When Cooper is not working, she enjoys playing piano, gardening, and traveling.  She has also written books for adults, as well as plays and Emmy-nominated screenplays, many in collaboration with the actor Hume Cronyn, whom she married in 1996. By that time, Susan Cooper had been living in America for 13 years, having moved to marry her first husband, an American professor, and was stepmother to three children and the mother of two.Ĭooper went on to write other well-received novels, including 'The Boggart' (and its sequel 'The Boggart and the Monster'), 'King of Shadows', and 'Victory,' as well as several picture books for young readers with illustrators such as Ashley Bryan and Warwick Hutton. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London's Sunday Times her first boss was James Bond creator Ian Fleming.Ĭooper wrote her first book for young readers in response to a publishing house competition 'Over Sea, Under Stone' would later form the basis for her critically acclaimed five-book fantasy sequence, 'The Dark Is Rising.' The fourth book in the series, 'The Grey King,' won the Newbery Medal in 1976. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. Susan Cooper's latest book is the YA novel 'Ghost Hawk' (2013)

Over sea under stone series

I definitely would have expected a lot more action or at least some suspense… I don’t think the age group would be happy with so many descriptions or the lack of action either, and I felt the tone was off for a YA story (too ‘formal’?). Because I have to be honest and say that nothing much really happens during the first half of the story especially considering it has over 200 pages. One superlong and extensive description after the other kind of had the reverse effect on me and instead of finding myself intrigued by a story about my favorite mythical creature, I was actually rather bored by it all. I don’t mind a slower pace if I get detailed descriptions in return, but I think in the case of Bentwhistle The Dragon it was kind of a description overdose. The thing is, the pace is supersuperSUPER slow and I just couldn’t get myself to keep interest. This attention to detail is what stands out in this story and I can always appreciate when this much time is dedicated to creating a believable and well developed fantasy world. I’m not saying the writing is bad and it truly shows just how much time is put into the detailed and extensive descriptions and worldbuilding in general. Because let’s face it: that almost never happens… But honestly, I’ve tried. That’s why it’s such a shock I had to make the hard decision to DNF this story.   This story had me at the title, because how could I resist a new fantasy series where dragons play such a big role? I was really looking forward to start reading Bentwhistle The Dragon, and even though it took me longer than planned to actually pick it up my initial excitement was still there. It’s easy to say I have a weak spot for any story involving dragons as they are my favorite of mythical creatures. *** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. “The valuable lesson you should have learned, was that evil comes in many guises, not always visible to everyone.” Title: Bentwhistle The Dragon: A Threat From The Past    2023 Netgalley And Edelweiss Reading Challenge. 2017 Netgalley And Edelweiss Reading Challenge.

Imajica barker