Rating: 
Summary: Playing with religion can be dangerous, but still...
Review: Interesting reviews everyone gave. It isn't you either love it or hate it: some people are caught in the middle. I read that one reviewer even burned the copy. Okay so you're offended and you don't like it...but what a waste. People like being dramatic and hasty like that. Oh well. Anyway, I can understand how some people can be offended by this (it is saying that God is a liar and isn't the creator), but it's only Philip Pullman's view. You don't have to agree with it. This also means that you don't have to burn the book or throw it across the room or stomp on it or cut it to little pieces or flush it down the toilet. Okay, I've given you people too many ideas. I'll stop. The point is you shouldn't be so affected by a piece of fiction if you don't want to be. Now, some other reviewers said that there were some pointless parts of the book (particularily the Mary Malone and Mulefa parts and the whole assination thing). I somewhat agree. But those scenes were also crucial. Mary discovered stuff about Dust that Lyra and Will couldn't have since they were on their little journey to the Land of the Dead. The Mulefa were strange but interesting. Yes, we could've done without some scenes, but not all. The assination thing I could've definately could've done without because it went nowhere. My view on this is: If it's not going to do something important to the plot, then don't put it in. If Mary was killed or at least there was something bigger done with it, then I would've been satisfied. Some people also didn't like the end of the book or thought the beginning was slow. The beginning was slow but very descriptive and beautiful. People called the end the easy way out or not at all wrapping things up at all. I think Philip Pullman wanted to leave things open. That's a theme of the trilogy. Everything is open to new possibilities and new starts and hope for something better. As for the easy way out thought, I half-agree. It's hard to end a huge series like this, though, and end it well. I wished that Philip Pullman had fully closed up Will's and Mary Malone's problems in their world as I'm sure some people did. But it's Philip Pullman's story and he did it the way he wanted to. Everyone can go destroy the book in any number of ways they want or write the conclusion in their own way, but this is the story. No changing it.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book .....
Review: I finished this book just last night and I still can feel the tention and heartbreak. Although I thought that this book was excellent, one of the best in the triliogy, but it still has it's flaws. The only main problem that I had was that there was to much changing in world. Like when Dr. Malone would be in one, then the next chapter we would be in Lyra and Will's world and back again. The ending I though was heart-wrenching. I don't think that I have ever cried that hard for a movie or a book. Still the day after I still have this feeling in the pit of my stomach. The relationship between Will and Lyra could not of been handled better.
Rating: 
Summary: The triumphant (and unflinching) conclusion
Review: Pullman brings His Dark Materials to a close with a big, sprawling, apocalyptic piece of work that ties up all those loose ends quite satisfactorily. The most amazing thing about The Amber Spyglass-- since by now series readers should be perfectly familiar with the setup/revelation dynamic (and again, there are many things Pullman set up in the earlier books that are obvious, but their fuction seems to be to conceal the less obvious setups, equally brilliant in this book as the last)-- is that by the last hundred pages in this novel, the reader has seen any number of ways in which Pullman could wimp out and take the easy road with his characters. Happy endings all around, the world is saved, blah blah blah. Nope. Pullman allows his characters to think that happy endings are in the offing before hitting them with the painful truth that, hey, this is real life. And after 1,200 pages of Pullman's many parallel universes, it might as well BE real life. I was pained to see this series end. Probably the finest series of fantasy novels I've read since first being introduced to Michael Moorcock's Elric novels back in high school. Hopefully His Dark Materials will achieve the same lasting success those books have had. *****
Rating:
Summary: almost equal to Harry Potter
Review: I loved this book because of how the writing flows.Philip Pullman writes this book so you can' t stop reading it. I was more anxious to finish the book than I was with Harry Potter and the goblet of fire.This book is very complicated so people give up on it , but if you understand it becomes a very good and interesting story.
Rating:
Summary: Fictional genius, but a bit offensive
Review: Philip Pullman has done it again. His third book to his trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, is one of the best books I've ever read. This trilogy will definitely go down in writing history has one of the most creative, emotional, and compelling series ever written. His concept of the daemon alone is remarkable. You will find yourself loving or hating the characters more and more in this book and it will engulf during and even after you've finished reading it. However, to warn religious readers, Philip Pullman is not a very strong God activist. It seems as though he was a victim of Catholic complacency, legalism, and hypocrisy. He brings those harbored feelings out in the Amber Spyglass and takes his anti-church theme to an all out anti-God theme. This aspect of the book and trilogy was the only thing I can remember that I was dissappointed with and the only reason I didn't give him a full five stars. For those readers who don't like taking criticism about their faith, Christians of any denomination, I wouldn't recommend it. For those readers who love fantasy, fiction, and literature alike, or for Christians who can remain objective and just enjoy a good book, a definite must read.
Rating:
Summary: The Amber Spyglass
Review: I loved the Amber spyglass! The polt and story were very cool. I liked the idea of "Differnt dimensions". The characters were remarkable and the story was written very well. The Amber Spyglass had lots of polt twists,surprises,and a sad ending. The worlds and people in those worlds were very imaginative and no part of the book was boring. This book gets five stars!
