The Dark Is Rising But I Can't Tell Who They Are.

[matt_doyle]

The Dark Is Rising is a series that really bothers me.  I enjoy the tone, and I enjoy Will's character, and some of the imagery fascinates me.  People have talked about how the books are just a series of extended MacGuffin  Hunts and I don't in any way disagree, but it isn't the repetitive plot that I find problematic.

The main thing that bothers me is the arrogance and invasiveness of the Light. They're total douchebags to pretty much everyone all the time - the Walker betrays them because they put his life at risk without asking consent or informing him, and when he, y'know, almost dies, they do not even thank him or let him know they value and care about him as a person rather than a tool (Merriman says they do, but...). They cavalierly make choices for 'normal people' and fuck with their memories and expect their behavior to be unremarkable for no better reason than that they are arbitrarily the Good Guys. Re-reading the books, the Dark behaves on about the same level, but they are much less hypocritical and self-righteous about it. Mostly they seem to be the Bad Guys because they are called The Dark.

I think I'm overstating my case a little here, and I haven't re-read them recently enough to cite more specifics, so if you think I'm way off base I'd welcome dissent.  But in the end I think it's much more Predestination vs. Free Will than Light vs. Dark, and I'm just not a Calvinist.