The Dark is Rising

All through time, the two great forces of Light and Dark have battled for control of the world. Now, after centuries of balance, the Dark is summoning its terrifying forces to rise once more…and three children find themselves caught in the conflict. The Drew siblings—Simon, Jane, and Barney—are on a family holiday in Cornwall when they discover an ancient map in the attic of the house they are sharing with their Great Uncle Merry. They know immediately that the map is special but have no way of knowing how much. For the map leads to a grail: a vital weapon for the Light’s fight against evil. In taking on the quest to find the grail, the Drews will have to race against the sinister human beings who serve the dreadful power of the dark—an adventure that puts their own lives in grave peril.

The day before Will Stanton’s eleventh birthday, he notices strange omens on his family farm: a cryptic gift, a terrifying flock of birds, and a deep, cold fear that emerges from the darkness. When he wakes on his birthday—also Midwinter Day—Will has the life-changing revelation that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals who fight to keep the powers of evil, the Dark, from taking over the world. Will gets immediately swept away by his new destiny as he sets off in search of six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Light and the Dark. But the Dark has dispatched its own agent in pursuit: the rider—evil cloaked in black, mounted on a midnight stallion. As evil looms ever closer, Will must find the Signs of wood, bronze, iron, water, fire, and stone before the Dark begins its dreadful rise.

The priceless golden grail that Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew worked so hard to recover has been stolen by forces of evil. Great-Uncle Merry takes the siblings back to Trewissick in Cornwall, where he expects the Dark has hidden the grail. There, they are joined by Will Stanton, a mysterious boy with astounding powers. But there are more forces at play than they realize, and when the village women create the disturbing ritual creature called the Greenwitch—an ancient image made of leaves and branches and cast into the sea for good luck in fishing—Jane must face the unknown without help. The Greenwitch springs to life with vengeful power and is called forth from the ocean depths by the Dark to set loose the unpredictable Wild Magic of the earth. To prevent this dreadful entity from unleashing devastating damage, Jane must convince Greenwitch to turn toward the Light. But can she ever hope to tip the balance against the Dark?

There is a Welsh legend about a harp of gold, hidden away within a certain hill, that will be found by a boy and a white dog with silver eyes—a dog that can see the wind. Will Stanton knows nothing of this when he comes to Wales to recover from a severe illness. But when he meets the strange boy Bran and his white dog, memory wakes in Will. For Will is the last-born of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to saving the world from the forces of evil, the Dark. It is his task to use the golden harp to wake the six who must be roused from their long slumber in the Welsh hills to prepare for the last battle between the Dark and the Light. But first, with help from Bran, Will must face his most terrifying opponent yet: the Grey King.

The last great battle between the Light and the Dark has arrived, engulfing Will Stanton; his ageless master, Merriman; the three heroic Drew children; and Bran, the Welsh boy whose destiny is tied to the Light. On a quest through time and space that touches the most ancient myths of the islands of Britain, the six heroes fight fear and death in the darkly brooding mountains of Wales. And in the haunting Lost Land, Will and Bran find dream and nightmare, but also achieve the final talisman against the Dark: the crystal sword. In the dreadful last moment when the Dark rises, all the servants of the Light join to combine the powers of the sword and the six ancient signs. But even with the Signs on their side, can Light prevail?