Book: The Amber Spyglass
This morning while waiting for the plumber, I finished The Amber Spyglass, the third book in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, by Philip Pullman, the series which started with The Golden Compass.
I was, unfortunately, mildly disappointed with this ending to the imaginitive series about multiple worlds and an eternal struggle between control and freedom. This book was imaginitive and did tie up the loose ends, but somehow dissatisfying. It is perhaps because after much anticipation, some of the solutions seemed a little too easy, a little too pat, and a little too much like Pullman was tired of his own material.
That also seems evident in how scattered this book was, running in different directions and not really sticking to the central story.
Still, overall I enjoyed the series and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy or science fiction.
Comments
Since you've read the trilogy, you're a good one to ask:
Churches have accused this writer of "church bashing" in this series. -Did you see any such evidence in these books?
Congrats on the last play sounded like a winner.
Thanks!
Churches have accused this writer of "church bashing" in this series. -Did you see any such evidence in these books?
Yes, and bunches of it. The author thinks very little of organized religion, and it's clear. Also, God and the host of heaven are portrayed in a way that is very contrary to Christian tradition. Deeply religious Christians shouldn't read these books, unless they want to be offended. For that matter, I don't devout Muslims or Jews would like them, either.
Many evangelicals seem to be focusing less on what the trilogy says about God and more on the fact that some of the people in the book come from a world where humans' souls exist outside their bodies in physical form. The author chose to call these external-souls "daemons", a choice which has caused much consternation.
Being an atheist and aware that it is a fantasy story, I had no problem with it.
Cool. -I was just curious.
-Did you go see "The Golden Compass"?
I did. I liked it, but as usual with movies they cut a great deal out, as well as some plot points that I think were pretty important to the overall story.
I hate it when they do that.
-All in the interest of time, eh? Some stories take time to tell, and movies should be the same way.