The Dark is Rising

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Fandom
Name: The Dark is Rising
Abbreviation(s): DiR, DIR
Creator: Susan Cooper
Date(s): 1965–1977
Medium: books
Country of Origin: Britain
External Links:
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The Dark is Rising is a small to medium-sized rarelit fandom based on a sequence of children's/YA fantasy novels by British-born author, Susan Cooper:

  • Over Sea, Under Stone (1965)
  • The Dark is Rising (1973)
  • Greenwitch (1974)
  • The Grey King (1975)
  • Silver on the Tree (1977)

A film version of The Dark is Rising was made in 2007, starring Christopher Eccleston, but did not find favour with most fans.[1]

In Canon

Set in rural England and Wales in the 1970s, the series melds Arthurian legends and English/Welsh folk tales with coming-of-age stories. The main characters are Will Stanton, youngest representative of the Light; Merriman Lyon, an incarnation of Merlin; Bran Davies, Arthur Pendragon's son; and Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew, the Everychildren. The sequence ends with the memories of the Battle between Good and Evil being lost by all the human characters, a Wrong fanficcers are keen to Right.

Fandom

Several hundred stories have been written for the series. The majority of fanfiction is futurefic, set some years after Silver on the Tree when the children have grown up. Memory restoration is a popular theme in both gen & pairing-focused stories. Other common types of gen story include ensemble adventures in which the Dark rises again, and character vignettes for the minor characters, particularly Merriman's servant, Hawkin. Crossovers with other fantasy series are also fairly common.

Slash is very popular, with Will Stanton/Bran Davies being by far the most frequent pairing. The tragic Merriman/Hawkin pairing also has a minor following, providing for bucketloads of angst. In het, Jane is sometimes paired with either Bran or Will, and Simon occasionally gets paired with original female characters. Will/Bran/Jane threesomes also occasionally appear.

Reccers and reviewers include Arduinna, Espresso Addict, kestrelsan, Lunabee, thefourthvine, Shinra Lackey, The RCK and Whispered Words.

Lotesse and Luzula have recorded Dark is Rising stories as podfic.

Example Works

Archives

Personal Sites

Resources

Meta

Communities & Lists

Livejournal

Mailing Lists

References

  1. ^ From thedarkisrising community profile: While it is understandable that some community members might get tired of the constant posts complaining about the movie, I can only ask that you understand the position of those who love the books and truly find this movie to be a slaughtering of a beloved series. thedarkisrising: profile (accessed 25 August 2012)
  2. ^ Gunbunny. thedarkisrising: slash archive (accessed 25 August 2012)