The Amber Spyglass - His Dark Materials Book III

So I've completed Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy by finishing The Amber Spyglass. And I have to say that I'm disappointed.

One of the things that I really liked about the previous two books was the relationship between Pan and Lyra. I really liked Pan and Pullman decided to remove him from most of the book. Although I have to give him credit for the scene of the children parting from their daemons. It was great and actually had me in tears. I suspect he did it to focus more on the relationship between Will and Lyra but I felt that their story was kind of meh.

The parts dealing with Mary among the mulefa were nearly physically painful for me. They weren't that interesting to me and Mary's view of evolution was flitting awfully close to intelligent design for a book that supports reason as a worthy end goal.

I felt Pullman was a little heavy handed in his completion of the trilogy. I thought he was a little heavy handed in the beginning of the trilogy as well so I can't say I'm surprised. In a world (or worlds) that exhibit the supernatural it's hard to be the champion of the natural. Lyra's story is about accepting free will and actually using it. I liked that message. I think it's an important one. However, one should have to pull down everything to accept one thing. I'm giving this one a 2.

The Subtle Knife - His Dark Materials - Book II

I enjoyed The Subtle Knife more than I liked The Golden Compass. I think part of that is because I liked Will more than I liked Lyra. Where Lyra, ultimately, triumphs because she's clever in a dishonest way; Will is the sort of person who gets labeled "hero" because he is. He does things because he feels they are right. He's just a good person and that comes through. I also liked that through Lyra's association with Will she was becoming more mature and less selfish and more of an actual person.

Pullman redeems himself to me by portraying some adults as actually having virtues which was something I felt lacking the The Golden Compass. He even allows Lee Scoresby to become a more rounded character and I enjoyed that.

I did not enjoy the ending. I'm not expecting everything to be "happily ever after" but I felt that it was not the ending that Will's quest for his father should have come to. Still, I liked the book and couldn't put it down so I'll give it a 4.

The Golden Compass - His Dark Materials - Book I

I have to admit I picked up Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy because of the controversy surrounding the movie. I still don't understand why people were condemning the movie without having seen it but after reading The Golden Compass I can see where some might object.

The first thing I have to say is that the book is not anti-Christian. It is anti-Church but I don't think that's the same thing. The people that represent the Magisterium are honestly trying to do the right thing. They think what they're doing is for the best. Unfortunately, it's also evil but that's saying more about human nature than about God. I don't think anyone can deny that organised religion has done some pretty awful things in the name of their God. True believers claim that those actions don't represent their religion, just the people in it. I believe that Pullman is making the same point. The Magisterium is evil, but that doesn't represent God, it represents the people in charge.

I think I might have enjoyed this book more if I'd read it maybe 20 years ago when I was more of a teen to a young adult. Some of the violence in it is more than I like in a children's book but it's definitely written for a younger audience. It's not badly written, I liked it enough to be curious about what happens next. I guess I was just hoping for something a bit closer to C.S. Lewis or J.R. Rowling. I don't think has the same adult appeal.

As I mentioned in my review of The Red Tent, I don't like it when authors villanise one group over all others. In this book the villains are adults. It seems like the only true heroes are children. Mrs. Coulter is evil. The Scholars are Jordan College are lying, backstabbing men just trying to get ahead. Even Lee Scoresby is just a mercenary when Lyra really needs help. The only adult that really stands out to be admired is Iorek Byrnison and he's a bear! It's just a 3 for me.

* EDIT *

I decided to rent the movie to see how they compared and I was completely disappointed. While I thought the book was kind of violent for a younger audience the movie did it's best to bring as little violence as possible to the screen. The plot felt forced and merely touched on most of the themes of the book rather than examining anything in any detal. The film is beautiful and well-cast but that's about it. Especially since they left off the ending.