** spoiler alert ** As I said in my review of Golden Compass, I'd once before read the first book of this trilogy, but stumbled on the second. On this second try I made it through this book, and for my efforts didn't find much reward.

It starts out by introducing Will, wholly absent from the 1st book, and from our own world. This jarring beginning is what made me put the book down on my original reading, but this time (forewarned) I found enough to keep me going. I wasn't exactly skipping though. More like trudging.

With Will, the book takes on bleaker vision. I don't mind blacker visions, but this time it was just bleaker, less interesting. And Pullman in this book starts to broaden the multiple worlds for no particular reading...talking of other worlds merely because he finds them cool to write about, rather than having them add to the overall story. Tens of thousands of words could have been cut with no note of their passing, and that's not a compliment to any writer.

Additionally, and very problematically, when Will and Lyra meet up she begins to play second fiddle. The once proud and strong Lyra no takes what she feels as her "proper" place...that of secondary to Will, because he's the man. I really hated that. Her character was so strong, and as she and Will begin to bond, she subliminates her strenghts in order to please Will. The Golden Compass itself is forgotten, lest its prophecies irk the all important male. Damn, I'm fairly piggish, but even I felt a wave of male oppression.

Additionally, the story begins to swell out of proportion, as if Pullman, sensing he was on to something, decided to throw EVERYTHING into the mix, focusing on nothing.

I headed on to the third book, hopeful that it would get better.