vilakins | Dark is Rising series ending

I just finished Silver on the Tree, the last of the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper.

I'm not happy.

I didn't like Will Stanton anyway, being creeped out by the adult in a child's body, masquerading to his family but I really liked the Drew kids, especially Jane, but WTH, Susan Cooper? After all they've been through, all the courage and compassion and growing they've done, you remove their memories (except for Will's of course)? That's as bad as what RTD did to Donna; it takes away any reward for what they did, and anything they learned about themselves and what they were capable of. And what was the point of Merriman saying that Bran had made the right decision to stay in the 20th century when all he gets too is a wiped memory?

I feel cheated and rather wish I'd stopped with the first book.

[Edit] I meant to say that memory wipes (except for Blake's) are almost as bad as "it was all a dream" which I regard as an infuriating and complete waste of my time.

On to Going Postal. I'm sure from what I've heard that I'll enjoy that.

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Going Postal is a lot of fun; I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I should also post on "Monstrous Regiment" which I really enjoyed despite my fears about the title, though I was annoyed at Polly choosing to wear an impractical skirt at the end.

I think the "removing the memory" ending is as big a cop-out as "I woke up and found it was all a dream". It means the whole book has been, literally, a waste of time.

This is just how I feel, and in this case it was a five-book series. I meant to say in the post that it was as bad as "it was all a dream" which makes me want to break things. I was furious when a BBC play intrigued me for almost two hours--then sprang that one on me. I'll never get that time back.

It has been so many years since I read The Dark is Rising that I had forgotten practically everything about it except that (a) it was considered a Classic and well-praised, and (b) it was rather spooky and atmospheric (c) there was something I hadn't liked about it, something vaguely annoying. This combination of information had me thinking "I must re-read this some day, because I can't remember whether I would like it or not".
Your post has saved me the effort. Though, as an academic exersize, it might be interesting to compare and contrast the heroes of The Dark is Rising and Harry Potter. If I were an English major. Which I'm not.

The other books at least interested me a bit, but this one was also boring and not terribly plotty. Beautiful descriptive language is Not Enough.

I'm sorry you didn't like the end, I never liked that part of it either

"Didn't like" is an understatement. :-(

I knew I had read the Dark is Rising as part of my ALA(associate of the Library Association)exams but I couldn't for the life of me remember anything about it. You have just told me why, I hated that last book and have wiped all memory of the rest from my mind because of it. Ah well it saves me having to read it again to find out.

My goodness, I have done exactly the same. I have read Silver on the Tree three or four times, and I could not for the life of me say what happened in it. And I love the other four books.

I found myself skipping pages. "Will and Bran wander around an unlikely city outside time and never really seem in any danger" pretty much sums it up. Blech.

it takes away any reward for what they did, and anything they learned about themselves and what they were capable of

I KNOOOOOW! It sucks! I believe I sulked for a whole day after reading the ending. DWJ's Deep Secret almost did the memory wipe thing to one character at the end. I remember thinking 'oh NO, not AGAIN' but said character was sneaky so managed to remember everything and it turned out to be a pretty cool twist.

I haven't read that one yet, but I like DWJ's books. She goes off in interesting and unexpected directions.

While I liked reading most of the DiR books, I was angry about the ending. Wiped memories = author cop-out. Most of the time, anyway. Meh.

Going Postal is great. :D

It's a cop-out, and it's insulting to the characters and the reader or viewer. "It was all a dream" is even worse; the only good thing is she didn't do that. I also found the last book boring.

Yay for Discworld (though there have been a few duds).

"It's a dream" is such an obvious cop-out that it's even been parodied in Married With Children, where Peggy's pregnancy turned out to be Al's nightmare. Tee hee.

You're going to love the main character in Going Postal. He's a crook and a thief and yet absolutely lovable. Smart too. He reminds me of some other fictional character whose name has temporarily slipped my mind.

[grin] I think I know who you mean. :-D [echoes your icon]

Peggy's actor was pregnant and had a miscarriage, but it was a good save by the writers and well done as it was in character.

He does get one perk that Vila didn't, but I can't say more about that because it would be a bit of a spoiler.

Like a lot of other people, I remembered that I hated Silver on the Tree but couldn't remember why. Now you've reminded me.

I HATE mindwipes. I hate them because I think that removing someone's memory is a violation of their soul and deeply, deeply WRONG. I hate them because they are TERRIBLE storytelling. I hate them because they're STUPID. I just HATE THEM.

Thank you for reminding me of why I never, ever want to read Silver on the Tree again. EVER.

The rest of it wasn't all that good either, being slow, unexciting, and confused. It ruined the whole series for me, and I did love Over Sea, Under Stone and Greenwitch.

I agree with everything you said. I was devastated when they did in in DW.

I was never a fan of the Will Stanton books either.

Can't remember the ending either.

However I agree about the mind wipe. It was one of the things about Babylon 5 and their treatment of serial killers and such that creeped me out. (They are mind wiped, have false memories implanted and then are allowed back into society again, having been rendered "harmless".)This is regarded as "more merciful than execution".

*Shudders*

Blake's only works because it didn't stay "adjusted".

As far as serial killers go, I don't care what they do to them, whether it's killing them outright or personality death, as long as they're not around to do more. They're worse than a waste of oxygen.

But wiping people's memories for convenience as was done he is just disgusting and lacking in any respect for them and what they so bravely did.

Dark is Rising series ending

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