The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, Book 3)

Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars, rounding up
Review: This book certainly made an impression on me. I found the whole series riddled with the same flaws, but this one, like the first one, surpassed them. It certainly doesn't have the focus, or the sense of wonder and discovery that the first book has, but after reading the second book I had gotten used to the fact that "The Golden Compass"'s virtues as a story were unique to its own volume, and I was able to enjoy the poorly-woven-together sub-plots for their own sake.

No, it doesn't hold together the series. And it is sylistically confused and inconsistent. Pullman seems to be experimenting with different tones, different ways of describing things as the book goes on. And the good characters (including the universe itself?) are naive, snobby and intolerant in their open-minded way, while the bad ones are jokes/straw men set up to be knocked down.

Yet... and yet... I still enjoyed reading it. Pullman put a lot of energy into creating this book. He didn't manage to construct anything outstanding out of all these symbols, ideas and dramas, but they are worth experiencing on their own.

To be brief, what I like best about Pullman's books is his ability to bring out the power of the individual contents of his book. I agree with anyone who says the ending doesn't wrap up the plot in anyway, or deliver what seems to be promised, but it seemed satisfying in its own way.

*(Spoilers from now on)*

It was satisfying because it was brief and powerful love. It was fulfilling the prophecy, yes, but it doesn't matter (or make much sense in terms of what it's accomplishing). Love is something universal, and Pullman portrayed it very powerfully, and that's why it was satisfying. It's satisfying in itself. I think this is why people like the daemons so much, too: they have an intrinsic appeal regardless of how they're involved with the plot. You can say that about a lot of things in the series.


The books are enjoyable if you think of them more as dream-like than as clock-work. Things in dreams have a value on their own. This book was moving towards love, and ultimately parting and growth, the whole time, seemingly in spite of any complicated story-devices and conflicts. In many ways, I find it very satisfying that the plot was sort of thrown away, as if the characters stopped caring. Dust? Authority? Oh, yeah, whatever. They died somehow. The story seems to know what's more important.

Though it lacks the integrity to make it truly great,
reading the book is a worthwhile experience.

P.S. (The ultimate spoiler) A lot of reviewers seem puzzled by the fulfilment of the prophecies. When Lyra leaves Pantalaimon on the shore, she's not fulfilling the betrayal part of the prophecy, but the "she will experience pain" part of it. She betrayed Roger, and she's going to the land of the dead because of that betrayal.
And the Lyra=Eve prophecy: in addition to the fact that Mary tempts Lyra with the story of romance, which gives Lyra an idea of what she wants to do with Will the next day, we also read that Mary gives her a friggin' piece of FRUIT, which she HANDS to Will to EAT right before the critical moment. Come on, people.


Rating:
Summary: Oh my God get over it.....
Review: Any Christian that is insulted by this story should never ever touch a FICTIONAL book.
Oh well yeah, this is HERESY, of course. Beside that it is a very well written and heartbreaking story.
It's a Fantasy Trilogy for God's (I'm sorry) sake and I rather let my children read an open minded book like this and tell them of the twist of religion and science than let them read faihtfulcatholic stories. That's maybe appropiate for children under twelve...I think above that age, they are ready for a little bit of truth (please regard the "little bit"), aren't they?

Rating:
Summary: New Age Harry Potter
Review: The "His Dark Materials" trilogy is written like the unsuccessful love-child of the Celestine Prophecy and the Harry Potter books. I just read that the author is an atheist, but that seems odd since the core of this story is New Age hokum. While the Catholic Church is a den of the most horrid iniquity and the Christian God turns out to be a senile Alzheimer's patient (though power-mad and wicked before senility arrived), even the "physicist" finds honesty and guidance in the I Ching. Witches, angels, herbal remedies, divination, auras... you get the idea. One of the main characters (Lyra), even has a portable wigi board-like device called the altheiometer that she consults throughout the books to find the "truth."

In this Age of Aquarius, the World of the Dead (literally the underworld) sections are the most painful reading. When Will and Lyra find the solution to the misery of these poor dead souls, it's so silly and uninspired I couldn't imagine what the author was thinking.

By the third book, the characters have become cardboard cutouts that can change their essential natures as quickly as the "dust" wind can blow them. And the ending-oh, the ending! Abandon hope all ye who exit here...

I can't say that this trilogy is a complete waste of time. The first two books were mostly fun (although sometimes preachy) and I generally liked both Will and Lyra. By the beginning of the third book, however, I had to start skimming to keep myself awake.

Be aware that for "young adult" fiction, this book is particularly gruesome with graphic torture, murder, dismemberment, and (essentially) cannibalism.


Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece...
Review: The first two books in this trilogy were fantastic, and this book is just ten times better. From the minute you pick it up, you are immediately engrossed in this story.

The book picks up with Will going off in search of Lyra. After their inevitable reunion, the adventure that ensues is everything that Mr Pullman hinted to in the previous two books. Multi-world travel (including new ones), all out war, a confrontation with a supposedly "all-powerfull" being, and the temptation. What happens during the confrontation with the "all powerfull" is supposed to be a metaphor...see if you can figure it out.

Many people complain that the book is very anti-religous. Those people are not quite grasping Mr. Pullman's intent. He is shedding light on his view of organized religion and its history of oppression. Remember it's one man's opinion.

