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Two little boys
Sep. 1st, 2019 10:13 pmIn the Classics corner, we have Will, who is within days of his eleventh birthday. Will is the youngest of nine, and the seventh son of a seventh son: he lives with his mother, father and many elder siblings in the Thames valley, near Windsor. Will's quest is to assemble the six signs, and so oppose the Rising of the Dark. To accomplish this, he has the assistance of a number of powerful immortals, because Will is the last of the Old Ones.
In the New corner, Oliver is twelve years old. He lives with his mother, who is currently away helping his sister with the new baby, in a village called Loosestrife. Oliver's quest is to go to the Rainblade Mountains and bring back the rain. To accomplish this, he has the assistance of his familiar, who is an armadillo, because Oliver is a very minor mage.
I didn't set out to perform a comparative reading of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising and T. Kingfisher's Minor Mage. ( But that's what seems to have happened... )
In short, I know The Dark is Rising is a classic, I can see some of what makes it a classic, but I continue not to love it. Whereas Minor Mage is not necessarily Ursula Vernon's greatest work, but it is full of delights. Oliver is an endearing, resourceful, responsible twelve year old; his familiar is an armadillo, and what's not to like about that? And, while it would be a pity to spoiler this, there's a ballad motif which gets the full 'Ursula Vernon snarks about fairy tales' treatment.
In the New corner, Oliver is twelve years old. He lives with his mother, who is currently away helping his sister with the new baby, in a village called Loosestrife. Oliver's quest is to go to the Rainblade Mountains and bring back the rain. To accomplish this, he has the assistance of his familiar, who is an armadillo, because Oliver is a very minor mage.
I didn't set out to perform a comparative reading of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising and T. Kingfisher's Minor Mage. ( But that's what seems to have happened... )
In short, I know The Dark is Rising is a classic, I can see some of what makes it a classic, but I continue not to love it. Whereas Minor Mage is not necessarily Ursula Vernon's greatest work, but it is full of delights. Oliver is an endearing, resourceful, responsible twelve year old; his familiar is an armadillo, and what's not to like about that? And, while it would be a pity to spoiler this, there's a ballad motif which gets the full 'Ursula Vernon snarks about fairy tales' treatment.
