip was as a poor student and I didn't get to see nearly as much as you did. That was almost  ten years ago. I'm returning next year and your site gave me much help and 
a feeling that I'm not alone in wanting to take the "Susan Cooper tour de Wales"

Happily, I am a semi-professional singer and musician. I made music to go to "White in the Moon". I intend to sing to the mountains when I get there. Who knows what might 
happen?

Margaret

"Hey, thanks for putting up all that info about Susan Cooper. I discovered your wonderful website today while looking for a graphic of the cover of Seaward to include in some childhood reminiscences. Seaward may be my most vivid childhood reading memory. I discovered it on the library shelf when I was eight, and took it home because of the illustration on the cover (the one you used on the Seaward synopsis page) and a quick read of the first page. It was high summer, and the little wooden seat that my father had installed in the huge flowering cherry tree on our parking strip was the obvious place to read my new library book. I remember the breeze and the pink blossoms surrounding me as I read of Cally's mother leaving her house, and wondering at the itch in her palms. I scratched mine in sympathy. I was sitting on our back porch when West was in the chess game, on the living room sofa when they reached the tower in the lake, and up in my bedroom when Peth died. I was so overwrought I had to put the book down for a few minutes to collect myself and go on. It was the first book I remember desperately wanting to read straight through to the end. I was 3/4 through it when I fell asleep that night, and picked it up and finished it the moment I awoke the next morning. I even remember the shorts I was wearing, the fact that I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom leaning against the side of my bed, and the mixture of elation and sorrow I felt when Cally leapt into the sea to join the Selkies. I was EIGHT. I'm 24 now and have read it three or four more times in the intervening years, and am enchanted anew every time. If I ever find it in hardback with the original cover illustration I will buy it on the spot.

Thanks again for the putting together such a great site."