book data
21,691 ratings,
3.96
average rating, 1,849 reviews
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published
September 9th 2003
(first published 2000)
by Laurel Leaf
binding
Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages
characters
literary awards
2001 Booker Prize Longlist; Whitbread Book of the Year 2001
isbn
0440238153
(isbn13: 9780440238157)
description
From the very start of its very first scene, The Amber Spyglass will set hearts fluttering and minds racing. All we'll say here is that we immediate...more
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avg 3.96
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in December, 2007
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(21 people liked it)
2 comments
Read in January, 2008
Oooooof.
Too much. Way too much.
Pullman's series concludes like it started. Good but nothing great. And tiring. Very. The Amber Spyglass weighs as much as the other two books put together....and then some. Pullman pulls in still MORE main characters and still MORE beings and still MORE complications and still MORE unlikely, unbelievable turns-of-event. It just got to be too much. Between the witches and the angels and the cliff-ghasts, the shadows, the specters, the ...more
Too much. Way too much.
Pullman's series concludes like it started. Good but nothing great. And tiring. Very. The Amber Spyglass weighs as much as the other two books put together....and then some. Pullman pulls in still MORE main characters and still MORE beings and still MORE complications and still MORE unlikely, unbelievable turns-of-event. It just got to be too much. Between the witches and the angels and the cliff-ghasts, the shadows, the specters, the ...more
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1 comment
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Read in October, 2007
I also liked the third book a bit less than the others. The whole thing seemed rushed, as if he threw together every disparate idea he could think of at the last minute and didn't really plan ahead. I wanted this to be a great series, but it didn't really reach its potential.
I really liked the descriptions of angels at the beginning of the second book, as these strangely alien creatures with wisdom far beyond our own and their attention fixed on other-worldly things. But as the story...more
I really liked the descriptions of angels at the beginning of the second book, as these strangely alien creatures with wisdom far beyond our own and their attention fixed on other-worldly things. But as the story...more
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(6 people liked it)
1 comment
First of all, I would not recommend these books to kids. I don't think that most kids would be able to navigate the intricacies of Pullman's ideas and separate the story from the rhetoric. I see this as a major problem since they are written for and marketed to children.
That being said, there are a lot things about the books that I found really interesting. For example, the people of this world have a creature that is part of them, their daemon. The daemons are a physical manifestati...more
That being said, there are a lot things about the books that I found really interesting. For example, the people of this world have a creature that is part of them, their daemon. The daemons are a physical manifestati...more
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5 comments
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone over 12
If you haven’t read the ENTIRE three books, please don’t read any further. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you because the ending is so endearing and…..lasting, that I would HATE to take it away from you.
I absolutely fell in love with Lyra. Didn’t you? She was the sister I wish I would have had growing up. She was myself as I played with all of my brothers in the mudfields, she was the daughter I’m sure every woman would yearn to have. In my opinion, Philip Pullman was b...more
I absolutely fell in love with Lyra. Didn’t you? She was the sister I wish I would have had growing up. She was myself as I played with all of my brothers in the mudfields, she was the daughter I’m sure every woman would yearn to have. In my opinion, Philip Pullman was b...more
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2 comments
recommends it for:
no one
I actually finished this book a couple weeks ago. But life outside of goodreads, my general frustrations with the book, and the sense that reading it and thinking about it was contributing to an extended bought of grumpiness kept me from putting any thought or effort towards commenting on it here.
I suppose I should get it over with now. I have to say that reading this book was at times overwhelmingly painful and my main motivation for actually finishing it was to be able to know for my...more
I suppose I should get it over with now. I have to say that reading this book was at times overwhelmingly painful and my main motivation for actually finishing it was to be able to know for my...more
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2 comments
Read in March, 2002
This book was twisted. The plot was very contrived and the characters have lost the remaining appeal that they had in the first 2 books. The "redemption" of Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel is utterly unconvincing. Pullman makes an open mockery of God, whom he depicts as a weak, timid, helpless old being manipulated by a twisted, tryanicial angel. No, Lyra and Wil don't kill God in the end, but Pullman does. The story culminates in the predictable recreation of Adam and Eve's experien...more
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Read in April, 2008
Considering all the recent controversy surrounding Pullman's Dark Materials, I was careful to avoid reading any articles or reviews that would taint my opportunity to judge this book on face value. I found it to be an incredible story. Pullman drew from history, religion and science to form his own unique creation. I can't say that it was remarkably uplifting, or inspiring, or even that it made me question my view of life and how my religion plays into that. In fact, it probably only solidif...more
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Read in July, 2007
Okay, before I say what I need to say let me just say that I really loved this series, it was inventive and original, I've never really read anything like it. The only disappointment was that it seemed anti-climactic. I was expecting a little more to the ending, going out with a bang, not the relatively quiet exit that it actually had. It didn't kill the novel for me, but it did disappoint me a bit. I'm wondering if Pullman chickened out with a big ending he originally intended or someone st...more
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Read in June, 2004
recommends it for:
everyone
Heartbreaking, cynical, beautiful, potentially life-changing.
