The Amber Spyglass. (His Dark Materials): Adult Edition by: Philip Pullman
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Publisher: Scholastic
Release date: 14th September, 2001
Media: Paperback
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Editorial Review
Philip Pullman brings The Amber Spyglass to the spellbinding His Dark Materials sequence, which dazzles everyone who reads it, children and adults alike. After the original Northern Lights, he kept up the quality in The Subtle Knife, the second title in the trilogy. Now he brings the series to an extraordinary conclusion. Will and Lyra, the two children at the heart of the books, have become separated amidst great dangers. Can they find each other, and their friends? Then complete their mysterious quest before it's too late? The great rebellion against the dark powers that hold Lyra's world, and many others, in thrall is nearing its climax. She and Will have crucial parts to play, but they don't know what it is that they must do, and terrible powers are hunting them down.
The pace of the book is compelling, the writing powerful. Pullman's plotting is intricate and cunning, surprising the reader again and again. Perhaps what is most striking of all, however, is the depth of the characterisation. Lord Asriel, Mrs Coulter, Iorek Byrnison the king of the armoured bears, a host of minor characters, most of all Will and Lyra themselves: the book is a library of beautifully drawn, remarkably convincing characters walking in worlds of marvels.
In this volume the cosmic dimensions of the story become more prominent, as a great conflict across many universes comes to a head--how well the narrative sustains such immensely weighty resonances is a question critics may well disagree on. The author's beliefs also come more into the open, and with them a polemic anti-religious theme that will please some readers and alienate others.
Philip Pullman's writing commands immense respect; more than that, it is raising the profile of the best children's books among adults, as demanding critics of all ages fall in love with this remarkable trilogy. --David Pickering
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Rating: 
- THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY AND I NEVER CRY!!! WELL DONE PULLMAN!
THIS BOOK MADE ME CRY!!!!!! WELL DONE PULLMAN This book is so detailed and so BRILLIANTLY written. This was the first book that made me cry!!!If you haven't read the first one then click here Northern Lights (Golden Compass) (His Dark Materials) and here's the second one-The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials): His Dark Materials 2.To buy the film then click hereThe Golden Compass [DVD] [2007]
If you haven't read this book or your halfway through it-LOOK AWAY NOW!!!
The journey they went on together-to the world of the dead and to the green world. They went through so much together and the fact that they would never see each other again until they die and that they'll fall in love with somebody else made me cry SO much. They'll also have to wait extra long to see each other because they've got extended lives.
Phillip Pullman is a brilliant writer. If he had written the last few chapters any differently, I wouldn't of felt so emotional.WELL DONE!!
Rating: - A Novel of Ambition
After being amazed by Northern Lights but underwhelmed by the The Subtle Knife, I wasn't sure what to expect. It is, in fact, a novel of extraordinary ambition, following the desperate paths of 5 key figures from Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife and introducing several more. The action moves between several worlds, as each of the protagonists seeks to achieve their aims.
Although published as a children's novel, the themes covered are far from childish - the use (and abuse) of free will, personal sacrifice, the redeeming power of love and how we treat the world around us are but four. Nor is Pullman afraid to confront death head on with several characters (over the course of the trilogy) meeting their ends with what happens after death a key theme in The Amber Spyglass.
The ambition of the novel - and indeed all three books - is largely achieved. That said, I did feel that some of the dialogue in the third book was a bit clunky where some of the more complex concepts were being explained. My biggest concern with the book was the unashamedly anti-catholic stance taken. This is not because I wish to defend Catholicism or organised religion - I just feel the metaphor should have been allowed to stand on its own terms.
Minor niggles aside, however, this was a satisfying read which left enough to merit a future reading - from which I'm sure I shall glean more. I will be thoroughly recommending the trilogy to all who ask and many that don't.
Rating: 
- Too much preaching
My word. Philip Pullman wanted to get a lot off his chest here.
His strongest character Lyra, hero of the original book, spends most of this one unconscious. There's a lot about a very strange race of creatures with a connection to wheels (you'll realize if you read it) that have zero relevance to the story - they're completely excised from the stage play and rightly so - and we're left with very little empathy for any of the characters. It's a sad end to a trilogy that began brightly. And, by the end, it's become a theology book rather than an adventure story that children might read.
Rating: - Profound beyond words.
The ending makes this book. Sure, the rest of it is amazing - but I don't think I've ever been as moved by the conclusion to any book as I was with this one.
I won't spoil it for people who haven't read it, but it's most unexpected how Pullman decided to end.
"And they lived happy ever after...".
Hmmm.
Rating: - Rather boring end.
People aren't going to like me for not liking this series, but though I normally really love big thick books, this trilogy has more problems than I can list here, the main one being how boring it is, first one is 0k, second one takes forever and a lot of the plot points don't make a great deal of sense when you think about it, why is she explicitly attracted to murderers, for example (that's a little creepy to be honest).
In this book her original friend, who she travelled half way round the world for, is discarded with hardly a thought for her new, and more-or-less identical, companion (I noticed that an awful lot of the characters feel copy-pasted, most of the white bears are paper-thin and all the antagonists seem to run on bile with no convincing motive or personality).
The final battle, as well as all the action, feels distant and rather mellow-dramatic, as did everything in the second book. The trilogy doesn't seem to end as much as peter out, I left this series feeling unsatisfied and slightly puzzled, to be honest I've put it in a box upstairs and will probably forget about it totally. The characters and plot were unmemorable, nobody really seemed motivated to do anything, but did it anyway (Which is roughly how I felt when I finished the book).
First book is 0k action-wise, but highly prejudiced and ever-ready to caricature, the second and third are the same, but overlong, very slow, and very boring with little in the way of good action, to the point that I barely finished them, I'm not sure what the hype is about really, controversy couldn't make Dan Brown a good author, but he's still better than Pullman, who seems to hate rather a lot of people in a way I can only describe as xenophobic.
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