The Dark Is Rising

As a young child in middle school, I was (and still am) a voracious book worm.  While the rest of the kids were busy socializing and getting into shenanigans, you could always find little me sitting on the floor between the aisles of bookshelves of whichever library would have me, rummaging for the oldest and most dust-covered books I could find.  One fateful day, amidst a pile of aging paperbacks, I uncovered a book which soon became my favorite story of all time.

Quite possibly one of the most amazing and unknown stories ever put to paper is the Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper.  As with all the most famous and beloved fantasy stories, this one is a children's tale in five parts.  But don't let the genre put you off, because it takes place in the United Kingdom circa 1970.

The conflict is no stranger to anyone.  Typical of a children's tale, the forces of good battle the forces of evil, or as the book names them:  The Light vs The Dark.  But what makes these stories so unique is how the author weaves magic and Arthurian legend into a modern England decades before the amazing world of Harry Potter took the world by storm. 

As stated, the story spans a total of 5 short books:

Over Sea, Under Stone

The Dark Is Rising

Greenwitch

The Grey King

Silver on the Tree

The first two books start the story in two different places within a short time span of each other, with different characters who come together in the third book, Greenwitch.  Over Sea, Under Stone introduces us to 2 brothers, Simon and Barney and their sister Jane and follows the adventures of these ordinary children while on holiday visiting a small village in Cornwall.  The Dark Is Rising begins its tale with Will Stanton who lives in a small village outside of London, and like the other kids, is as ordinary as they come, until he turns 11 on Midwinter Day.

Instead of going any further in the details as I don't want to ruin the sense of wonder that comes from reading the story, I rather explain a few of the reasons why I am so fascinated by this story. 

First and foremost, the integration of Arthurian myth into a modern story coupled with lots of nifty rhymes.  Who wouldn't want to be the kid that was involved in the events leading to a potential return of the Pendragon?  How many people do you know have actually SEARCHED for the Holy Grail?  Or may have interacted with an old man whom you suspect might be a certain famous wizard advisor from long ago?  If you're a fan of the old legends, you will be blown away by how prominently they are featured throughout the entire 5 book series.  An example rhyme from the series:

When light from the lost land shall return,
Six Sleepers shall ride, six Signs shall burn,
And where the midsummer tree grows tall
By Pendragon’s sword the Dark shall fall.

Second, the battle between Light and Dark.  If you know me well, you know that you will not find a bigger fanatic of the show Lost.  What no one knows is the real why.  Sure, I'll tell you that the characters in that show are pretty amazing, and so is the crazy science that makes all of the conflict possible.  However, the real draw to the show was how the forces of the good and bad guys were governed by a set of unspoken rules.  No matter how high the stakes got, there were just some things you didn't do, or just couldn't because of some governing body that could in essence over-power either side for the sake of adjudicating.  That concept of having a form of adjudication between the forces of good and evil fascinated me when I first discovered it in this series, and that fascination has stayed with me and fueled my love of Lost. 

Third, time travel + immortality = :D.  Honestly, the two things I'd love to be able to experience blended together. 

Lastly, how it ends.  I'm usually a very harsh critic of how an author chooses to end a story.  So many amazing stories and conflicts have been introduced and successfully navigated in the past, only to have the author run out of steam or write themselves into a corner and take the easy way out.  When I tell anyone that I like how a book ends, it is a huge compliment to the author and the book as a whole.  That being said, the resolution to the Dark Is Rising sequence is easily among one of the best I have ever read.  I'll go ahead and say it's second only to the ending of the Chronicles of Narnia, but only due to the technicality of the world of Narnia ACTUALLY ending.  I can't say that for many books.

What makes this series even more dear to me is that for a large part of my life, I was the only person who I knew that had ever read the books and found them amazing.  Imagine my delight upon discovering that my best friend had also believed the same thing concerning her experience with the books.  It's definitely been something that has brought us closer together over the years.  To this day, we remain the only 2 people I know to have read the series in its entirety, so I invite you to pick up the first book sometime and give it a read.  Trust me, you won't regret it.

A New Beginning

Take a deep breath and hold it.

It's been a very delirious 10 days.  Those close to me understand what went down and I won't dwell on it now.  What matters is that I've grown tremendously from it, and that gives me peace.  

With great change comes great opportunity.  And that is what I plan to make of it.  I have much to work on, and much more to grow from.  These next several months will be an exercise in patience, humility, understanding, and growth, and I welcome the challenge.  As cliche as it sounds, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and so here I stand with both feet planted firmly on the ground once more, ready to take this chance and shape a better future.

I've learned a great deal about myself recently, and that knowledge is being internalized.  There is still much more for me to learn, and I will do my absolute best to accomplish what I've set out to do.  Great things are coming.

Let it out.

Jolly Good

Welcome to England.

After the proper amount of sleep to recover from a most disgusting bout of jet lag, I am coherent and capable of relating my adventures in a (hopefully) entertaining manner.

Once the previous week spent in the Memphis time-wasting hell was survived, I boarded a plane to Dallas and then to London.  Luckily, I was traveling with another petty officer, so it made the trip less terrifying.  Unfortunately, I was unable to sleep at all on the flight and consequently ended up staying awake over 36 hours since we arrived in London at 7:50 AM local time in London on Sunday, Oct. 10.  A very long day of mild visual hallucinations and general disbelief of my surroundings ensued due to lack of sleep.

Our driver picked us up from the airport after we navigated customs for an hour.  The guy that picked us up was awesome, and Jamaican.  He had the best accent in the world and we wouldn't let him stop talking for most of the drive.  It took about an hour and a half to make it from London to Alconbury.  After getting dropped off at the gate, we hauled our bags over to the building where we had to check in and were met by a friend of mine to help us through the process.  A few signed sheets of paper later and we were off to move into the room where I'm now residing in.

The rest of the day is a blur.  My friend that met us when we checked in kept us from falling asleep by taking us out and driving around Huntingdon which is 10 minutes away.  I had the best freaking food ever: the infamous English breakfast.  We also wandered the shops in the area and took some pictures.  At some point, I just remember finally laying down in my bed at 7 PM and proceeded to go into a motionless coma for the next 12 hours, interrupted once to hydrate around 6 hours into the death-sleep.

The following day we did more of the same:  had more awesome breakfast in Huntingdon and explored the area.  Watched The Town.  Pretty fun bank robbery movie if you're into that sort of thing.

Today definitely took the thunder out of it all.  Naturally, when you expect people to be competent and actually help you make a smooth transition, they crap all over you and end up wasting an entire day.  After last week's experience in Memphis, I'm pretty much out of patience and may potentially go Hulk all over someone tomorrow if it continues.  And I know it will.  God help that person.  I will be feasting on their soul for lunch.

Anyways, if things work out, I'd like to make it down to London at some point this coming weekend to blow off some steam.  I can't freaking wait.