false 18122 74 From the very start of its very first scene, <i>The Amber Spyglass</i> will set hearts fluttering and minds racing. All we'll say here is that we immediately discover who captured Lyra at the end of <i>The Subtle Knife</i>, though we've yet to discern whether this individual's intent is good, evil, or somewhere in between. We also learn that Will still possesses the blade that allows him to cut between worlds, and has been joined by two winged companions who are determined to escort him to Lord Asriel's mountain redoubt. The boy, however, has only one goal in mind--to rescue his friend and return to her the alethiometer, an instrument that has revealed so much to her and to readers of <i>The Golden Compass</i> and its follow-up. Within a short time, too, we get to experience the "tingle of the starlight" on Serafina Pekkala's skin as she seeks out a famished Iorek Byrnison and enlists him in Lord Asriel's crusade: <blockquote> A complex web of thoughts was weaving itself in the bear king's mind, with more strands in it than hunger and satisfaction. There was the memory of the little girl Lyra, whom he had named Silvertongue, and whom he had last seen crossing the fragile snow bridge across a crevasse in his own island of Svalbard. Then there was the agitation among the witches, the rumors of pacts and alliances and war; and then there was the surpassingly strange fact of this new world itself, and the witch's insistence that there were many more such worlds, and that the fate of them all hung somehow on the fate of the child. </blockquote> Meanwhile, two factions of the Church are vying to reach Lyra first. One is even prepared to give a priest "preemptive absolution" should he succeed in committing mortal sin. For these tyrants, killing this girl is no less than "a sacred task." <p> In the final installment of his trilogy, Philip Pullman has set himself the highest hurdles. He must match its predecessors in terms of sheer action and originality <i>and</i> resolve the enigmas he already created. The good news is that there is no critical bad news--not that <i>The Amber Spyglass</i> doesn't contain standoffs and close calls galore. (Who would have it otherwise?) But Pullman brings his audacious revision of <i>Paradise Lost</i> to a conclusion that is both serene and devastating. In prose that is transparent yet lyrical and 3-D, the author weaves in and out of his principals' thoughts. He also offers up several additional worlds. In one, Dr. Mary Malone is welcomed into an apparently simple society. The environment of the <i>mulefa</i> (again, we'll reveal nothing more) makes them rich in consciousness while their lives possess a slow and stately rhythm. These strange creatures can, however, be very fast on their feet (or on other things entirely) when necessary. Alas, they are on the verge of dying as Dust streams out of their idyllic landscape. Will the Oxford dark-matter researcher see her way to saving them, or does this require our young heroes? And while Mary is puzzling out a cure, Will and Lyra undertake a pilgrimage to a realm devoid of all light and hope, after having been forced into the cruelest of sacrifices--or betrayals. <p> Throughout his galvanizing epic, Pullman sustains scenes of fierce beauty and tenderness. He also allows us a moment or two of comic respite. At one point, for instance, Lyra's mother bullies a series of ecclesiastical underlings: "The man bowed helplessly and led her away. The guard behind her blew out his cheeks with relief." Needless to say, Mrs. Coulter is as intoxicating and fluid as ever. And can it be that we will come to admire her as she plays out her desperate endgame? In this respect, as in many others, <i>The Amber Spyglass</i> is truly a book of revelations, moving from darkness visible to radiant truth. <i>--Kerry Fried</i> 1774510 book 2000 The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) total:25791|5:9878|4:8243|3:5093|2:1780|1:797| 25791 101998 31512 2039 1 29 false true Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 19 19:00:12 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 19 19:18:35 -0800 2008





Now, having read the first book (5 stars) and the second book (3 stars) I had some hope for this book. But, this book was an excruciating head-hammering look at an author making all the wrong mo...more...]]> 3 15 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 21 11:48:49 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 26 15:33:10 -0800 2008
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 a...more...]]> 3 10 false true Sat Jan 26 11:47:29 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 09:31:36 -0800 2008 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman commits two serious authorial sins: he gets preachy and he loses control of his story. The result is book that, while excellent in places, is somewhat less enjoyable than the first two volumes of His Dark Materials.

In The Golden Compass and The Subtl...more...]]> 1 9 false false Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Thu Jan 17 23:10:18 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 15 19:16:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 7 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 17:04:59 -0700 2007 Fri Dec 28 08:01:33 -0800 2007 wanted this to be a great series, but it didn't really reach its potential.

I really lik...more...]]> 3 5 false false Thu Feb 21 19:18:32 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 11 15:30:31 -0700 2008
That being said, ...more...]]> 5 11 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 18 21:15:40 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 19 11:17:17 -0700 2007
I absolutely fell in love with Lyra. Didn’t you? She was the sister I wis...more...]]> 1 6 false false Thu Sep 13 19:52:21 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 20:15:27 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 3 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 19 16:38:51 -0800 2008 Thu May 01 09:04:43 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 11 16:22:42 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 17 00:59:45 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 4 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri Apr 20 08:02:20 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 20 08:03:08 -0700 2007 5 5 false true Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 13:51:45 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 11:12:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 5 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 04 14:15:22 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 20 09:29:07 -0800 2007
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 ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 08 10:27:19 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 08 10:37:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Feb 25 07:51:34 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 08:33:02 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 07:51:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 4 false false Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 00:37:27 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 08:26:59 -0700 2009
And then suddenly they closed the doors, turned off all the games, and a preac...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Sep 07 05:13:52 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 05:22:35 -0700 2008 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 prof...more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Aug 26 15:43:51 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 23:09:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 13:08:38 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 15:22:12 -0700 2008 Paradise Lost), turn it on its head, and make it into an anti-...more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Mar 15 08:55:52 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 15 09:03:29 -0700 2008
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 t...more...]]>