His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman
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Book Reviews of His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
Book Review: Intriguing and suspenseful
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the trilogy looking for an opportunity for my imagination to take wing. Philip Pullman does a great job of bringing this adult back to her childhood and the ready fantasy I found there when learning how to interpret and understand a complex world. I loved the drama, passion, and loyalty of the heroine. It's an exceptional read. . .Book Review: His Dark Materials Trilogy
Summary: 5 Stars
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (His Dark Materials)I bought this as a new set and received exactly what was advertised. I've only read the first book as of yet, but must say the book was WAY BETTER than the movie. Can't wait to read the remaining two. Process of ordering and receiving book set was easy and fast. I will definitely use this site again for future purchases. Book Review: A fantastic Trilogy
Summary: 5 Stars
I first was introduced to this trilogy by a friend that had the audiobooks. It was a fantastic story that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters are full of life and the story is jam packed full of excitement. If you want a story that will take you to other worlds and draw you into them, check this one out!Book Review: An Amazing Accomplishment
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished this trilogy. Amazing accomplishment by Philip Pullman. To describe these as children's books does not to them justice, as they are written at a very sophisticated level. His prose is delectable, the story moves at a fast and never lagging pace. Yes there are children as protagonists, but I am an adult with no children and read these eagerly for myself alone. HIs scope is staggering and the overall story inventive and original. I've read the Harry Potter series and this trilogy is FAR SUPERIOR in my opinion, mainly because the writing is so much better and more complicated (though not to detract from JK Rowling). I really had no idea where the story would end so my attention was held to the last page. This series of books is really of the highest order of fiction and deserves a place among the great adventure fiction that has been written to date.Book Review: Promising start and interesting themes - awful ending and poor story telling
Summary: 1 Stars
**Spoiler Alert: Do not read this review, if you haven't read the books yet and plan to do so.**
The trilogy starts promisingly, and I was quite happy with the first book. It reads like an allegory of our own world. I am an atheist/agnostic and have very little sympathy for the catholic church, so I found some of these themes quite appealing and interesting. But as the story progresses in the second book the characters start getting more shallow, and less interesting and the story starts getting illogical twists that just seem to make no sense in the context of the story line, the plot seems to follow the whims of the writer and not it's own inner logic that the first book promisingly build up. The third book continues this trend. Nothing makes sense anymore. And don't understand this wrongly. A fantasy story doesn't have to "make sense", but it has to follow it's own set of rules or the storyline is shattered. When the rules are broken the reader starts feeling he's being manipulated. While the world of the first book was full of life, promise, hope, wonder and achievement when the world was on the brink of a great war and children were being kidnapped, the ending of the third book is the emotional opposite - after the universe has been saved.
The way Pullman forces apart the two kids who saved the universe is more arbitrary and manipulative than the catholic church, makes less logical sense than Leviticus, and is cruel as the inquisition. The two kids have killed and have seen death, they have lost all their loved ones, they have lost their friends, they are alone in the world except for each other and they have just fallen in love to give them hope. And at just that moment Pullman pulls them apart for the arbitrary reason that a single specter (a bit annoying creature, but something the angels and ghosts and the knife can combat) could enter the world every ten years if a window between the worlds was kept open. Compared to the wonders, achievement and joy the inter-action and collaboration of the different worlds could achieve that is a very very small price. And not just these two kids but the larger context in which the good forces of different worlds could combine their powers. There is nothing free thought, no wonder, no compassion about the way Pullman concludes the trilogy. The values the ending reflects are the very same values, anti-imagination anti-freedom, Pullman set himself to challenge. The third book is just horrible. One of the worst endings I have ever read.
Not recommended reading for children. I don't mind the anti-catholicism angle, but the way the reader is manipulated and how imagination and wonder are cruelly restricted is not a message of freedom. Completely puzzled how the second and third book have generally got good reviews.