The Shadow in the North
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The Shadow in the North
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3.76 of 5 stars
WHEN ONE OF Sally’s clients loses a large sum of money in the unexpected collapse of a British shipping firm, Sally sets out to investigate. ... read full description

reviews

Jan 29, 2012
Jude rated it: 4 of 5 stars
book on CD: Anton Lesser is a delightful reader!
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Feb 06, 2010
Violet rated it: 4 of 5 stars
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Dec 09, 2008
Larissa rated it: 5 of 5 stars
The Shadow of the North has a lot going on, including runaway magicians, false mediums, and steampunk weapons of mass destruction. But the true heart of this story does not lie in its intricate and sometimes improbable plot. It's about love. Not that mushy, obsessive stuff so many YA novels devote their pages of purple prose to. This is about a love of equals, and all the sharp, bright angles such a love has to carve a path out where there seems to be none.

Philip Pullman's writing c More...
0 comments like (4 people liked it)
Feb 01, 2009
Michelle rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Okay...this was a great little read. These books are all plot driven, but they're really interesting and have some lovable (& despisable) characters. I still think its interesting that these are for young readers b/c the evil people are pretty dang mean, but maybe that's less complicated than nice evil, which is even more frightening. This series is a good one to read when you want something interesting, but do not want to wander what long descriptions of the plant life mean in the symbolizing More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Dec 12, 2008
Kate rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I didn't realize this was the second book in the series until about half way through, but I kept on going with it since I seemed able to figure most things out that I missed in the first book. The story is so incredibly woven, with the characters being given as much attention as the unfolding mystery. There were times of incredible sadness and moments of hilarity. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator was good - he definitely had to grow on me (he does a wonderful Scottish acce More...
1 comment like (2 people liked it)
Dec 02, 2011
Lisa rated it: 5 of 5 stars
It's six years after The Ruby In the Smoke. I almost thought I had missed a book in between since there is so much going on in the characters' lives that had changed, but Pullman isn't interested in the telling of an everyday story. This one is not as tightly woven as the first, but ends up being a more powerful book.[return][return]The first half deals with a mystery that is torn into three parts, Sally and her friends each have a part they are working on and realize that they need to come to More...
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Aug 05, 2011
Asra rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The name Sally Lockhart was first introduced to me in The Tin Princess, which happens to be the last book in the Sally Lockhart Quartlet. I have read only two books in this series. Since I got to see very less of Sally in The Tin Princess, this book came as a fresh page for me to relish her character. When Sally tugs locks of hair behind her ear, I love it =D

For me, this book was all about Sally- her strength, her passion and her love for Fredrick which she realizes too late.
"Th
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May 24, 2011
Beachblue rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Um, wow. I went into this book expecting a fantasy in the style of His dark materials. But it was actually a Victorian mystery. Silly me. Should have read the blurb.

I thought it was an awesome read. I was hooked from the very first scene, when independent Sally, a financial consultant, is confronted by an elderly client who lost all her money. Slowly, Jim and Fred came into the picture with puzzles of their own, and they discover that all three mysteries tie up with one man.

T More...
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Aug 13, 2010
Michelle rated it: 5 of 5 stars
It's been six years since Sally Lockhart solved the murder of her father with the help of photographer Frederick Garland and the handy office boy Jim Thorpe. In the years since Sally not only studied at Cambridge (although not with a certificate - dang Victorian anti-feminists!) but set up her own thriving investment consulting business. With Sally's sound business advice (and capital), Fred's photography business has continued to grow and evolve - even allowing him to do a bit of private detect More...
3 comments like
Aug 04, 2010
Brian rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Definitely a literary improvement over the first book! The characters have become more sophisticated in the intervening six years; Sally in particular has become emotionally complicated and much more like a real person, as has Fred. (Boo, however, to Fred's strange and unforeshadowed interest in private detection.) As sad as it is to see these characters lose their clarity of purpose, they manage not to divest their likability. Meanwhile, Jim has graduated from dark horse to full protagonist More...
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Aug 02, 2010
Patrick rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jun 11, 2009
Darshan Elena rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Better and better! Pullman's writing just gets better! He's snappy and exacting in his characters. Quirky and ethical, his characters poke holes in systems of power. For example, he excoriates the church - most ones it seems - in deft little passages such as this one from The Shadow in the North:

