The Amber Spyglass; is the final book of His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman and the first children’s book to be long listed for the Man Booker Prize. You can read the review of the first book Northern Lights/The Golden compass here and the second book The Subtle Knife here. This review may contain spoilers as it is the third book in the series.
More new worlds in The Amber Spyglass
The Amber Spyglass takes you to different worlds- the world of the dead, the world of wheeled creatures called mulefas and the worlds already described in the earlier books. It tells the story of the battle between Authority and those who believe what the Church calls ‘sin’ is perhaps just a way of life innate in human nature. The Amber Spyglass is more emotional and less fast-paced than its predecessors.
The first two books were marvellous in the imaginary world that they created and is no lesser. We embark on a journey with Lyra through the world of the dead after being separated from her daemon. (Those who have read the first two books would know how heart crushing that can be). The book stirs up your courage and astonishes you with the bonds of friendships that spring up. Will wants to rescue Lyra from the forbidden lands, Lord Asriel still dreams of questioning the Authority and Mary Maloney (the serpent) tumbles onto a world of mulefas where she realizes her destiny and constructs the Amber Spyglass. Now what does the spyglass do? You have to read the book to find out.
Pullman takes some liberties with the Church in the third book of the trilogy. He doesn’t show religion in a good light. God (known as the Authority) in His Dark Materials is portrayed as weak and feeble. God seems to a puppet in the hands of an angel named Metatron. The Church is still bent on banishing original sin and preventing the second fall of man (as made clear earlier in the trilogy, Lyra is the Second Eve) . On the other hand Will and Lyra become more intimate with each other as a part of growing up.
Overall, I did not enjoy the book as much as the first two. Mrs. Coulter’s character keeps changing hues that I am unable to comprehend. Pullman does not give a solid definition for ‘Dust’ which has mystified us from the first book. Perhaps the author intends it to be that way, but personally I was expecting a far more defined explanation. Moreover I think many of the underlying themes require a lot of thought, so this should be more regarded as an adultish book rather than masqueraded as a children’s book.
Often I felt unnecessary characters (read ‘mulefa’) and plot deviations (again, read ‘mulefa’) are introduced with the sole purpose of increasing word count. I did not enjoy the mulefa world at all and often wanted to skip through to read about the more exciting worlds beyond theirs. However I wanted to devour everything about the other worlds. Though slightly disappointed with the way the book has shaped up, it does comfort the soul to know how Will and Lyra’s story ends. And yes, it is a heart stirring, tear inducing end. Even though less loved than the first two books, this one should be read for walking with our beloved Lyra a little bit longer.
Title : The Amber Spyglass
Author : Philip Pullman
Publisher: Scholastic UK
Published : 2014 (Originally in 2000)
Language : English
Pages : 544
Rating : 3/5
I didn’t know this was the first “children’s book” to be long listed for the Man Booker! That’s a pretty neat piece of trivia, thank you for sharing!
I was very surprised too. I was looking up your blog actually. To tell that I am starting Shakespeare reading next month. Decided to start with Twelfth Night and got a good edition that has small notes at the bottom. So would be useful since I have not studied Shakespeare before. You asked me to tell you, remember?
Great response! I think it’s hard to “de-classify” it as a children’s book when we’re reading them as adults. We get such different things out of what a child gets when they read it. It’s like Little Women being a children’s book. As adults we focus on the illness and the sadness, but as a child we focus on the excitement of Christmas and creation. It’s fascinating isn’t it? (Caveat, I haven’t read these in almost a decade so the story isn’t that fresh in my mind.)
Perhaps you are right. I read these for the first time as an adult and that is how I felt.
It is going to be hard if you keep adding on books to my to read list before I finish my own.
🙂
Have a nice week.
Haha. Glad to know I am of some help.
Awesome review! I read the Golden Compass/Northern Lights a while ago and didn’t get the chance to read the rest of the series – your review definitely motivated me to pick up the next books in the trilogy!
I think you should complete the series. It is very satisfying to know how the journey ends.
YAY you finished reading these books! The Amber Spyglass was always my favourite His Dark Materials book, just because everything finally came to an end, and we know what happens! 🙂
This was a re-read actually. As much as it was a relief that everything came to an end in this one, Northern Lights remains my favourite. Perhaps because the idea was so brand new for me when I read it. And I knew what to expect in the rest of the series. ANd yes, its a wonderful trilogy.
It’s been several years since I read this trilogy, and now I really want to read it again. I’d almost forgotten how fantastic these books are.
Hope you get to read it sometime soon. Pullman is fantasy at its best.