What can I read that’s like Susan Cooper?

[Jsun]

Hi and thanks for reading.

I just happened to pick up a little of The Dark is Rising the other day, which I hadn’t done for many years, and wondered what else is out there like it.

By “like it” I mean:

Real life and ordinary people in modern period, interleaved with mythical/transpersonal encounters, and the encounters are with good/imspiring/ beautiful beings at least some of the time, not just monsters or ghosts etc. -- great wizards, powerful deities, beautiful elemental beings, whatever it is. Whether they are out of modern mythologies or ancient I don’t mind, nor what culture. I do like that Jungian/Campbellian "deep myth" feeling which may be out of fashion, I don't know.

Of course Cooper is very good at making these long, almost ceremonial plots, which pay off in big victories of light over dark according to prophecies etc., but that's not essential as it would be just one way to get such ideas to mean something. I do find Cooper a very soulful author with her combination of urgent discipline and transcendent height.

I enjoyed the feeling that comes with a few characters being in contact with this big, beautiful, secret stuff that contrasts with the mundanity around them -- and the mundanity being really very ordinary, yet somehow ennobled by the contact. I also liked the innocence of these books, frankly, and don’t want sex and violence, although it doesn't have to be YA-level.

(I’m already familiar with Alan Garner BTW, and not a fan of Rowling.)

My gratitude for your time, and any recommends!

 

[HareBrain]

You might want to try Jan Siegel. Her Sangreal trilogy, and Prospero's Children, are, I think, the closest I've found to Cooper and Garner, though I think those two are in a class of their own.

 

[Jsun]

Never heard of her! Fantastic!

Thanks so much HareBrain, will investigate...

(BTW I'd also love suggestions far outside the box that normally looks like it contains "writers like Cooper and Garner", just to mention. A surprising fit would be as nice as something that felt obviously linked. Think of this as an extremely loose brief... cheers!)

 

[Mouse]

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Also maybe the Spiderwick Chronicles (I haven't read the books but I've seen the film).

 

[Boneman]

The Name of the Wind and the sequel The Wise Man's fear by Patrick Rothfuss. By the time you wade through those the third should be out!

I enjoyed the feeling that comes with a few characters being in contact with this big, beautiful, secret stuff that contrasts with the mundanity around them -- and the mundanity being really very ordinary, yet somehow ennobled by the contact. I also liked the innocence of these books, frankly, and don’t want sex and violence, although it doesn't have to be YA-level.

This is why I suggested Patrick's books.

 

[Mouse]

Also, how about Catherine Fisher? (I've only read Corbenic, but it was good).

 

[HareBrain]

Oh, and shame on me for not thinking of Catherine Fisher straight away! I'd particularly recommend Corbenic and Darkhenge -- I'm not so keen on her alternate-world fantasies.

And out of the Cooper/Garner box, something that does exactly what you seem to want is Andrew Collins's psychic questing books. Whether they're non-fiction (as claimed) or not, they involve ordinary people having encounters with mythic archetypes and then going on quite exciting adventures based on the information they receive. The Seventh Sword is probably the best.

(Edit: I hadn't read Mouse's, honest!)

 

[Jsun]

Cheers Boneman, but I really need:

Real life and ordinary people in modern period

ie. no fantasy worlds.

Catherine Fisher looks very interesting though, thanks Mouse and HareBrain!

HareBrain, you hit me from an unexpected angle with Collins. I like that. In general, obscure and unexpected recommendations are the most welcome!

In this case, I have a feeling Collins straddles the fiction/reality fence uncomfortably enough to hurt himself in the orbs... who knows, maybe I'll check it out... but meanwhile, yes I probably prefer fiction.

I like centaurs, tengus, valkries and devas just as much as selkies BTW.

Keep mixing it up guys and thanks! I should probably change this thread's title to: "Shock me with suggestions that fit my requirements exactly yet are completely unexpected."

 

[hitmouse]

Susan Cooperish stuff:
Wierdstone of Brisingame & sequels, The Owl Service et al Alan Garner (British mythology meets modern people, magic in the land and trees etc.)
The Box of Delights John Masefield (a bit 1930s and cosy but still good)
Mythago Wood and sequels Robert Holdstock (more adult than Cooper, Garner, but in a similar vein)

An Older Kind of Magic Patricia Wrightson. Set in Sydney in the early 1970s. Excellent

Agree about Ocean at the End of the Lane. I would also say that American Gods, Anansi Boys fall into a similar category, though set in the twighlight urban sprawl of contemporary USA rather than British countryside.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Jo Walton's Among Others makes a good job of blending the secret world with the mundane. Unusual read.

 

[Jsun]

hitmouse and springs, many thanks to you both -- Wrightson and Walton are both new to me.

 

[K. Riehl]

I enjoy the books by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. They are similar to Zenna Henderson/Ray Bradbury stories but are very thoughtful and pull you in. Specifically the Silent Strength of Stones and The Thread That Binds the Bones.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Jsun]

@K. Riehl -- I know the name but not the work, so that's another goodie. Many thanks to you!

This is probably enough for me to be going on with, so thanks to all contributors and happy reading.

 

[Mark_Lawrence]

John Masefield, The Midnight Folk, and The Box of Delights. Apparently she was heavily influenced by his work.

The lines:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

are his.

 

[Timba]

War of the Oaks by Emma Bull

 

[jastius]

charles deLint's 'moonheart', 'yarrow', and if you don't mind an interconnected short story collection, 'dreams underfoot'.

peter s beagle's 'the folk of the air' and 'tamsin'

very lovely stories; the kind you keep with you and clasp about you like a warm blanket in a cold dark house.

 

[Hex]

I loved Susan Cooper too, and Alan Garner and (to rather a lesser extent, probably because I read her later) Catherine Fisher -- especially Darkhenge.

From the same period as Susan Cooper: have you read any Robert Westall? The Windeye was probably my favourite, but The Scarecrows is pretty great (and gruesome) and The Watch House is brilliant.

Also, Nicholas Fisk.

I discovered her much later but I love Diana Wynne Jones. Maybe start with Fire and Hemlock if you're looking for the real world.

 

[Jsun]

@Mark_Lawrence -- thanks, I'm aware of him though.

@Timba -- tried that ages ago and didn't get drawn in but might go back to it. Thanks though!

@jastius -- same goes for those two authors although I didn't try those particular titles... thanks for pointing them up, I'll certainly give them a look.

@Hex -- I know Jones but not the other two, so very useful, appreciated!

 

[Jsun]

Guys thank you all.

What I have here is already plenty for me to investigate, and I've noticed another similar thread has just popped up which is a far greater challenge -- books like Jack Vance! Since there aren't any afaiac, that might need a lot more attention now than my request...

Of course I'll still be interested in any replies here... but don't worry too much. Cheers!

 

[Extollager]

Well, you could read Shakespeare...

My hero: William Shakespeare by Susan Cooper | Books | The Guardian