Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Walden Media (who are currently producing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) have bought the film rights to the entire of author Susan Cooper’s wonderful five book fantasy series The Dark is Rising Sequence. Somewhat peculiarly, Walden has indicated that its first feature from the series will be based on the second book, The Dark is Rising.

While that does seem like an odd starting point, it does make some sense given that the plot of the second book focuses on an 11 year old boy who discovers that he’s the Sign Seeker, the last of a group of immortals who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the Dark.

Originally published in 1973, The Dark Is Rising is the second book in the sequence, the other books being Over Sea, Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King and Silver on the Tree.

I strongly recommend that anyone who hasn’t read these books, be they child or adult, go out and find copies of them. They are all excellent books and they don’t talk down to their young audience. The story itself has a rich darkness to its center which you don’t normally find in children’s fiction. If you think that children’s fantasy started with Harry Potter, you’re sadly mistaken.

Let’s hope that Walden Media can do as good a job with these books as they seem to be doing with the Narnia stories.