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3 comments
Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
those with an open mind, lovers of great storytelling
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Read in December, 2007
I am so glad I'm done reading this series. It's languished on my bookshelf for ages before I finally decided to read it.
I'm sorry I did.
First, I hated how the first book was written -- so many references to things that weren't explained -- I felt like maybe I'd missed a book or something, but no, this was the FIRST one. I hated the main character, Lyra. It just wasn't grabbing me. I slogged on.
The second book got better with the introduction of Will. ...more
I'm sorry I did.
First, I hated how the first book was written -- so many references to things that weren't explained -- I felt like maybe I'd missed a book or something, but no, this was the FIRST one. I hated the main character, Lyra. It just wasn't grabbing me. I slogged on.
The second book got better with the introduction of Will. ...more
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12 comments
Read in October, 2007
Okay, so I'm being especially harsh on these books, because I think I'm trying to figure something out about my own young adult novel. My criticisms are harsh I think because the books are actually so powerful and wonderful and tell a story with three of my strongest beliefs contained within them. But, I can't shake my annoyance at 1) the condemnation of the church (surprising coming from me, I know) 2) the central significance of sex and now 3) the trite and naive purity with which 'native' ...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
christians
A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, this instalment is by far the most complex and fast-paced out of the three. The many threads that make the parable intriguing and twined together very well, though sometimes it goes beyond well into either redundancy or beating, if not a dead horse, then at least one in agony.
No trilogy could really hope to be perfect, and as such this one loses steam at the end, but it still did not disappoint. Should I ever have the misfortune of reproducing,...more
No trilogy could really hope to be perfect, and as such this one loses steam at the end, but it still did not disappoint. Should I ever have the misfortune of reproducing,...more
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Read in June, 2009
When I was in high school, the local video arcade passed out fliers that that evening, after a $2 admission, you could play all the video games for free. I and several of my friends went and enjoyed ourselves.
And then suddenly they closed the doors, turned off all the games, and a preacher got up and proceeded to try to "save" us.
True, we had already gotten our money's worth, and we we could have gotten up and left (even though all of us wanted to but none of u...more
And then suddenly they closed the doors, turned off all the games, and a preacher got up and proceeded to try to "save" us.
True, we had already gotten our money's worth, and we we could have gotten up and left (even though all of us wanted to but none of u...more
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My God, this book is confusing. I have read it several times, and I couldn't explain the plot to anyone. I just don't get it. There's too much going on.
The relationship between Will and Lyra, I think, becomes less interesting as they become closer, so, obviously, by the time they're professing their love for each other, I just don't care any more. I don't care that they're split up forever - by the end of the book, Lyra has lost everything that made her interesting.
And, well.....more
The relationship between Will and Lyra, I think, becomes less interesting as they become closer, so, obviously, by the time they're professing their love for each other, I just don't care any more. I don't care that they're split up forever - by the end of the book, Lyra has lost everything that made her interesting.
And, well.....more
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4 comments
Definitely my favorite of the trilogy. The story was gripping throughout, Pullman's imagination was working at its highest pitch, and he balanced characterization with a complicated plot very well (which is where I felt The Subtle Knife faltered). The world Mary enters and its creatures alone would have made a fine short story or novella, the trip to the underworld/afterlife was vivid and truly unnerving, Mrs. Coulter's character arc was fascinating, there were dramatic moments that literally ...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
children
This book was an experiment, and while there were moments that were clever and compelling and emotionally resonant, as a whole, the experiment failed. That experiment was to take a piece of complex, religious poetry intended for adults (Paradise Lost), turn it on its head, and make it into an anti-religion/coming-of-age allegory for children. Even though Pullman ultimately failed to create a believable, subtle, or controlled narrative universe, even The Amber Spyglass did have its good moments...more
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Read in June, 2005
Took me more than one try to get through this fat, tedious climax to His Dark Materials, and god was I relieved when I finally turned the last page.
Yes, it won the Whitbread (now Costa), and yes, everyone fell all over themselves praising it, but it is a weak, weak book in comparison to the other two, mostly becuase it isn't any fun at all.
There is terror and Big Ideas and heavy stuff in the previous two books, but that is always married to the sort of thrilling adventure th...more
Yes, it won the Whitbread (now Costa), and yes, everyone fell all over themselves praising it, but it is a weak, weak book in comparison to the other two, mostly becuase it isn't any fun at all.
There is terror and Big Ideas and heavy stuff in the previous two books, but that is always married to the sort of thrilling adventure th...more
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