Five Go To Demon's Rocks

[Courtenay]

Tinker also appeared in some of the Voilier books, so Claude must have had a soft spot for him as well.

But can he make French car noises too??

[db105]

I have always liked Demon's Rocks too.

Yes, I also like it. As an adult, you can see in it the early signs of her twilight as a writer: It seems to me that she reuses many of her typical story elements... there's a bit less originality and vitality in it than in her best books. But it's still rather subtle, and the book can stand besides the others without seeming out of place.

In Mystery to Solve the signs are clearer, and Together Again feels out of place in the series, because the decadence is blatant (although as a child I do not remember thinking it was out of place... just not among my favorite ones).

[db105]

I found the character of Tinker, extremely annoying.

I do not mind Tinker. It's the kind of character that adults can find annoying, but kids don't.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

Who wants to be a lighthouse keeper?

https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/articles ... ety-at-sea" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Viv

[pete9012S]

Thank you, Viv. I especially liked:

Evie: “I like reading and writing. I do not like gardening. I love jacket potatoes. I love crackers and cheese. I like to do washing and cleaning. I love sweets. I hate pickled onions.”

[Daisy]

Interesting and novel ideas which made me smile, but I didn't know we'd reached December 2020 yet! (It concludes with saying it was printed in the Spring so maybe the date of December 2020, is a misprint?)

[IceMaiden]

Bless them, those had me smiling all the way through . Given how food-oriented they are though I'm not sure they'd last long in a lighthouse miles from anywhere!

[StephenC]

FIve Go To Demon's Rocks, for all its flaws, did have the novel idea of a lighthouse for the setting of the mystery. And it was an improvement on Finniston Farm, which I have always rated as being nearly as mediocre as Together Again. I think a lot of people would have liked the Famous Five series to finish with this book.

[Lucky Star]

To me Demon's Rocks vies with Into a Fix for the title of best late era FF book. It has all the wonderful Blyton elements of sea, storms, lighthouse, underground passages, wreckers, lost treasure...phew. As a child I also found it quite scary that the lighthouse might conceivably fall down killing all the children.

Unfortunately all the elements don't quite add up to the very exciting story that they should. It's still my personal favourite late FF though. And I also liked Finniston Farm.

[Jack400]

I can add nothing to your post, Lucky Star ". other than" Well said!"

[Anita Bensoussane]

The idea of staying in a lighthouse impressed me tremendously when I read this book as a child. So cosy, yet so at one with the elements! Not a bad plot for the most part, but for me the lighthouse itself has always been the main attraction.

[Nick]

Apologies if I've posted this before but last summer the family and I were visiting Staithes when the weather turned suddenly and we made for Dotty's Vintage Tea Room (I think) for hot chocolate and cake. I wasn't think about Enid at all when, suddenly, I envisioned the Five crowding in to the Morning Coffee Shop in Demons Rocks Village, a really strong image that seem to just come out of nowhere! It was a really surreal moment and when I re-read it I will, no doubt, picture the little team room in Staithes!

[Lucky Star]

Great story Nick. I love when real life and my favourite books collide.

[IceMaiden]

I don't know why Demon's rocks is seen as a poor book, I always thought the idea of staying in a lighthouse to be quite thrilling and the story has the usual Famous Five magic mix - treasure, a couple of rogues, secret passages and a glorious setting. I remember going to South Stack on Anglesey it brought Demon's Rocks to mind as I was wandering around. The view from the top is magnificent if you don't look downwards at the enormously dizzying drop to the ground (thankfully you can't see straight down but it's enough) . Unfortunately I did and instantly thought of the scene were Julian nearly falls over the railing of all the things to think of!

[Anita Bensoussane]

When I was nine, we went on a school trip to South Stack. I'd read Five Go to Demon's Rocks a couple of times by then and was ecstatic to be going to a lighthouse. On the coach on the way there, lots of us had Enid Blyton books (mainly Famous Five and Secret Seven) and spent some time talking about our favourite titles. The weather was glorious and we went to the beach (Trearddur Bay) after we'd finished at the lighthouse, so the whole day felt marvellously Famous Five-ish.