Lady Harborough, assured by her staff that all the guests were ready, was on the platform, making a short speech in which she described the valuable work her hospital fund was doing.
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Aug 07, 2011
Heather rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The Shadow in the North is the second of Pullman's Sally Lockhart mysteries, and I think it's better-written than The Ruby in the Smoke, or maybe I just liked it more because I already know the main characters. Sally, who's now twenty-two, is a partner in Garland & Lockhart's photograph studio and has also set up shop on her own as a financial consultant. Fred, a bit older, has found a passion for being a private detective (which is a bit weird/unexplained, since in the last book he was a photog More...
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Aug 12, 2011
procrastin8or rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Book 2 in the “Sally Lockhart Mysteries” series.

Set a few years after the first book The Ruby in the Smoke, Sally is well-established as a financial advisor and accountant to her friend (who loves her dearly) Frederick Garland.

Three seemingly separate events begin the unravelling the mystery at the centre of this novel. Firstly, a young woman turns up at Sally's office requesting assistance in claiming money back that she had invested in a shipping company when one of its stu More...
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Apr 26, 2010
Jann rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This is a fake review. We listened to about half the book in the car and then watched a BBC movie. I tried to get the book at the library, but it was checked out - hopefully I'll get to it later. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. What a smart, lucky, plucky girl Sally is. She goes up against an evil tycoon and sort of wins. Her lover dies and she becomes an unwed mother-to-be. My issue with the book is this: why must strong successful women be alone? Is it just because it's fiction and it's more exci More...
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Nov 10, 2011
Mari rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I hate Philip Pullman. I love this book, but I hate him so much right now. Because I can't think of reading this book again. And I don't know when I'll be compelled to read the third installation. Ugh. So much hate. Right about now.

I really liked The Ruby in the Smoke. It was such a great way to introduce a slew of characters, and while there were multiple points of views, I appreciated how the reader knew what the villains were thinking. This kind of writing followed through in The Sh More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Nov 24, 2010
Beth rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I love this lesser known Philip Pullman series. I read the first book some time ago and had not gotten around to reading the rest until I realized that the first two books had been adapted by BBC. I had to see them, and of course I had to read this one first.
I love the setting. It's Victorian England but darker and I feel like I've stepped back in time when I open it's pages. Sally is six years older in this book, and still fiercely independent and now running her own financial firm. Jim a More...
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Sep 07, 2010
stargazerpuj rated it: 2 of 5 stars
For some strange reason, I picked up the second book in the series thinking it was the first! Duh!

I really wanted to like this one. A woman protagonist who is independent, unconventional and a detective in Victorian England - all the ingredients seemed to be there for me to go ga-ga over it. Unfortunately, I just didn't like it. It started off fine – all the characters are likeable and strong and complex enough and hook you right in.

The mystery itself, though, was not ve More...
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Oct 26, 2010
Lia rated it: 2 of 5 stars
What do I rate this audio book?

The reader is fabulous. Lesser reads brilliantly.

Pullman write a compelling story for more than 2/3 of the book.

The historical detail is seamless and breathtaking.

But ... yes, BUT. But then Pullman has three characters behave strongly out of character that results in the death of one of them. The story goes downhill from there. I just could not allow Pullman to take such a lame turn in his own plot. He's too good a writer to More...
2 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jun 07, 2011
J rated it: 4 of 5 stars
seriously, why the heck do people waste their time with the golden compass? so good. intelligent, villains you love to hate, sinister plots...i normally hate this word applied to a book, but it was a delicious read. so dang good.
and now, major spoiler...............












......seriously, don't read this if you value the experience of reading a book at all..........







