Rating: 
Summary: A word about its theology and tone...
Review: I found myself at first surprised, then annoyed, by the theology presented by Pullman (most fully) in "The Amber Spyglass". Calling it a "theology" doesn't do it justice. Woven into the fabric of this book, it's much more; on its own, much less.This book's view of theology and religion is very narrow, the views presented are chosen very selectively. Pullman gives us an oddly Christian view of theism while managing to completely avoid the explicit mention of Christianity or Christ. It is centered entirely on the creation myth and the fall of man, its realization of this perspective a sort of caricature of the catholic church at its most intolerant. It is, in a way, Judeao-Christianity with all the good bits left out. He sets this straw man up as representative of all that theism and religion are -- indeed, all that they ever could be -- then, predictably, knocks it down. His theme is that religion and its practice are nothing more nor less than irrational authoritarianism. His theme, by itself, is sufficiently interesting and provocative to justify a novelistic examination. That he doesn't demonstrate or prove this theme, but simply asserts it and builds his straw man around it, is this book's profound weakness. It will be convincing to no one who doesn't already believe it. To the rest of us, it's shrill. My surprise is that he is willing to offend so many, my annoyance that he realizes his theme so thinly and justifies it so poorly. It owes a lot to Milton, but is not even a child's substitute. However, let us back off a few steps and not expect any real intellectual rigor. If we do this, we then can accept his theme as part of our suspension of disbelief, allow this caricature to stand in as fantasty's requesit uber-villain, and take satisfaction in seeing its defeat. This is what we need in a fantasy, and it's refreshing to see it expressed in the particulars with such originality. If we don't demand that Pullman prove his theorem, if we let it be simply provocative and interesting, then "His Dark Materials" is the better for it. Few fantasty novels even begin to examine the philosophical underpinnings of their morality: Evil simply *is*, it doesn't occur to us to ask if it really is not. These books certainly do *not* present a rational materialist viewpoint. They accept a mythologized universe a priori, then redefine its morality. It is in this way very theistic. And it's not a bad read.
Rating: 
Summary: Pullman ties up all of his loose ends
Review: First of all, can I just say WOW. When I read THE AMBER SPYGLASS, I sat there in a daze for the rest of the day, trying to sort it out. Pullman weaves a book so intricate that you have to totally leave yourself behind and follow him. We see more about Mary Malone, Lord Asriel's fortress, Mrs. Coulter's REAL intentions (and although they are not entirely honorable or good, I think she meant well), and - yes, much to my dismay - we watch the romance that we KNEW was coming between Will and Lyra unfold. One thing that I've noticed about the whole His Dark Materials series is that Pantalamion began to fade into the background more and more as it progressed. Oftentimes I caught myself wondering through this book where he was and what shape he was in. Some of the other people who've read this complain that the amber spyglass didn't really have anything to do with the book - so why would Pullman name it that? Because all of the titles are either Dust detecting/using devices. Pullman is a master at characterization. Especially when Lyra had to leave Pan on the dock in the World of the Dead - I cried my eyes out. The best thing about the characters though is that we can all relate to them. The ending left me crying and stamping my feet, but it was appropriate. (I've also noticed that Pullman has a little trick that he plays on us vulnerable readers: as soon as he brings his two main characters together, for example Will and Lyra - or Fred and Sally, from the Sally Lockhart trilogy - he loves to wrench them apart just as quickly. Sooooo sad!) Anyway, buy the book, be astounded at the author's craft, and treasure it forever.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written
Review: Until recently, I was one of those annoyed readers who had read and re-read the Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, in anticipation of a stunning final book. After many setbacks, I finally got to read this literary masterpiece (the series is second only to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings) and I decided it was worth the wait entirely. It was beautifully written, provacative book that made me both smile and cry (literally). All i know it that from the reviews I've read i think that to read this book you really need to suspend disbelief and becaome totally immersed in the plot. The ending was sad and yet triumphant, and the entire book carries a good message. I think that this book is good for almost any age, since it can be read on so many different levels. This series makes Harry Potter seem pale, almost transparent in comparison. I reccommend this book to everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Hugely disappointing, clumsy conclusion.
