Status Updates From The Grey King

Bran is so real. The only thing that shocks him out of his misery is the impending threat of death of ANOTHER dog.

Will throwing pretense aside when he is talking to the adults now is such a relief. It’s almost like Cooper got tired of it herself during this novel.

the trials through Bird Rock are fantastic, cosmic, high fantasy, including the riddle with the high magic. It’s achingly beautiful. The full force of the Dark is made to bear here, and it feels powerful in a visceral way that it did not in The Dark is Rising. there is also something not nearly as tidy here with the way in which the first half of the book ends, making the stakes of the story more intelligible.

This book, which takes place deep in Wales, comes equipped with a pronunciation guide for the Welsh names, as communicated from Bran to Will. It’s awesome and has all the energy of a “this will not do” that one boy has at the other butchering the words. The start is a bit too abrupt for my taste, though. Like, taking Will’s memories away only to return them within 50 pages?