Rating: 
Summary: More in detail....
Review: ok, everyone. after reading a couple of reviews, i decided to write my own, but BEWARE, this one is detailed, because i want to say what i really think of pulman's piece of work. there are a few spoilers, so don't read if you haven't read the books. but do read if you have, because i have thought aot about this trilogy, and i think i have some good points about it.
first of all, i am a devoted christian, and some of the themes in this trilogy did touch a string, but i have faith-which is believing when not seeing. And this was just fiction, although i do believe that pullman was trying to make a point, a very strong point in writing these books. and i don't think he necessarily wanted to turn people off from jesus. perhaps he was just voicing some of his own thoughts and doubts. and he was doing it SO WELL, in the first two books, he had SUCH great ideas, but i' afraid he failed to make good use of them. most of his sttory lines just hopelessly trailed off, like for example the idea about mary being the tempter, and building the magnificent spyglass (it does nothing, believe me).second, the characters were sometimes very undeveloped, i found that especially with Will. Lyra was a great character, and pullman created a very convincing little girl. but will...i thought too much depended on his mother - like the strongest weapon in the world breaking because will loved his mother too much. father gomez - i think pullman was desperate in the end and used him to get rid of balthamos (my favourite character in the book - unfortunately gay)what the hell? but in general, characterisation wasn't too bad thirdly, the plot. a bit too many ideas, phil. make no mistake, they were great, but the reader had to stop and re-read certain paragraphs in order to understand what the whole trilogy was trying to say. and Dust? there was SO much to-do about it throught all three books, but we never understood why it clung to adults, or whether it was good or bad. once again i mention mary malone, a very strange and out of place character whose place in the story we didn't quite understand. also who is on whose side - we never understand. a few really weak moments, like when God, the ultimate authority of all the universes dies in about 3 lines description. very weak. also there is only a couple of weeks between the second and third books, yet Will and Lyra SUDDENLY see the Spectres.
not to mention the ending - emotionaly, but made no impact, you never felt any different, you never had the feeling of "yes, finished. " it was all just a mangle of feeling betwen Will and Lyra that never got preperly resolved. But in general, like i say, Very Good Ideas, and i congratuale phillip on them. Maybe a bit better craftsmenship at writing would have made them perfect, but its not to be.
i look forward to any other books by pullman. p.s. read Juliet Marillier the Sevenwaters Trilogy. Those are defietely perfect books.
Rating: 
Summary: The Books to Rival Harry Potter!
Review: These books are so great! I read all three in three days. The only part I didn't like was how it ended...although I won't tell you the end let me just say you'll be shocked and heartbroken. My friend recommended these to me because I finished my other books and I'm so glad she did. Please read these books if you are a fantasy lover, they will make it impossible for you to put them down. *Note: These should only be read by people who can handle slight violence and language.