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0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Dec 02, 2010
Maninee rated it: 5 of 5 stars
yey another sally lockhart adventure, yet another masterpiece. phillip pullman has bolwed me over completely.

in the small alleys os london, sally lockhart is working as a financial consultant after going to university and coming out without a degree(not because she did badly, but because women weren't given degrees in those days). all is fine for sally, business is going quite well, and garland and lockhart is doing just as well(though it could certainly do with a bit more space), su More...
2 comments like
Aug 09, 2010
Jigme rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
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Apr 09, 2010
Janet rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This is the second book of Pullman’s ‘Sally Lockhart’ Quartet. It’s aimed at readers aged about 9 to 11 but I read the first part The Ruby in the Smoke last December as it was being dramatised on the BBC and I prefer to read the books first if possible.

Sally, with the help of Fred and Jim, investigates what links the disappearance of a ship with a Scottish magician who is being pursued by mysterious businessman, Alex Bellmann and discovers something sinister going on in a factory in Ba More...
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Apr 29, 2009
Jules rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I loved it. So, so, so much. I guess I once said it, by why not mention it twice? This is one of the best series I've ever had the fortune to read. Really. I already loved The Ruby In The Smoke but this one even beat it! I know, there are still two books to come, but I just had to state this.

As much as I'm going to miss Fred, I'm so happy that Sally is going to have his child! I was waiting for her to say it, right after Fred had died. "So there". I don't know, but how perf More...
2 comments like
Jul 10, 2011
Tim rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Meh. Bubbled along nicely. Characters and plot seemed to be developing. Then I guess Pullman got bored. He started doing things with the plot that don't ring true, and having things happen to the characters that don't fit the flow of the book. It's almost as if someone darker and nastier pushed him aside and said, "Enough! Let's give them something to chew on."

And sheesh, can we get away from having almost every novel in the Victorian/steampunk setting coping the others More...
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Jun 20, 2009
Bethany rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Oddly, I actually prefered this book to the first one which is unusual in a series. I liked the fact that the characters have matured in this one and we learn more about them especially Jim- who i smy favourite charatcer. Although this book is perhaps more dark than the first there were also moments of happiness and bravery. The ending although very good made me upset for a while and made em think about what would really happen to a girl in Sally's position in those days. I'm not sure myself bei More...
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Jul 16, 2010
Kim rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This book annoyed me in several ways. First of all, it is set six years after the first book and changes many things about the characters with no explanation. A character who was only interested in photographic art is now a private detective. Etc. The plot I actually really enjoyed. It was a fun, light, Victorian adventure story. But then it became needlessly dark and depressing. Pullman doesn't seem to know what kind of book he's writing. He seems to be trying to force a YA book to be m More...
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May 05, 2011
jeff rated it: 3 of 5 stars
A good yarn, as it is from Pullman, but not one of his stand-outs. This particular conspiracy theory just didn't quite hold together for me, and even I, someone who is not looking for the twist, was not surprised by the surprise death. It is true, though, as another character puts it: Sally Lockhart just isn't very likable. A good heroine, an interesting protagonist in the context of late 1800s London, but no one with whom I would enjoy hanging out. Which is too bad, since every other character More...
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Aug 07, 2009
B. rated it: 3 of 5 stars
The ending sucks. Period.
5 comments like (2 people liked it)
Mar 09, 2011
sabisteb rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Dieser Band spielt einige Jahre nach Band 1. Sally und Frederick haben sich auseinandergelebt und Sally hat ihre eigene Anlagenberatung. Als eine ihrer Kundinnen wegen eines ihrer Ratschläge ihre Altersrücklagen verliert, beginnt Sally auf eigene Faust die Hintergründe der Firmenpleite zu recherchieren. Wie sollte sie auch Ahnen, dass diese Nachforschungen in einer (persönlichen) Tragödie enden sollten.
Extrem spannende Fortsetzung des ersten Bandes. Auch dieser Band fesselt wieder von der More...
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