The Dark is Rising
US edition
Simon & Schuster
Buy this book
from your local bookseller or
online from:
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop.org
(local booksellers)
e-book
Audiobook, CD/MP3
read by
Alex Jennings
Listening Library
Audible.com
The Dark is Rising
The Dark is Rising
Random House UK
Vintage Classics
e-book UK
The Dark is Rising
The Dark is Rising Sequence, Book 2
On the midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift—that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortal guardians dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. Introduced to this inheritance by the fierce and wise Merriman, Will is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Dark and the Light. And for the twelve days of Christmas, while the Dark is rising, life for Will is full of wonder, terror, and delight.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
Notable Children's Book, ALA
Carnegie Medal Honor Book, BLA, 1973
Newbery Honor Book, ALA, 1974
Horn Book Fanfare citation
New York Times Best Book
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SEQUENCE
Book 1: Over Sea, Under Stone
Book 3: Greenwitch
Book 4: The Grey King
Book 5: Silver on the Tree
THE COMPLETE SEQUENCE
The complete sequence is available in a single volume, box set, and collector's editions.
ADAPTATIONS

Stream the12-episode BBC radioplay
of The Dark is Rising

The Dark Is Rising  is a podcast available on Apple
Podcasts and BBC Sounds, adapted for radio by
Robert Macfarlane and Complicité director
Simon McBurney. It was originally linear-broadcast
on BBC World Service in twelve daily episodes that
correspond to the ‘real time’ of the novel’s unfolding.

A feature film adaptation of The Dark is Rising was made in 2007, called The Seeker.
My only comment on this is to report that, among other astonishments, it transformed 11-year-old Will Stanton into a 14-year-old American, with a twin brother who was abducted at birth and later restored to the family after spending 14 years inside a snowglobe. ‘Nuff said—except to thank the community of fans and bloggers who often turned horror into hilarity so that we could all cope. This Guardian review speaks for many fans.

BBC Radio 4 presented David Calcutt’s adaptations of Over Sea Under Stone (in 1995) and The Dark is Rising (in 1997) on their Children’s Radio program, with the voices of Ronald Pickup as Merriman and Struan Rodger as the Rider. They are not yet posted in the BBC online archives, but you can find .mpg files lurking in the shadows online.
  back to YA Novels