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Dust off a seat and discuss a good book here...you do read, right?

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago
I picked up a pristine set of the series at a used bookstore the other day and was just wondering if anyone else here had ever read it.

The books are mostly notable to me personally due to a period of being intensely into them as a kid, followed by developing just as intense a loathing for most of the characters on subsequent rereads. And yet the basic premise stuck with me enough that I was writing thinly veiled fanfic starring my own, better characters for a couple of years after.

Also I think these are the books I can point to as the origin of my dislike of characters getting their memories wiped, seriously to this day it's right up there with 'but it was all just a dream' as plot resolutions that make me want to throw a book against a wall.

Anyway I'm a little busy with the contest and getting ready for family to visit and all so I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to tackle even some wafer thin kids' books. I'm mostly curious now as to what the quality of the actual writing is when viewed as an adult, and kind of suspecting they'll be incredibly mediocre and turn out to have had way more of an effect on Tiny Mizal than they deserved.

Also, hadn't realized there was a movie! Is it as shitty and forgettable as it looks?

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago

I've never heard of these books, but after a quick Google search I realize why. They weren't insanely popular and they came out in the 70's.

Plot resolutions ending with amnesia and 'all just a dream' trope is just lazy writing. Well, the amnesia can be done well, but it usually isn't. Good luck on your journey back into a book series you loved, I'm sure you'll come out if feeling very differently than you did going into it again.

?i used to like Rick Riordan books and when I revisit them today I realize how immature they are

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago
The movie came out in 2007.

The characters' memories were deliberately wiped by the noble father figure guy who was actually Merlin once they'd served their purpose. He'd also befriended their family probably before they were born and encouraged them to consider him their uncle to more easily manipulate them into fulfilling prophecies or whatever. This was all premeditated because ~time magic~.

For some reason this wasn't presented as a bad thing.

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago

Don't hate me for never seeing the movie, c'mon, give me some credit. I was only 7 when that shit came out.

That sounds like an evil twisted fuck who would like use his powers in much more horrifying ways... if you catch my drift...

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago
Please get your mind out of the gutter. You see, in England, in the 70s, children could frolic across the countryside with magical old men for days and their parents would never question it.

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago

See, I don't get why people don't realize that England is a really, really weird island full of demons, medieval fairy tale monsters, and/or old magical hermits, and it's really not a safe place for children. It really is the Japan of Europe.

The Dark is Rising

6 years ago

Someone's been watching Berserk, or at least slightly too much anime than is healthy. Still, here be dragons.