Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointing Ending to a Beautiful Beginning
Review: Philip Pullman's Dark Material's trilogy is a deeply layered artistic achievement. The break neck pace of the first two books continues in the third. The character development is some of the best I have ever read. The creation of the fantasy worlds are complete and flawless. However, Mr. Pullman destroyed the series for me with the final few pages of The Amber Spyglass. Though many would disagree, the ending was the easy way out, the cowards way out, and an artless act. There was so much talk about the human soul, and a series that began with soul ends by leaving this reader with an empty void. The ending broke my heart. However, the beauty of Mr Pullman's words has forever moved me. Despite being disappointed by the ending, the book should be read for its genius, beauty, and philosophic depth, but beware the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: the best book
Review: this trilogy are the best books i've ever read! BEfore i started reading them i read the Harry Potter series. I liked them and thought maybe these books would be the same. I was wrong! They were about 10 times better! I would just lock myself in my room for hours and read and read. (or listen to the tapes because they were very well done too) It was much more complex and interesting and exciting then the Harry Potter ones or any other book ive ever read! U can really relate to the characters and feel the excitement! i told every one i saw how great these books were! When i finished the Amber Spyglass i was nearly begging for more! I really think the author and these books should be more well known! (and if any one knows how to reach phillip pullman can u please post it cause id really like to thank him for such a great series
Rating: 
Summary: Oh please
Review: Disgusting. Just disgusting. This book is a big, BIG let-down, but not because it was poorly written. No no no, this book could have been great...if it haddn't been full of [stuff]. The author obviously doesn't know a thing about the Catholic church, because this book is chock full o' errors. This book is a huge insult to my religion, and it makes me sick. The first two in this series were good, but suddenly something went wrong. I am not in the habit of doing this, but I burned this book, because this sort of filth should be destroyed.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, Charlie
Review: One of the best books I've ever read was The Golden Compass. The Subtle knife was in the favorites, too. However, the third book wasn't even close to it. Although it did played up to my expectations since it wasn't that high. I wasn't looking foward to it but had to read it since I wanted to find out what happened. Well, now I know, and I won't read it again and again like other books I have. I'll still recommend it for people who are crazy about his books. But, just don't have high expectations for it. Good book, not great.
Rating:
Summary: A muddle
Review: What a shame, as the first two were so good. And I'm not talking about the theology, about which I couldn't give a rat's rear. It's all fiction to me anyway, and having encountered, wide-eyed, Ellison's 'The Deathbird' when I was 13, I can't well deny the value of some good, rousing blasphemy for intelligent young readers. The problem for me is structural. Halfway through this one, I got the distinct impression that Pullman panicked and was literally making it up as went along, rather than following some preconceived, well-thought-out plot. I'm sure that can't be true, but how else to explain the awkward changes of heart Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel go through, the embarrassingly-named 'Metatron' character, the hurried tieing up of loose ends that comprises the last hundred or so pages? Still, the early 'interludes' featuring the dreaming Lyra are wonderful, and the scene where Will and Lyra finally face up to their fates is truly wrenching, epitomizing the themes of loss and separation that made the first two books so moving.
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever. And I'm adult.
