Thursday 20 September 2018

Review: The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman

Will is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel - by the command of his dying father.

But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and and intrigues that beset him.

The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead...

His Dark Materials:
Once Upon a Time in the North (Novella)
The Collectors (Short Story)
Northern Lights (Released as The Golden Compass in the US)
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass
Lyra's Oxford (Novella)

The Book of Dust:
(Companion series to His Dark Materials)
La Belle Sauvage

Visit Philip Pullman's website for more information

Review:
I've pretty much given up trying to write sensible reviews for this series, I've loved the books for such a long time and read them so many times over the years that it's just impossible to be objective about them. I guess the fact my 18 year old paperbacks are so loved and well read probably says it all for me though really.

Lyra and Will go on such an incredible journey throughout this series and in The Amber Spyglass the fate of not just our world but many, many more is in jeopardy. Their friendship and the adventures they share are just so much fun to read about and I'm always sad to reach the end of one of these books. One of the things I love the most is the huge variety of side characters we've met along the way. None of the characters in this series are completely what they seem and I love how even the characters we've hated since the very beginning actually do good occasionally too. Not enough to redeem them for sure but definitely enough to make them seem like real people who have made a lot of horrible mistakes along the way.

We get quite a few different points of view in this book and one of my favourites was that of Mary. She probably ends up in the most surprising place and the creatures she meets while she is there are absolutely fascinating. I love everything about the mulefa and have never come across anything quite like them before.

Although the ending tied the story together nicely it was also more than a little heartbreaking. Lyra and Will have to make some incredibly difficult choices and it pains me to think of what they go through in order to save the worlds. I'm hoping that we might get to see beyond that point in the new spin of trilogy though so I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens in The Book of Dust.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

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