Review: First of all, The Golden Compass was the best children's book I read in the last ten yars. Unfortunately, Pullman not only fails to deliver on the promise of that book, his final work is more backfire than dud. The wonderful characters introduced in the previous two novels end up reduced to two dimensional representations of their ultimate role in this atheist allegory. Worse still, they are not even rationally consistent with the characters of yore. Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are the most disappointing, as there is no good explanation for why they should change so dramatically in this final book. Some of the other villains are implausibly irrational, sacrificing self and world for an ideology that could easily embrace more constructive interpretation. Even Will, Mary, Lyra, and Iorek become feeble echoes of their selves in the previous works. The culmination of the narrative is predictable -- and a huge let-down. You can feel Pullman laboriously tying together all the loose ends even as you long for the vibrancy that brought tears of joy and sorrow in the first book. Moreover, all of this appears to be in service to an atheist theology that will please no one: The Amber Spyglass is guaranteed to offend christians and most other theists with its total rejection of God. Is Pullman trying to be the stridently atheist C.S. Lewis of our generation? In any case, it is just strange that he has so strongly denounced God (either as top angel or as creator) in this work, and yet neither confronted nor mentioned the prophets of God: why usurp the myth of creation, and only mention in passing the teachings of Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, etc? It may make his argument appear a little stronger on the surface, but it leaves a lot to be explained. I can't imagine this pleasing atheists either given its thick use of biblical imagery, the depiction of life after death, the presence of angels, the lack of any effort to refute or explain the spiritual teachers/prophets/redeemer mentioned above, and, of course, the fact that the whole thing is heavy handed and artistically weak. I realize I will get slammed for this review by all the Pullman/Dark Materials fans -- but until I read this I was a Pullman fan too. I loved the first book, and liked the second a whole lot. I like the Sally trilogy as a fun but less ambitious undertaking. So, I am sorry Pullman fans. I wish he had written a different Amber Spyglass.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: This book left me unsatisfied. First of all, it doesn't seem finished and the ending came somewhere out of left field. I had to push myself to read it because it was so slow in some spots. The land of the dead? Come on - did Philip Pullman just pull this stuff out of a hat? It just doesn't make any sense to me. Besides that, the theme went from adventureous to being a love story. There's no way I'd have a 10 year old read The Amber Spyglass - as I would for the first two books. At this point, I'm glad I read the book because now I know what happened - whether or not I like it. If there's a fourth book, there's no way I'm reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A worthy finale to a wonderful trilogy
Review: Well, I can't help feeling deflated now that I have finished this book. I have found the whole series gripping all the way, and in the Amber Spyglass, Pullman wraps everything up so neatly, I felt a little disappointment, because I know that the excitement is over. But the ride was definitely worth it, and I am already thinking about re-reading this series, if I can get back the copies of the books that I have pressed on friends. I think that I enjoyed this the most of the series, because I think that Pullman developed as a writer during this series. Just as I found the Dark Materials a huge improvement over the Shadow in the North series. What I loved about this series was the way that characters are allowed to be both good and bad, and have doubts, and disappointments. Without these, the books would be quite predictable. As it was, this book was full of surprises. We see a lot more of Dr Malone, the ex-nun and scientist from the Subtle Knife, and a whole new species, the Mulefa. We also get the resolution of the revolution against heaven, started by Lord Asriel. There's lots of other wonderful stuff, which I can't tell you, or it would spoil the plot. Let me just say that the ending is unexpected, and I think showed real inspiration on the part of the author. He didn't choose the easy option, which is why I want to return to it, and re-read this book. These are really great books, that will become as immortal as Tolkien.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing, Thought-Provoking
