reconsider creation (The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
Date:	24/03/03 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent plot

Disadvantages: not a standalone

'The Amber Spyglass' is the third book in a trilogy. More than that, it is the drawing together of many thoughts stories and characters in a stunning conclusion that will leave you thinking. The problems are these - it is not a standalone book, if you haven't read the other two, it won't make much sense. If you haven't read the other two and you read this op then inevitably there are going to be some plot spoilers, I'll do my best to avoid spoiling the first two, but it isn't going to be easy.

The background - William Parry is a lad from our world who has a fantastic knife that can cut anything, even reality itself. Lyra is a girl from a different world entirely, part of her soul is manifest outside her body and can take various animal forms. Her father, Lord Asriel, has declared war on god - 'The Authority' while her mother, Mrs Coulter, has strong ties to the church. By the end of the second book you know that Lyra has a destiny, and you even know what it is, but not quite what it means.

Scroll on if you don't want spoilers for books one and two.

After finding her way into another world and meeting Will, the two children get the Subtle knife, but before the witches who were helping them can get them to Lord Asriel, Mrs Coulter kidnaps Lyra, taking her to a hidden valley. While Will searches for his friend, Lyra dreams of the world of the dead and of her lost friend Roger who is trapped in this grey, unending land, not really alive, but still aware. These nightmares decide Lyra's future for her, and take her and Will on a strange journey through many worlds where they will meet may strange beings - ghosts, harpies, deaths, tiny and deadly Gallivespians, armoured bears, witches, Mulefa (who ride around on seed pods).

Meanwhile Mary Malone (the scientist from book 2) has travelled into another world and is studying the mysterious dust with the Mulefa - four legged, trunked sentient bein
gs who roll about on wheels using ancient lava flows as roads. Mary knows it is her job to tempt Lyra, to 'play the serpent' but how will she do this? It soon becomes evident that there is more at stake than anyone could possibley have imagines. Whiel Mary struggles to solve the riddles of dust, the Church have sent out an assassin to kill Lyra before she can fullfill her destiny.

This is a fascinating book which brings the trilogy to a striking conclusion. It has a lot to say about the church and the effects of Christianity on the development of intelligent thought. Devout Christians may find some of this troubling. There's a lot of material that is inevitabley going to generate philosophical thought. There's a lot of science - evolution, and physics mostly. The book is bursting with concepts, and after reading it, there are one or two things you may never think of in quite the same way agin - especially the Christian creation myths.

Having read the trilogy, I can see why they have been so highly acclaimed in Pagan circles. I think this third book is by far the best of the three, its a stunning piece of work and well worth reading, but only after you have read the other two or you aren't going to have a clue what's going on.

Furthermore, the books are beautifully written, with a fine attention to detail and some well developped ideas, settings and characters. I cannot praise this book enough. All I wonder is, what on earth would a younger reader make of it?

Summary: