I've reviewed all these separately, so this is just a quick note on the collected sequence, which is one of my all time favourite series and has been since I was a kid. I really want to give it five stars, on the grounds that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, but I don't give five stars often and I'm forced to admit that there are parts of this favourite that don't quite stand up.

The Dark Is Rising and The Grey King are absolutely five star reads, the staples of my childhood. I love them beyond reason. And the more I read it as an adult, the greater grows my appreciation for Greenwitch, which is a solid four stars. The remaining volumes garner three stars each - Over Sea, Under Stone because it is enjoyable fun but distinctly average in all respects, and Silver on the Tree because it is, at the end, affecting but deeply flawed.

So, an average of four stars it is - but a book can be a favourite without being perfect. The Dark is Rising sequence isn't perfect, but it's still a favourite, and I still read it every year, flaws and all. I can't see that changing.