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Summary: A closer look at the theology
Review: As the subtitle suggests, the purpose of this review will be to dissect the theology in His Dark Materials. First off, we have ppl complaining about Pullman's 'lack of open-mindedness' in dealing with Christianity. Then we have people who claim Pullman is a full-blown heretic but they dont give a damn about it. In my mind, neither is true. the real truth is somewhat more subtle. It is almost universally claimed that Pullman is setting up Christianity itself- that and no other religion- as the straw villain to be knocked down in HDM. Not so. Pullman- through his use of the word church- is really targeting the Church and brutally totalitarian religion. It is similar to how George Orwell attacked set up straw 'socialist' governments- not to attack Socialism per se, but by Orwell's own admission to 'attack Totalitarianism in all forms'. Similarly, Pullman doesnt attack fundamental tenets of Christianity, although the book does in a way resemble a pean to the world Now and Here, not the world after. What Pullman is really going after is brutality and hate masquerading as religion- something none of us want, i suspect. Pullman throughout his book does not mention Christ- the most important and sublime part of Christianity, without whom it would merely be pastors and bishops lording over their parishes. This is because Lyra, in a sense, is Christ. If you take a looka t her- and all she does throughout the book- her actions seem to parallel Christs. She goes through resurrection (losing her daemon, regaining it) to free souls (in the world of the dead). She also reaffirms the power of God ('dust') and saves the peoples of the universe (is their salvation). Because in this book, thats what God really is. Dust- which pervades the universe clings to humans, makes them different, gives them passions and thought- is a representation of God. Not the benign father sitting in a throne who is crudely depicted as God, but a disembodied force in the world that drives the universe- and without which the universe is dead. the 'God' in the book is revealed to be a liar and not the creator. Well, if hes not the Creator, how dcan he be God? God is only what you define it to be. this 'authority' is NOT all powerful or All-Knowing. Even the book says 'he merely gave himself the title of god'. What created him? it was revealed, he was created out of dust- spontaneously. In the end, the 'Authority' is merely antichrist, his church the false church of the antichrist, and lyra the saviour. So what we have in Pullmans thrology is merely this- 1. a condemnation of brutality masquerading as religion 2. a rebirth of christ who saves the universe through personal sacrifice Now im not saying the book exactly parallels christian doctrine. the timeline is all muddled, for one thing, but that is really authors license. The way i see it, Pullman was consciously/unconsciously influenced by Christianity and the nature of Christ in his writings. thats my 2 cents on the theology in HDm, and the evidence seems to support it. Hope all the Pullman-basher will reread the book to see if it makes sense to them now.
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Summary: An Excellent Plot, But A Bit Of Sacreligious Content
Review: Once again, I'll get the problem(s) out of the way first. This book is quite sacreligious(and that's putting it mildly). It says in its plot that God was not the true creator of the universe, that he was an angel who merely claimed he had. The "true" creator was unknown. Anyway, the plot. it turns out that Lyra was taken by Mrs. Coulter, and secreted away in another universe, in a cave. Will and the two angels from the end of The Subtle Knife go to rescue her. Meanwhile, Lord Asriel is assembling an army to attack the kingdom of God, destroying the so-called false creator and his "henchangels." Along the journey, the Subtle Knife will be broken and repaired, ghosts will fight the living, death itself will be no longer a bad thing, and so many shocking changes will occur that the characters are hardly recognizable from the ones we first met in the first two books. If, and this is a big IF, you can ignore the sacreligious content and tell yourself it's only a work of fiction, this is an extraordinary novel, with a plot so complex I can't tell you anything more without spoiling something.
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Summary: At last! A gentle awakening to us all!
Review: The Amber Spyglass is one of the most courageous books I have ever read. For all of us who ever dared to venture out of the mold, out of the little boxes we were put into even before birth, this is a refreshing book. Question everything! Investigate! Do not accept what has been passed on as truth -- inquire! If the adults do not question their world, the kids must. It is fascinating to read such important questions being posed and answered in such a fascinating, optimistic, down to earth manner. Hooray for Pullman, may he write much more on this -- we all need it.
Rating: 
Summary: Um...
Review: Good Lord! What happened! I wanted a nice ending to a triology that included "The Golden Compass." Instead, I got a traffic jam of a story line that included over ten (10+) different perspectives. For some reason, we just keep jumping from place to place. The bad part is that nobody cares about 80% of these places. But, I'm only beginning. The absolute worst part, period, involves Mary Malone. We left her at the end of "The Subtle Knife," but did she find some crazy things. She discovers a species of (probably purple or blue) elephants with wheels. They even build houses. Mr. Pullman has five problems with this book. 1. "Wierd unecessary junk" 2. Too many loose ends to tie up 3. Despite number two, he brings in more characters who help drag out the story even farther. 4. The only way to "clean up" 1-3 is to kill off most of the characters. (fewer characters means fewer perspectives) 5. A pathetic, miserable ending that is designed to be tragic, but fails to do so... (6. A drug or alcohol addition?)
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