AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper ISBN: 0-8124-6509-1 Publisher: Perfection Learning Prebound Pub. Date: September, 1988 Format: Unknown Binding List Price(USD): $11.19

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (63 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Great... as always...
Comment: Over Sea, Under Stone begins the story well - the story of the battle of the Dark and the Light. You are introduced calmly to three central characters - the impatient, stubborn, loveable Barney, Jane, his ever-anxious elder sister and his ambitious brother Simon. Next comes Merriman, their Great-Uncle, the eccentric old man who often disappears for a week or so, or even a year, and then pops back up on their doorstep. Immediately you love the people in this book, although their characters are not yet fully developed e.g. Jane's, which develops majorly in Greenwitch.

They are hunting for a treasure, shown on an old Latin map up in the loft of their holiday house. Gummery, or so they call him, reveals that they are hunting for the Grail of Arthurian legend. They do so willingly, fighting against the relentless attacks of the Dark and the sinister Mr. Hastings.

This book was originally written for a contest, following the guidelines of an adventure story, which explains its difference from the other books. However, it is one great book. The Drews will charm you, and so will Merriman. Barney finds out his secret identity at the end of the book.

Read this book! It's full of ideas and expands on those ideas. The childrens' adventures will thrill and frighten you, and who could fail to shudder deliciously at the mention of Mr. Hastings?

Rating: 4
Summary: Weakest, but not bad
Comment: "Over Sea Under Stone" is perhaps the weakest of the "Dark is Rising" books, though in itself it's quite a good book. The writing is a bit flat and the concept of the Dark is underdeveloped, but it's a good mixture of good-evil fighting and traditional treasure-hunting.

Simon, Jane and Barney Drew have arrived at their great-uncle Merriman's seaside house for a vacation -- and rapidly become quite bored. But when exploring the attic, they unearth a very, very old map that is somehow connected with the legendary King Arthur. As anyone else would do, the kids begin the search to find a golden grail.

But they soon find that they are not the only ones who want the map. A seemingly genial pair of vacationers are being slightly too inquisitive, and someone breaks into Merriman's house in search of the map. And Merriman reveals the origins of the map -- and an ages-old conflict between good and evil that hinges on who finds the grail first.

Taken alone, "Over Sea Under Stone" is a solid, even excellent fantasy story. But it's a little out of sync with the rest of the series. However it sets excellent groundwork, has an intriguing storyline and a good mix of folklore and Arthuriana, and offers us one of the most mysterious and likable "magic mentors," Merriman Lyon. (Say "Merry Lyon" really fast and see what you get) It starts off with every kid's fantasy -- treasure maps and ancient kings -- and rapidly blossoms into something much more.

One of the most noticeable differences between this and Cooper's later books is the writing; the writing later becomes much more verbose and descriptive and magical. Here it's quite stark and plain. And I had a bit of trouble connecting with the Drew kids, because they really didn't have much difference in their personalities. And people hoping for a mystical, mind-blowing experience like "Dark is Rising" will be disappointed; "Over Sea" is mostly very prosaic and very rooted in our world, and many important concepts in the series aren't even touched on.

Despite this, the Drew kids are overall quite likable -- they have very little idea what they're getting into, but they're determined to succeed anyway. Merriman is pleasant, humorous, but at the same time you get the sense that still waters run deep; he's more aware than anyone else of what's going on. And she does a wonderful job with the sense of evil and foreboding -- Mr. and Miss Withers are initially very jovial and kindly, but you can sense something rotten underneath. Same with the solemn vicar who is pursuing the kids.

"Over Sea Under Stone" is perhaps the most "standalone" of all the Dark is Rising books, an entertaining though not outstanding fantasy adventure. Highlu recommended.

Rating: 4
Summary: The subtle, mysterious beginning of a great series.
Comment: This book starts the classic five-volume fantasy series "The Dark Is Rising Sequence." Although listed as books for teenagers, adult fantasy fans will also find much to love in these novels. Author Susan Cooper writes with intelligence and respect for her readers, and fills all the books with fascinating layers of history, folklore, and mysticism. This first book establishes the conflict that will continue through the remaining books in the series: a group of modern-day English children find themselves embroiled in the hidden battle between the forces of good and a mysterious force known as The Dark, a battle that has its roots in the shadowy legends of King Arthur.

"Over Sea, Under Stone" differs from the other books in the series in that it avoids the overtly supernatural. This is an unusual fantasy novel in which nothing obviously fantastic occurs. The terrors of The Dark and the workings of magic remain subtle hints and hidden undertones beneath the action, as if they are occurring just out of sight of the main characters. This gives the novel a spooky sense of reality, and the reader can easily imagine him or herself in the place of the three children who, during a vacation in Cornwall, slowly discover the battle with The Dark that has existed for centuries. The novels that follow, especially "The Dark is Rising," plunge headlong into the supernatural, but "Over Sea, Under Stone" provides a perfect, gradual introduction.

The story introduces us to the three Drew children, Simon, Barney, and Jane, and their mysteriously knowledgeable Great-Uncle Merry, all who will play major parts in the saga. While the Drew children are on vacation in Cornwall (a land steeped in legends), they discover a map which may lead to the Grail of the King Arthur stories. With Great-Uncle Merry's help they start to unravel the clues on the map. But The Dark will do anything to seize the Grail first, for it contains a power that can defeat them. The story unfolds as a fascinating mystery as the Drew children unravel clue after clue while the danger from mysterious individuals grows greater with each stride they make toward the final goal.

Few young adult fantasies offer such intelligence and subtlety as "Over Sea, Under Stone." Readers of all ages will become entwined in its mysteries and read swiftly to the tense conclusion. After that, they will definitely want to continue to the epic next book in the sequence, "The Dark Is Rising," where the hidden magical forces of this book burst through the surface to start their titanic battle. The story continues in "Greenwitch," "The Grey King," and concludes in "Silver on the Tree."