Review: I finished the book today.. I would have finished it yesterday, on the day that I bought it, but I had to force myself to put it down at 2am. It's a great book, a very nice conclusion to the series. It's also wonderfully thought-provoking. If you didn't know that he was remaking Paradise Lost before this book, you probably got a few jolts.. you don't read this blatant a criticism of Christianity in a mainstream work. Even though I am a Christian, I find it to be a good thing. There were many good points made -- the existence of the soul as seperate from spirit and body, the daemons, the trip to the world of the dead. Freeing the ghosts from their prison sounds awfully Christ-like to me (returning from the world of the dead, alive). Heaven on Earth and joining a harmonious universe at the end, the nature of sin and the power of love.. these are thoughts worth examining, not dismissing outright. I had no trouble reading this book with my own beliefs intact. If yours are so shaky, then perhaps you shouldn't try. Oh, and as for it being a children's book.. I was given the earlier books by a friend and I had no idea that it was not classified as adult fantasy until I was trying looking for the Amber Spyglass in the adult section. The tradition of categorizing any book with young characters as a 'children's book' is outdated and ridiculous. This is a book for anyone not afraid to think, or to feel. Too scary for children? Lord of the Rings is loved by children and adults alike, despite death, scary things, and a melancholy ending. There is nothing terribly graphic, although it may be hard to follow for the younger readers. Like A Wrinkle in Time and its successors, The Amber Spyglass probably won't be fully appreciated until the reader is older, but it will be a book that they will be glad to revisit and discover new levels within.
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Summary: The Little Prince
Review: I am going to turn 18 in 2 weeks. I have started reading my author autographed copy of this book the week "The Golden Compass" came out in France. After 6 years(I think), I have finished "The Amber Spyglass" only an hour ago. It has left me stunned... If you read it as strictly a fantasy, it will be very disappointing, so if you expect dungeons & dragons(pun intended) look elsewhere. If you expect a deep unrelenting exploration of the theological beliefs regarding human emotion, thought and the sequence of life you will be amazed by this trilogy. None of these books really stand on their own, so read the entire thing and not just one book. There is only one other work I could compare this work to, and that is "The Little Prince". I was given "The Little Prince" to read by my aunt in russia when I was 8. I did not understand it then, it was the story of a boy from an asteroid for me then. It is much clearer now. The same with "His Dark Materials". The progress of Lyra and Will from innocence to conscious choice is almost palpable. And the trilogy more than delivers on its promise in the verse beginning of "The Golden Compass" to explore theological issues. The authors view is that religion is the childhood of mankind that passes with the growing up of two children. The growing up from malicious selfish acts in the name of God and oppresion of creativity is expressed in the development of conscious thought. Only through thinking for ourselves do we, mankind, grow up. If I were to begin discussing the symbols, metaphors, personifications and analogies that I have found in the trilogy it would take much more than the 1,000 word limit this review allows, and that is just on the first read. The English used in "His Dark Materials" is plain and mostly unadorned(by adorned I mean Terry Brooks or Victor Hugo), the sentences loud and clear. The book is presented as a young adult book, but it is not for children. To recap: BRILLIANT, a true modern classic in the making!
Rating:
Summary: Aww...
Review: I loved this book, as I did the first two. The only thing that bothered me was the very sketchy description of the whole Lyra-Will thing and then the conclusion. It was good and all, but agonizing. He didn't even leave any loopholes for you to at least hope that they would see each other again sometime. I was a tad disappointed, but it was a good book nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: I have no words to describe my feelings
Review: This book was amazing. I just finished it only a second ago, and I'm crying. Pullman is a genius with words, feelings, ideas, everything. I only hope that he'll continue writing because I have never read a better book than this, and I have read a lot. This book was better than Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter, but this was more mature, and perfect, and adult. He has created a world(s) that are amazingly realitic and profound. Where anything can happen. I fell in love w/ Will and Lyra, I fell in love with ALL of his characters, and his worlds, and his descriptions of everything. This book had everything going for it. Romance, excitment, action, twists and turns, passion, and everthing came down to one perfectly written conclusion. You must read this book. It will touch you in so many different ways, and leave you feeling like a different person.
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