Silver on the Tree

The final book in Susan Cooper's Arthurian fantasy story is a great read with a very disappointing ending. I will be focusing on this ending, so this review is a big spoiler. At the end, when the war is over and the Dark is vanquished, all but one of the main characters forgets everything that happened in all five books. Even King Arthur's son, who was sent forward in time to the 20th century as an infant, forgets who he is and presumably goes on to live a normal 20th century life. So we've been along for a great ride with these characters; we've laughed with them, we've cried with them, we've worried for them, we've watched them grow. And when all is said and done, it's as if none of it ever happened. All of the development of the characters is washed away with a magic word. The let-down for the reader is the same as if the narrator woke up at the end of the story and realized that it was all a dream. The story up until the disappointing ending is still quite good, so the book overall still gets three stars.