Review: Firstly, this book is much too complex to outline fluidly, therefore I'm going make a series of points on its brilliance.1. The philosophical connections are utterly amazing. As a philosopher I enjoyed this as much as a 15-year-old. 2. Its controversial view on the church is expanded in this book. The whole series may question the church by its purpose. 3. The two previous books are well wrapped up. We find out whether Lord Asriel is good or bad, what has happened to Lyra, where Roger is etc etc.......... 4. It is written like a mystery, constantly bringing forward various plots and possibility. 5. Its empathy for a whole range of characters is utterly amazing, never before have I read a book where so many characters get a stretch as the main one. 6. All the concepts such as dust and daemons come to be explains brilliantly. Dust is particularly interesting from a physics point of view. 7. Leaves you high on adrenaline and emotion (although to tell you which one would be giving too much away).... This book ranks up there with Paradise Lost, Dante's Inferno and many other philosophical classics. Its amazing.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful - a fitting end to a fantastic trilogy
Review: My reaction to 'The Amber Spyglass' was quite surprising for me. I had read 'Northern Lights' and 'The Subtle Knife' in quick succession when I was 12, and fallen completely in love with them, then over the 3-year wait for 'The Amber Spyglass', doing my duty as a teenager, I lost interest in reading in general and in fantasy in particular. Thus despite having been on tenterhooks at the cruel cliffhanger of 'The Subtle Knife', by the time the third instalment came out I had neither the money nor the inclination to shell out for the chunky hardback. However about half a year later I had got back into reading in a big way after re-reading 'Pride and Prejudice' and enjoying Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere' (I have quite strange tastes), and as I had book tokens to burn I decided to buy TAS, being a little curious as to what had happened to Lyra and Will. And so it was that a (relatively) jaded 16-year-old girl sat down to read this book, not expecting much. A few chapters later I was curled up in my armchair utterly absorbed, torn between reading more and prolonging it. For the first time since being an 11-year-old bookworm I found myself mourning the fact that I was halfway, two-thirds, three-quarters of the way through. I ended up telling various uncaring, puzzled or annoyed friends in an excited tone that I couldn't work out what Mrs Coulter was doing, or that Lyra and Will were going to find their dæmons. In short, I loved it. About the ending. On my birthday, I reached the end of 'Over the hills and far away' (the chapter in which Will and Lyra discover their love) and decided to save the rest for the next week. I was in a happy haze all weekend. Then I took the book home on Monday night and finished it. First of all, I was devastated. I cried myself to sleep. A book has not affected me this much since I read 'Jennie' when I was about 10. I hated Philip Pullman with a passion, and I was depressed for a couple of days. I almost wished I had not read it. So if this is how you feel now, I sympathise. However, after a month of reflection, listening to songs like 'Merman' and writing bad fanfic, I realised a few things (with the help of fellow fans wiser than myself): firstly, that the ending gives a message that is crucial to the book of taking responsibility and being unselfish; secondly, that Lyra and Will's love for each other will stay strong throughout their lifetimes, which is beautiful; thirdly, that they will discover the other way to travel between the worlds and be together in a way; and lastly, that the mere fact that a book, printed words on paper, can affect people like this is something beautiful and worthwhile in itself, and proves the value of the book rather than negating it. The religion question. I think that the seemingly 'anti-religious' themes of 'His Dark Materials' could be compared to some of the 'anti-religious' music of Tori Amos ('Muhammad My Friend', 'God', 'Icicle'): both are roundly criticised by fundamentalists, but what they are attacking is not so much the idea of God but the worst aspects of the Christian establishment: hypocrisy, self-righteousness, repression. Perhaps he did go a little over-the-top in his depiction of the Church (it would have been nice to have at least one vaguely sympathetic religious character), but he was trying to make a point. However in the end the religious parallel is not the be-all and end-all of the book, merely the framework for the story. As for Lord Asriel's and Mrs Coulter's supposed turnarounds, I have to say that I was just delighted that the latter finally became an interesting character after being the pantomime villainess of the first two books. Asriel was always a complex character and I don't see why people were surprised at his self-sacrifice. Yes, he was cold and selfish in his way, but selfish with respect to his purpose rather than his own safety. And although there are little inconsistencies in the plot if you are going to pick it apart, most of those referred to here are misunderstandings arising from not reading carefully enough, and the rest are mostly so trivial that they do not stand in the way of the story. Which brings me to my last point. ('Finally!' I hear you cry.) The reason these books are so incredibly good (which may have got lost amongst the criticisms on these pages) is this: their vividness. What this means is that people, places, objects, occurrences, are all described so wonderfully that they all take up a permanent residence inside your head. I