The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

A little short of amonth ago, I woke up on Christmas morning and opened my presents. One of these was Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy. I had eagerly awaited these (guessing I would get them for Christmas) and tucked into them immediately. The first two in the trilogy, namely 'Northern Lights' and 'The Subtle Knife', leave you thristy for more. Pullman creates a fantastic tale over the course of the trilogy, leaving the reader needing closure. 'The Amber Spyglass' is significantly longer than the first two books, over 500 pages long, and at points in the middle, it seems to drag slightly.I found myself pushing through long descriptive ...  Read the complete review

Right, I?ve dealt with The Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife so I guess it was kinda obvious that I was gonna get around to The Amber Spyglass sooner or later ? so OK, it?s sooner rather than not ? like the Guitarist Gary Lucas said: a little pain is good for you. There is no pain, however, in The Amber Spyglass, unless you take into account that it has, at some point, to end. It?s really is that simple. In many ways great stories are made by their climaxes. If only because it leaves the final and most indelible imprint in our minds. If all that went before is brilliant and all that ends is dross, we have a tendency to forget the beginning and ...  Read the complete review

The Amber Spyglass is the third and final part of Philip Pullman's highly successful His Dark Materials trilogy. Although I finished the book some days ago now, it has taken me quite some time to try and commit my thoughts on it to a review. The entire trilogy has been dense, absorbing and rich in ideas and sub-plots, but the Amber Spyglass is the longest and most challenging of them all, and it takes some time to work out quite where to begin. I think it is worth doing, though. As winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year 2001, this is a story that is just begging to be read and enjoyed by children and adults alike. -The Story is About... The ...  Read the complete review

Okay I know I’m doing this in the wrong order, but I’ll have to re-read ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘The Subtle Knife’ before I can give them a fair hearing. ‘The Amber Spyglass’ on the other hand is still fresh in my mind having been one of my holiday reads (yes I did lug the huge hardback copy down to the beach, more fool me I guess). In fact this book was a bit of a guilty pleasure as I had promised myself I would wait for the paperback edition, however, I clearly have no will power and the £3 off at Waterstones was more then enough to persuade me that I had to buy it. For the uninitiated ‘The Amber ...  Read the complete review

Five Years ago Philip Pullman published the first part of his Dark Materials trilogy 'Northern Lights'. Winning several awards, and studied on Children's Lit' courses everywhere, it was heralded as the best thing since Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and C.S.Lewis' Narnia books. Two years later saw the equally acclaimed publication of the sequel 'The Subtle Knife'. Finally, after many promised dates and set-backs, the concluding part 'The Amber Spyglass' has reached the shelves but has it been worth the wait? Picking up where the last book left off Pullman plunges his reader straight back into the story, if you've been ...  Read the complete review