And so we come to the fourth book in the Dark is Rising sequence. The first two books were a little uneven in tone – a more childish Blyton-esque fantasy and a more darker, sombre one, but by The Grey King, the series has found its stride and has become even more exciting.

Not that the start would have you know that. The Grey King starts with Will, the last of the Old Ones, recovering from a terrible illness. Will knows that he has forgotten something important; as the readers, we know what, since those were described in the events of the last book. To recover, Will is sent to his aunt’s home in Wales and there is where he meets Bran, a mysterious boy who is destined to help Will on his quest.

Being set in Wales, The Grey King is suffused with Welsh mythology and language. There’s even an extended section where Bran tries to teach Will how to pronounce Welsh, although I’m afraid I still don’t get it. I really enjoyed how the book delved deep into the setting; I cannot imagine it taking place anywhere else.

As for the story, it was definitely exciting, though I felt most of the action took place in the second half. Cooper takes a bit of time to set things up and give Will his memory back, but once the action starts it does not stop. In fact, the book ends so abruptly that we don’t even get a proper denouement! While I wouldn’t say it was a cliffhanger, since the main plot questions are answered, I didn’t feel the sense of ending that the other books have, that for now, the Light had won again and there will be short break before the next quest and the next battle. Instead, the ending is abrupt and we get the sense that the last, final battle is about to take place soon. It makes me very interested in how Cooper is going to start the next and final book in the series.

Overall, this is an exciting tale that swept me up in the action and brought me to Wales! After reading this, I feel the urge to go and see the places that Cooper describe, they sound like places of incredible beauty. If you have already started the Dark is Rising series, you will probably be very tempted to read on. If you haven’t started the series, then you definitely need to go back and start from the beginning to fully understand what is going on.

P.s. I will be away from this blog for about two weeks! I’m going to be away from the computer in general and I will share more when I’m back!