tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245036.post-69985239706840917642007-08-17T21:55:00.000-05:002007-08-17T21:55:00.000-05:002007-08-17T21:55:00.000-05:00Cooper's epic fantasy has traditionally been grouped with The Lord of the Rings and Narnia as an examble of great British fantasy. While it never attained the popularity of these serries, its poetic prose and haunting pre-Christian imagery weave a tale of terror and beauty. Cooper also relies on lesser-known myths, like the tale of Hern the Hunter to add an exotic flair to the familiar mythology of the English countryside.<BR/>These books certainly have faults - the plots are sometimes dense and confusing, and some of Cooper's characters, especially Will and his family, are too wholesome and flat to be believable. Cooper tries to correct these mistakes in later volumes, but they are certainly present in her second book, The Dark is Rising. As for most of the characters that ally with the Dark, no effort is made at any point to flesh them out beyond a cartoonish image of a debonair villain. <BR/>However, none of these faults justify the most glaring changes that were made to the script. By making Will an American, Hodge denies the deeply English soul of the stories. In her most poetic passages, Cooper is writing a paen to English myth and magic. By relying on cliches like missing twins, Hodge denies the otherwordly quality that Cooper invokes by using lesser-known myths like the tale of Hern the Hunter. Not to mention that making Will a whinny, self-centered teenager, Hodge denies the painful loss of innocensce that makes the tale poignant despite it's somewhat flat character development.<BR/>Some of the changes were needed - its unlikely such a small studio will make sequals - where are the promised Narnia sequals? - so its acceptable to remove the some of the Arthurian plotline - the plot needed to be prunned considerably to fit into a theatre-friendly format. However the changes went too far to preserve the aspects of The Dark is Rising that made it a fantasy classic.<BR/><BR/>Wow that was long! But these were my favorite books when I was growing up!Cecilianoreply@blogger.com