The story is fast-paced and very exciting. The reader will get very emotionally attached to the two central characters, Lyra and Will. I was very sorry when the stroy was over and can't wait for "The Book of Dust" to be published. I recommend this story to mature teens and to every adult who enjoys well written stories that also make you think about life and what happens afterwards. My highest compliments to Mr. Pullman.

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful heart-breaking conclusion
Review: Though of these three books I do love the first the most, this book is still amoung my favourites in the whole world. It is just as beautifully written, beautifully created and beautifully different as the other two. When I finished the last chapter I cried for nights before I could recover from not being able to read about Lyra any more.

I know there are a lot of religeous people who find this book offensive but, as I said in my review on the Golden Compass-IT'S JUST A BOOK! The auther has his own views and you don't have to agree with them. These are my favourite books and I'm a Christian. It doesn't matter. People who hate this book also hate the Harry Potter books for the same reasons. Why is this? I do not know. I am also a huge fan of the Harry Potter books. Peole have to understand that just because something published states an opinion that they don't agree with doesn't mean they have to burn it or detest it because they are not being forced to share those opinions. Sure, if you are Christian, be warned before you read these, but I think there really is a message in these books if you block out the anti-religeon.

The only flaws of the Amber Spyglass are that some of the parts with Mary are a bit boring, though that is only because the parts with Lyra and Will are so interesting, and that the auther maybe went a tiny bit overboard with the anti-religeon. The rest is perfect.

I have read this book two or three times (I can't remember which) and gotten at least five friends hooked on the series. I think everyone should read these books. They are true litterature at its best.

Rating:
Summary: Brings the series to a magnificent and grand conclusion.
Review: First off... this ain't no Harry Potter. While Harry Potter is excellent, thiese books are mor thought provoking and intelligent. Sorry to all the die-hard Potter fans out there for saying that. Now, about the way it's written. Phillip Pullman has a gift for describing epic battle scenes that can give Tolkien a run for his money. You could even go so far as to say that the heavenly war at the end compares favorably to the battle of the Pellenor Fields in LOTR, which is definitely saying something. Also, Pullman gives us the rare ability to pity, hate, and love some of the characters. Lord Asriel, Lyra's dominatining father is one of these.

Regarding the content itself, well, let's just say that we won't be demanding any new cover anytime soon. Call me crazy, but for some odd reason I really dislike dust-jackets, and with a book such as this, with a picture on the actual book, I just trash the dust-jacket. In this case it has a positive effect. You don't see the title, just the full erie splendor of the front cover, showing the land of the dead, with Will and Lyra as the only bright things in that utterly dismal wasteland. And you can just make out the faces of the dead, a pretty macabare vision, if I say so myself. Nice thick paper, wierd symbols on the edge of the pages, and a nice mystical font on the chapter names. No problem there.

Onto the long-expected plot summary: The book opens with Lyra.... wo is being drugged by her mother in a small cave in her world. Now a neighborhood girl named Ama finds out what Mrs. Coulter is doing and plans to help the girl escape. Meanwhile, right after the death of his father, Will, along with two angels, Baruch and Balathamos, has gone looking for the missing Lyra. In another plot line, the scientist Mary Malone has gone into another world and meets strange wheeled creatures called mulefa. All of them meet and together, their destiny changes all the worlds.

Ths book will make you laught, cry, and generally leave you in awe of how utterly amazing this book is.

Final grade- "A+"

Adieu

Rating:
Summary: This is supposed to be an award winning book???
Review: I was horrified after reading this novel. After all the insanity about Harry Potter I can't believe those books have been slandered and I never heard anything about the evil in this last novel of this series.

I'm not conservative or fundamentalist, in fact, I probably hate organized religion as much as Philip Pullman does, but this was really over the line. My major complaint is that it is a childrens book. I'm an adult and I was deeply disturbed by the horrors in this book. I can't imagine having read this book if I were 10 or 11, as a parent I'm deeply disgusted. I've never wanted to burn a book before in my life, but this one I had a strong urge to. If I hadn't gotten the book from a library I probably would have.

My second big complaint is that this book is not entertaining in the slightest! Will and Lyra's characters and development fade into the depressing background of the morbid story. The afterlife as a horrific prison camp even babies are sent to? God disintegrating in the wind? Not to forget 'deaths' which are spirits that hang around you your whole life just so if you kick off they can lead you to the aforementioned hell. Nice. I like excitement in the plot, but after this mindnumber I wanted to down a bottle of Prozac and go into a coma for a week or two.

I won't even comment on the fact that the author had two prepubescent children have sex in order to SAVE THE WORLD. Gag me and give me a break. Oh well, I guess I commented on it afterall.

Rating:
Summary: A superb work laced with Nietzschian undertones
Review: I read the first book in this series when i was in sixth grade, and finished the last one in Ninth Grade. I loved them then and loved them now (hell, i've read the whole trilogy four times). But recently i have gained a whole new appreciation for them. Having become enamoured in Nietzschian philosophy i have found numerous relations between the message in The Amber Spyglass and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Pullman's view of whats wrong with christianity is essentially the same as that presented in Zarathustra. Both present the idea of living for a world that for all you know is not there as an effront to life itself and all it has to offer. These are the preachers of death. The depiction of the fallen angels as friends of wisdom is also a very Nietzschian idea.