The Seeker: the Dark is Rising

We were planning to see The Golden Compass tonight, but when we found out that The Seeker: the Dark is Rising was playing we changed our minds! It's an adaption of Susan Cooper's book The Dark is Rising, the second of five linked novels (Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree) in The Dark is Rising Sequence. The books all stand alone but are related and some characters turn up in several books.

The story in brief: Will Stanton discovers on his 11th birthday (in the book) and 14th birthday (in the movie) that he is the last of the Old Ones to be born - the Old Ones are a group of people that guard and guide the world towards the Light. They are opposed by the Lords of the Dark, the most powerful being the Rider. Will's task is to find six Signs of the Light made in different ages and hidden that will give the Old Ones the advantage when the Dark rises. It all sounds a bit bald that way, but the book makes it much more exciting.... There are Arthurian themes and elements woven throughout the Sequence, and echoes of earlier, pagan times that make the books very rich and layered.

We weren't expecting much: the movie trailer was pretty dire and we love this book, so we were prepared for something just merely average. However, we were pleasantly surprised! The movie captured both the atmosphere and the story really well, although there were some inevitable changes. I was slightly disappointed that the Arthurian elements were skipped (although as hubby pointed out, it would have made the story too complicated and too hard to tell in a visual medium), but the sense of history and the conflict between the Light and the Dark was really well shown. Chris Eccleston (Dr Who) played the Rider and did a really fine job - interesting to see him as a villain for a change! The importance of the Old Ones (particularly Merriman Lyon) was played down a bit, but they were emphasising Will's story and the search for the six Signs of the Light.

As book adaptions go, it was pretty well done. That said, I'm not sure I'd want to see it again - the book is fabulous and no movie was ever going to do it justice. However, I would be interested if they adapted Over Sea, Under Stone.

Pachyderm