Rating: 
Summary: Anti-Christian, wrapped in engaging storytelling
Review: NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS. 'His Dark Materials' turns the Christian view of the world upside-down. 'God' is actually an evil, controlling spiritual being/angel who Pullman calls 'The Authority'. Get it? Authority is bad. God is bad. The Church is bad. Eve's 'sin' was actually not a sin at all. She was 'tempted' to 'freedom' by a good spirit who appeared as a serpent. 'Freedom' is good. 'Sin' is good. I don't usually use so many 'scare quotes', but Pullman chooses a moral orientation for these books which is almost entirely contrary to classical Christianity. I hate that teens and kids are getting this totally slanted view reading these 'Young Adult' books. I'm not suggesting that Pullman has an anti-Christian agenda. But the worldview of these books is strongly anti-Christian, at any rate. In some ways, the results might be worse, since the 'values' are so subtle. I'll be the first to admit, the Church has done a lot of bad things. I'd agree with most of Pullman's examples. But his presentation of God/the Church/Christianity is a caricature. He presents none of the good things. I hope Pullman just doesn't know. Otherwise, his selective use of information is misrepresentation. We need to criticize the Church when there is evil in it, or even wrong-doing. But to caricature the Church as all evil and all wrong is false. It amounts to propaganda before unformed young minds. Pullman takes the common tack these days of coming up with supernatural providence that is bigger than us, but smaller than God. His device is that 'dark matter' (thus 'His Dark Materials') is conscious and good. It's not much different from Lucas' 'midichlorians' in 'The Phantom Menace'. GK Chesterton said 'It's not that atheists don't believe anything, it's that they'll believe anything.' I read this story all the way through to the end, hoping it would improve, hoping against hope that some turn would take place. But it didn't. It got worse. In the end we have 12 year old sex basically functioning in a redemptive way for a whole universe (and maybe all of them, I didn't read it that closely). You've got to be kidding. And this man has children of his own. This must just be his own wish nostalgic adolescent sex-wish coming out. None of us wants our twelve year olds having sex, right? Good story, interesting plot devices, fetching characters...and an infernal worldview. It's not wrong to criticize Christianity or to say you don't believe. But to say everything in Christianity is evil and wrong is false at best, and evil and wrong in itself at worst. The product, at any rate, in inexcusable.
Rating:
Summary: True Story-Telling Talent
Review: I have only finished the first in this trilogy, but that first book was packed with adventure! I enjoyed every minute of it, and became genuinely concerned about all the characters. The story is fast paced, and imaginative. I would reccommend this book (these books)to everyone with a wild imagination. This author is certainly deserving of a lot more press and attention than he is getting!!
Rating:
Summary: This is a Great Series!
Review: What if Giant Armoured bears and Flying Witches were good and Angels and Dust were bad? Or is it the other way around? And what is it about DUST that makes people so afraid? In a world where your soul sits on your shoulder as your friend and Magical items can tell the future, this great story about a girl and her friends is interesting, unusual and will keep you reading for days. Buy the set because you won't be able to stop once you start. These books do have some Christian undertones and are probably not for the extremely devout or easily offended. They do have twists and turns and may not end like you would expect. An excellent series which rivals the Chronicals of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time and other great fantasy books.
Rating:
Summary: Marvellous books, but apart from that...
Review: Finally you poor Americans get to see PP's lovely illustrations (and the quotes he chose for TAS). Good aren't they? Oh, apart from that one of Stelmaria for chapter 21 of Northern Lights/The Golden Compass. That's rubbish. I quite envy you these covers actually, they're really nice...
Rating:
Summary: How much I really needed this book!
Review: After I finished Sweep #14 I was on the book rebound. I was wondering around (literaly) without an aim. My friend recomended me this book (normally I wouldnt take him seriously) but I had seen the Amber Spyglass in stores before. So I bought the first book (The gold compass) and read it. It was good, but I was out of cash...so I borrowed the second one from him. I just finished it an hour ago..and if he dosent give me the third book on Monday, I might just have to hurt him....just kidding!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best series ever!
Review: Philip Pullman once again had done an outstanding job in writing a series. I just could not let the book down a second! It was so exciting and you don't know what will happen next. It goes from this world to that, while it may be confusing sometimes, overall you will know the story quite well in the end. When you finish the series, you will probably imagine what it would be if you had a daemon. The plot is amazing, and the words are very emotional at the end. The story once again is just, a got to read book and if you don't, you're missing out on a great adventure that will be remembered forever.
Rating:
Summary: By Pullman's biggest fan
Review: This is hands down the greatest series of books I have ever read. After I had read the first one I felt a longing for the other two. I bought them and never regretted it. This is definately a series of books that you'll want to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Random Missions and Annoying Prophecy
Review: Not very good. Poor characterization, for one thing. Characters barely introduced suddenly become everyone's best friend and tears shed when they die. Pretty boring plot line, I kept hoping something would happen but it never did. If you are really bored, try it, you might feel better.
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