The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
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The Amber Spyglass (Njegove tamne tvari #3)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97  ·  rating details  ·  66,319 ratings  ·  3,235 reviews
Published in 40 countries, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy – The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass – has graced the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Book Sense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

The Golden Compass
forms the first part of a story in three volumes. The first volume is set in a world l...more
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Community Reviews

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Paul
Paul rated it 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Maciek
Maciek rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: No one
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

-T.S. Eliot

Warning: Contains spoilers.

The Amber Spyglass is the final volume in His Dark Materials trilogy.

I really enjoyed Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass as it is titled in the US), the first volume of the trilogy. Pullman introducted us to a fantastic world of great scope. It was suspenseful, the presented world was enchanting, and Northern Lights was pregnant with interesting id...more
Jim
Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars
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
mark monday
i just decided to copy-and-paste a response i wrote regarding this book in one of the GR groups. that is inexcusably lazy. so sue me! also, it is full of SPOILERS.

- i think one of the most unique things about this book is the fact that one protagonist is a liar and the other is a murderer. not only is that uncommon, particularly in YA lit, it is transgressive. i like how the tools that help these two in their amazing adventures are ones that are normally displayed by villains. and wi...more
Manny
- George, wake up!

- Ungh... what time is it?

- I think about four am. You were having a nightmare.

- Mmmn.

- Hey, you're shaking. Come over here. It's alright. Do you want to tell me about it?

- Ann Coulter and Satan jump into the void and pull him down with them. The evil archangel.

- I'm sorry?

- Ah, it doesn't make much sense, does it? But it did in the dream. It was even noble and tragic. I think.

- W...more
Chris
Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: fiction
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jonathan
Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: religion, own
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Joe
Joe rated it 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
JoLee
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
Corie
Corie rated it 5 of 5 stars
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 brilliant in ...more
Pige
Pige rated it 1 of 5 stars
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
Shannon
Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: everyone
Heartbreaking, cynical, beautiful, potentially life-changing.
Susie
Susie rated it 4 of 5 stars
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
Sammy
Sammy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: b-the-good
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
Qt
Qt rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: fantasy
The third and final book in the His Dark Materials trilogy (the first two being "The Golden Compass" and "The Subtle Knife") was as well-written as the first two. I listened to the audio version of it; Philip Pullman is a fantastic narrator, and the whole cast does an incredible job.

Before I started this trilogy, I thought it would be a very good, somewhat-dark-in-a-fun-way, children's fantasy. I didn't expect it to be so complex, tragic, and epic. I gave it 5 st...more
Blair
I got quite far into this (more than halfway through) but still didn't feel particularly bothered about it - a disappointment after I enjoyed The Subtle Knife so much. My interest in the story just completely petered out, for some reason.
Clare
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Penny-anna
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... t...more
Jamie
Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: those with an open mind, lovers of great storytelling
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Lori Anderson
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
Erinina Marie
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
Steve Coughlan
Holy Moley! We go from "Ripping Yarn" in the first two volumes to "Ripping Yarn + Theology" in The Amber Spyglass. That, plus tying up all the loose ends and touching base with just about every character from the first two volumes (even the dead ones... the whole middle third of the book, makes this a looooong goodread. It's got that basic LOTR Fantasy structure... little people doing heroic deeds and saving the universe (not one world, not a few, but all of them everywher...more
Antonio
Antonio rated it 5 of 5 stars
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
Megara
I found the first half of the book tedious but it picked up at the end. The battle was particularly interesting... and how Lyra and Will go into the after life. I liked how the book ended; I was almost anticipating a Harry Potter conclusion where they fast-forward into the future and Lyra and Will live happily ever after but that wasn't the case. I think the ending was a lot more realistic and in turn a lot more satisfying; however depressing.

There were a few bits of the story that ...more
Porter
Porter rated it 1 of 5 stars
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
Peter
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jlawrence
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
Rebecca
Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars
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
Brad
My entire review could be this: Phillip Pullman's "The Amber Spyglass" is one of the poorest closing books of a trilogy ever written.

But I feel compelled to continue. At one point, I actually stopped reading "The Amber Spyglass," put it down and vowed not to finish, but I wanted to be able to slag off the book with authority, so finishing became a must. And I even had a slight hope that Pullman could save his series

I did finish, but it never got any b...more
Michael
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
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SPOILER - Loose end? 21 159 Feb 07, 2012 03:35pm  
Am I the only one that hated this series? 46 319 Feb 07, 2012 11:07am  
Amber Spyglass Ending 9 125 Sep 01, 2011 10:59am  
confused! 4 50 Dec 01, 2008 05:39pm  
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)

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from his official website:

"I was born in Norwich in 1946, and educated in England, Zimbabwe, and Australia, before my family settled in North Wales. I received my secondary education at the excellent Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech, and then went to Exeter College, Oxford, to read English, though I never learned to read it very well.

"I found my way into the teaching profes...more
More about Philip Pullman...
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2) His Dark Materials The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart, #1) The Shadow in the North (Sally Lockhart, #2)

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“I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are.” 264 people liked it
“I told him I was going to betray you, and betray Lyra, and he believed me because I was corrupt and full of wickedness; he looked so deep I felt sure he'd see the truth. But I lied too well. I was lying with every nerve and fiber and everything I'd ever done...I wanted him to find no good in me, and he didn't. There is none.” 188 people liked it
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