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Seaward Susan Cooper Books

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Seaward Susan Cooper Books

This is a little known Cooper gem that has undoubtedly been overshadowed by Cooper's classic "Dark is Rising" sequence. So, appropriately enough given its themes and structure, it lurks in the shadows waiting to be discovered by Cooper completists. Cooper has written other books as well, including her successful Boggart books for younger readers, so "Seaward" keeps drifting lower and lower on the Cooper search return list. Congratulations on finding this book. And what have you found?

This book is both different from and similar to the "Dark is Rising" books. Those books are all grounded in a here and now reality into which the heroes of myth and legend intrude. The protagonists step back and forth through the veil that separates myth from reality and a good deal of the tension and suspense in those books arises from how the two alternate/parallel worlds influence each other. "Seaward" takes an entirely different tack. In chapter 1 our hero Westerly appears in a strange and foreign land. In chapter 2 our heroine Callie falls through a mirror and enters that same out-of-time and out-of-place world. The balance of the action takes place in this vaguely threatening and often confusing world. There is no anchoring, comfy reality. This gives the book a dreamy and unsettling atmosphere throughout the tale.

In a similar vein, the "Dark is Rising" books portray a battle between good and evil, between the Dark and the Light, and the distinctions are clear. "Seaward" is different in that almost every character has two aspects and almost every choice could go either way. "Seaward" is much more about deciding what's the right thing to do instead of knowing what's right.

But still, the apple never falls far from the tree, and so in "Seaward" we find similar themes of love, duty, honor, grief, free will, and even love. Our heroes are followed almost step by step by a man and a woman who obviously have great magical power in this strange land and their regal presence touches on all of the most noble aspects of high fantasy and Celtic myth. They are never really named until the end of the book, and they are never identified with any particular recognizable Celtic tale, but they are undeniably part of the legend and myth tradition that powered the "Dark is Rising" books.

This is a brief book and is, as I noted, a bit on the dreamy side. But it also has thrills, adventures, and some gripping action/adventure scenes. Our heroes are, after all, fleeing from something on a path that's laid with peril. You can read the book as fantasy-adventure, or as a romance of sorts, or as allegory, or as part of a life/death myth cycle, or even as a mystery. All of those approaches work because Cooper has packed so much into this book. As I say, a gem, but with many facets.


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Seaward Susan Cooper Books Reviews

Susan Cooper is best known for her epic "Dark is Rising Sequence," with all its Celtic legends and sense of mystery. But she tries a different tack in "Seaward," an atmospheric little story that is just a little darker, more complex, and full of symbols and hints.

West's mother was killed by some armed thugs, just as he escaped through a door into a strange land. Cally watched her parents waste away with a strange illness, before slipping through a mirror to the same land. When she encounters West, he's trying to escape from the ruthless, cold-hearted Lady Taranis.

A kindly stranger named Lugan seems to be their best hope for escaping Taranis. As the two travellers cross the world that is an echo of our own, they encounter strange creatures such as the selkies, a talking insect that guides them over a desert, creatures made of stone, and the haunting specters of their own pasts and destinies...

"Seaward" seems like a pretty simple story at first -- two kids travelling across a bleak land. But in that simple storyline Cooper tackles questions about death and life, about grief, loss, love, about good and evil and how sometimes you can't easily classify anyone.

Probably the biggest stumbling block in "Seaward" is the slightly dreamy tone of it all. Unlike Cooper's other books, there is no grounded "homey" base -- it's all like a legend right from the beginning. As a result, it takes awhile for the story to really get going, and there are long stretches where the characters are just walking.

Though the setting is another world, it has hints of Celtic myth. The mysterious Lugan and Taranis aren't fully identifiable until the ending, but they seem like characters out of a legend. And mythic creatures like selkies are linked to the characters, by virtue of the thickened skin on Cally's hands.

Cally and West are very richly drawn, confused and saddled with grief over their parents. It makes it all the more poignant as West overcomes his guilt, and Cally is tempted to find a new family. The only problem is that their romantic feelings seem to come out of left field.

After the mass appeal of the "Dark is Rising" books, Susan Cooper tackles a more oblique, fantastical approach in "Seaward." Deceptively simple, and richly evocative.
A few months ago, something reminded me of this book. I couldn't remember the name of the book or the author, just that one of the character's names was "Westerly". After some googling, I found it, and bought it for my . I definitely enjoyed re-reading a book that was an absolute favorite of mine when I was about 11 or 12. The story was shorter and a bit shallower than I remembered, but this makes sense, given that I was a young adult when I read it the first time. Cally and West are interesting main characters, and I liked the story of their budding romance. [SPOILER Also, I loved the message that they would choose to live their lives, regardless of the pain and challenges they knew they would face before finding each other again.]
I read this on the recommendation of the same friend as The Winter Prince, but this one wasn't as much of a success. I really liked the first half, with its mysterious urgency and perils, as we struggle, like Callie and West, to understand the rules of this new world and the reason for their journey. Everything through the mysterious castle was marvelous and all of a piece, but once we got to Callie and West's journey through the desert, the tension dropped, and the allegorical ending was a bit obvious for me. The gender roles sometimes rubbed me the wrong way, but the book and the characters seemed aware of the that.

The ending reminded me of a less brutal The Amber Spyglass (a book I love to bits) and I wonder if Seaward influenced that ending.
This is a little known Cooper gem that has undoubtedly been overshadowed by Cooper's classic "Dark is Rising" sequence. So, appropriately enough given its themes and structure, it lurks in the shadows waiting to be discovered by Cooper completists. Cooper has written other books as well, including her successful Boggart books for younger readers, so "Seaward" keeps drifting lower and lower on the Cooper search return list. Congratulations on finding this book. And what have you found?

This book is both different from and similar to the "Dark is Rising" books. Those books are all grounded in a here and now reality into which the heroes of myth and legend intrude. The protagonists step back and forth through the veil that separates myth from reality and a good deal of the tension and suspense in those books arises from how the two alternate/parallel worlds influence each other. "Seaward" takes an entirely different tack. In chapter 1 our hero Westerly appears in a strange and foreign land. In chapter 2 our heroine Callie falls through a mirror and enters that same out-of-time and out-of-place world. The balance of the action takes place in this vaguely threatening and often confusing world. There is no anchoring, comfy reality. This gives the book a dreamy and unsettling atmosphere throughout the tale.

In a similar vein, the "Dark is Rising" books portray a battle between good and evil, between the Dark and the Light, and the distinctions are clear. "Seaward" is different in that almost every character has two aspects and almost every choice could go either way. "Seaward" is much more about deciding what's the right thing to do instead of knowing what's right.

But still, the apple never falls far from the tree, and so in "Seaward" we find similar themes of love, duty, honor, grief, free will, and even love. Our heroes are followed almost step by step by a man and a woman who obviously have great magical power in this strange land and their regal presence touches on all of the most noble aspects of high fantasy and Celtic myth. They are never really named until the end of the book, and they are never identified with any particular recognizable Celtic tale, but they are undeniably part of the legend and myth tradition that powered the "Dark is Rising" books.

This is a brief book and is, as I noted, a bit on the dreamy side. But it also has thrills, adventures, and some gripping action/adventure scenes. Our heroes are, after all, fleeing from something on a path that's laid with peril. You can read the book as fantasy-adventure, or as a romance of sorts, or as allegory, or as part of a life/death myth cycle, or even as a mystery. All of those approaches work because Cooper has packed so much into this book. As I say, a gem, but with many facets.