His Dark Materials III: The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman > Reviews > Does The Amber Spyglass hang together

Author's product rating:   

Would you listen to it again?	Absolutely
Story	Outstanding
Characters	Outstanding
Listenability	Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!

Advantages:	You find out a lot of answers
Disadvantages:	Too many add - ons !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Having read 'Northern Lights' in three days, and taking not much longer to read 'The Subtle Knife', the wait for 'The Amber Spyglass' was .... challenging to say the very least!! I rushed out to buy the hardback of 'Amber' the week it came out, so eager was I to immerse myself in Pullman's rich tapestry once more.

I was not disappointed. As with 'NL' and 'TSK' the book gripped me from the very first page and I lived the adventures of Lyra and Will almost to the total exclusion of all else. It would be peevish not to applaud Pullman's evident talent, petulant to deny that he is anything other than a master story-teller and story-inventor. However, as the climax to a trilogy in which the very fabric of heaven, earth and hell were brought into question by the questing Lord Azriel and the power-hungry magisterium, the book did fall short - just a little.

I can best demonstrate this by referring to one or two examples of 'narrative dissatisfaction'. Firstly, the 'great betrayal' prophesied in 'NL' that Lyra would commit turned out to be leaving Pan behind when she ventured into the land of the dead. Yes, it was horrible, but as a signifier of her developing adulthood, it did not rank up there with Lucifer's betrayal of heaven at the beginning of time!! Secondly - will someone please explain to me why Lyra and Will's (fantastically understated) love-making threaten everything the church stood for?? I have re-read 'Amber' to find answers to these and other questions, but to no avail.
All that aside, 'Amber' remains an excellent book, and the 'Dark materials' trilogy an absolute 'must' for anyone interested in the delights of good quality children's fiction. Go and buy it! Now!!