really don't know how he does it, but somehow I know how it feels to hold and read the alethiometer and use the knife; I can see Lyra and Will and follow them every step of the way; I can hear Mrs Coulter's voice; I can walk through the world of the dead, and come out into the light and beauty of the world of the mulefa. If you want a book that will absorb you completely, hold you in its grip for as long as you are reading it, and retain that grip for a long time after you have read the last page, then buy the first volume of this wonderful series, curl up in a good squidgy armchair with some chocolate, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I have read the full "His Dark Materials" trilogy, and found each one intelectually and emotionally thrilling. However I believe this one to be the best. The plot was amazingly thought and written out, and I would never have guessed the ending. It was great fun watching (or reading) as Will and Lyra (our hero and heroine) grew older and matured, and their relationship grew to something more serious, and ended in a way I would never have guessed, which only helped to make the book better. Also, to any one who has read the book, and didn't understand how Dr. Mary Mallone tempted Lyra, (if you haven't read the book I suggest not reading this part) think about when she was sitting with Will and Lyra and telling them about her "first love", and how Lyra and a certain some one were "tempted" to stay together but...well, you know the rest. To anyone who likes fantasy (and even anyone who doesn't) I recommend this book...with five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing literarily & philosophically
Review: I loved The Golden Compass. I also enjoyed the Subtle Knife a lot, but not as unreservedly as the former because of some minor flaws These flaws were magnified much more in The Amber Spyglass, so that I found it very disappointing. On the literary level, this book's main flaw was that it was too ponderous and slow. Soon after beginning it, I was bored and only continued reading it because I wanted to see if Mr. Pullman could pull the conclusion of his trilogy out of the mess he had gotten it into. The main problem is that the plot is convoluted and meandering to the point of lacking direction. This exacerbates the fact that the book becomes too descriptive. In the earlier installments of the trilogy, this was a strength because Pullman's rich language did what all our English teachers always told us to do - they painted a picture and appealed to all the other senses as well. Here also it was often beautiful (in descriptions of landscapes, or of the simple pleasures of taste and smell) but it became too much of a good thing. By itself, that would have been a rather minor flaw, but the languid pace made it almost unbearable. I was also curious to see the development and full exposition of the philosophical ideas Pullman introduced. I am a Christian, and Pullman's beliefs are opposite mine in most respects. I tried to approach the book with an open mind, but it is difficult when the author doesn't have an open mind himself. Essentially, the thing that bothered me most about Pullman's philosophy wasn't that it was anti-religious and anti-Christian, but that he didn't even give Christianity a fair chance (here he can take a lesson from Dostoyevsky, who in "The Brothers Karamazov" seems to overstate the case against Christianity although he is attempting to show its truth). Everyone associated with God in the book is evil, either deceitful snakes like Mrs. Coulter or self-righteous zealots like Fr. McPhail and Fr. Gomez; there are no humble and holy people (while there are such people in the world). Also, he presents a picture of a warped dualist Christianity that is akin to the Inquisition rather than the true Orthodox faith which teaches unselfish love and blesses material things as good while teaching moderation in all things. Finally, one is confronted with a problem that appears in all secular humanist thought: despair. Pullman essentially tells us to enjoy life and not inhibit our desires and that's it; after death there is only oblivion (which to me seems worse than even the gloomy underworld he depicts). Although the hope of eternal life that Christianity offers is not proof of its truth, at least it can be said that it is more beautiful and joyful than the heartless, eventually meaningless existence promised by humanism.
Rating:
Summary: The Amber Spyglass
Review: Books one and two kept me wondering: are these books good or evil? The Amber Spyglass put an end to my wondering. Philip Pullman has a definite religious "chip" on his shoulder. What's his problem? I agree with the lady's review where she said that he trusted our intelligence throughout the first part of the book, but then beat his warped opinions into our heads in the end. I'm angered to think that a man would write a "children's" book with the final theme being sexual consummation of a twelve and thriteen year old boy and girl. Really! I bought the Golden Compass for my teenage daughter from the school's book fair. I try to read everything that my daughter reads (for obvious reasons). The fantasy level of the Golden Compass was fantastic (I love C.S. Lewis). Every child could imagine what their daemon might be. So I was curious enough to get the second and third books. Philip Pullman is going to ultimately be accountable before the Almighty (whom he wants his readers to believe is dead) for leading children astray. Woe to Philip Pullman. I only gave the book a three star rating because of the imagination and clear descriptions of the characters and different worlds. The end of the trilogy is a shame.
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