2022: Book 32 – Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

Greenwitch
by Susan Cooper
Rating: ★★★★
Series: The Dark is Rising #3
Publication Date: January 1, 1974
Genre: fantasy, YA
Pages: 153
ReRead?: Yes
Project: Mt. TBR 2022

Simon, Jane, and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great-uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil -- Dark. They are not at first aware of the strange powers of another boy brought to help, Will Stanton -- nor of the sinister significance of the Greenwitch, an image of leaves and branches that for centuries has been cast into the sea for good luck in fishing and harvest. Their search for the grail sets into motion a series of distubing, sometimes dangerous events that, at their climax, bring forth a gift that, for a time at least, will keep the Dark from rising.

I’m at that point in the Dark is Rising sequence where I have now completed all of the rereads. The last two books, The Grey King and Silver on the Tree, are new to me.

I recall that when I previously read this book, I found it very underwhelming. This is curious to me, because I really liked it this time around. It’s still by no means my favorite – The Dark is Rising continues to enjoy that distinction – but I liked it better than Over Sea, Under Stone. The bringing together of the characters from the first two stories works well, with Merriman Lyon providing the bridge between the stories. In addition to the Light and the Dark, Cooper brings the Wild Magic into her story, and it is all the better for it.

I put this entire series on my TBR cart for 2022 because they’ve been hanging around forever, and I really wanted to read to the end. I’m ready to move into the part of the story that is new to me. It’s definitely a keeper series, though, so once it comes off the TBR cart, it definitely stays on the bookshelves. I never read it aloud to my children when they were young – and that opportunity is long since missed – but maybe my hoped for grandchildren provide an opportunity.