The Grey King
core novel 1975 The Dark Is Rising
Record
| First published | 1975 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.16 (40,622 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 165 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780689829840 |
| Internal chronology | 4 |
Synopsis
In the fourth volume of The Dark Is Rising sequence, Will Stanton travels to the hills of Wales to recuperate from a lingering illness, staying with relatives on a farm in unfamiliar countryside. There he meets Bran Davies, a solitary boy with striking pale coloring who turns out to be linked to the legend of King Arthur, and the two form a cautious friendship despite Bran's initial wariness. Together they are drawn into a task tied to the Grey King, a powerful and dangerous force associated with the Welsh hills, and the ancient Sleepers who lie dormant nearby, warriors whose eventual role in the final struggle between Light and Dark has long been foretold. Will and Bran must navigate local suspicion, old grudges and the mountains' own dangers as they work to prepare what has been asleep for the confrontation still to come.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Dark Is Rising
- Series: The Dark Is Rising sequence core; position 4 of 5 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Susan Cooper
Awards (verified)
- Newbery Medal (Medal (Best)), 1976: won; The Grey King (book 4).
Notes
- From the series record (The Dark Is Rising sequence): Five-book children's fantasy sequence weaving Arthurian and British-folklore "Old Ones vs. the Dark" myth into contemporary settings. Internal chronology matches publication order (per the sources above); no disputed internal chronology found.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Dark Is Rising sequence: position 4 of 5: previous Greenwitch (1974) · next Silver on the Tree (1977)
Sources
- Wikipedia: The Dark Is Rising sequence
- Wikipedia: Over Sea, Under Stone
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Is_Rising_Sequence
- Fantasy Literature: The Grey King (Newbery Medal winner)
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