One of the favourite books of my childhood. (I can't tell you how often I bawled about poor Cafall.) I read it again today, and it's still wonderful. I think The Dark Is Rising edges it out as the best in the series, but only barely. There's just something so lovely and lonely and evocative about it. I particularly enjoy that it continues to push the idea that Absolute Good can, in its own way, be as destructive as the opposite. That's John Rowlands' belief, of course, and I've long thought that he was the true hero of this series for all he's only a supporting character in two of the five books. Still, his introduction here is a highlight of the series for me.