The Amber Spyglass

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Third book in His Dark Materials trilogy.

This final book in the trilogy was quite a hard book to get into. As this was one of the books that I read on my latest holiday in Germany, I managed to get through it in about a week which was quite good as it was 600 odd pages long. By this book there were so many characters  in different worlds with so many different problems to deal with all relating to one big element, Dust. It is then the mission of Lyra and Will to help prevent the church from winning the battle against the rebellion. This proves difficult as they have to deal with double agents and also many other species from different worlds. This final book was quite a sad ending to the three books as Lyra and Will were forced never to see each other. I enjoy the style of writing of Philip Pullman and he is in my top three favourite authors. I hope to read more books from him in the future. I am giving this 8/10.
MB

This is the third and final installment of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy.  The story by now is incredibly complex with characters able to move at will through the thousands of holes from one world into another.  The children Lyra and Will attempt the most difficult of tasks which is to go into the world of the dead.  They get there and manage to understand what happens when people die and what becomes of their spirit.  The book is very intense and moves from one cliff hanger to another.  Pullman does pull it off however by the end I was exhausted.  The ending does leave one with a feeling of unfinished business but I won't spoil it by giving it away.  I recommend this and suggest that it is an excellent series.  It is clear what Pullmans thoughts are on religion and the affect of the church on the population. I will leave it to you to make up your own mind.  I give this an 8 out of 10
JB

Overall, our score is 8 out of 10.

The Subtle Knife

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

Second book in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

This book was continued from the first book Northern Lights. It began with Lyra meeting up with a boy in a completely different world. She had got there thanks to the discoverment of dust (dark matter) and was able to use it to find an entrance. The boy only found it by mistake under a tree after running away from home. They both joined forces to try and find Lyra's dad who was planning a rebellion against an empire in her world. This leads them to find the subtle knife which will open and close doorways to other worlds with the flick of your wrist. They then meet up with one of Lyra's old friends and they set forth on their mission to find her dad. Philip Pullman has written this very well and it is a brilliant fiction book. I am giving it 7/10.

MB

I had read the first book (see entry for the Northern Lights) which I had enjoyed and was looking forward to reading this book.  Philip Pullman has an interesting view on the world and his views on religion are becoming well known.  This story continues where the other left off however the main character in this story is Will a young man who is responsible for looking after his mother who is disturbed and mentally unstable.  He travels to Oxford and finds a window into another world.  He meets Lyra and an exciting adventure starts.  These novels are very dark at times and it is clear that the message that is being conveyed over religion and God are very different from the orthodox teaching of the church.  Mr Pullman is an able and exciting story teller and I look forward to reading some of his other books. I give this an 8 out of 10.
JB 

Overall, 7.5/10.

Northern Lights

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.


First book in a trilogy.

Northern Lights is a well written book that has been made into a film called The Golden Compass. After watching this film, I was worried that I wasn't going to like the book as I didn't get the plot of the film and it was very confusing. Northern Lights is about a young girl called Lyra who lives at a college in Oxford with the proffessers. Her best friend is a boy who's mother and father are kitchen staff for the college. In this book, every human has a daemon which is a spirit that is part of the human, they follow the human everywhere and without them the person would die. Suddenly news breaks out that children are going missing up and down the country and people have come up with a name for the group that is kidnapping them. They are called the Snatchers. There aim is to capture children and take them to the North Pole where there daemon is severed from them and caged up. They then take the dieing child to the Northern Lights where a rift is opening. They let the child go up into the rift and they are never seen again. One day, Lyra's best friend goes missing and she goes on a quest to find him. On the way she finds out who her real mother and father are. This book was much better than the film and I enjoyed every bit of it. I am giving it 8/10.
MB


I started reading this book with some trepidation. I has seen the film on DVD and had not enjoyed it much as I had found it to be complex and I was not sure I understood what the story was about. When I started the book I did struggle a little however once I got going I found it to be a fascinating and yes a complex story interwoven with a number of stories. The heroine of the story is a girl who does not fully know her parentage. She is brought up in a college university by a group of scholars. The story revolves around Dust and the impact this magical substance has on the world. I do recommend this story and suggest that it is worthier of your interest than the movie. Interestingly I now understand what the movie was trying to tell me through the power of the written word. I give this a 7 out of 10
JB

Overall 7.5/10