His Dark Materials III: The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman > Reviews > better than anything ive read recently

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	closure was excellent, a sigh of satisfaction at finishing it !
Disadvantages:	i was a bit disappointed that the end wasn't as romantic as i feel it should have been !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The last book in the Dark Materials trilogy, this book was better than the first two. New story lines so it wasn't imperative to have read the first two books but it would be silly not to!
So much knowledge, this gave great answers to questions I didn't even know I had. Drawing on Milton, Blake and the Bible amongst others Pullman brings together ideas and dreams in a novel that you could wish were real.
The personalities of Lyra and Will develop and blossom beneath your eyes and the cast of lesser characters are just as magical and believable as in the preceding books.
At the opening of the book, Lyra is held under an enchanted spell by her mother to protect her from the church who have discovered she is 'Eve' and will bring about a new beginning for conscious beings. Will, her companion up to this point meets two angels who wish to bring him to Lord Asriel, Lyra's father who is waging a war against 'The Authority', God as he has in his possession, the Subtle Knife, which they believe will help him. Will refuses until they help him to rescue Lyra and they set out, with Iorek Byrnison, king of the armoured bears, to find her. Lyra, upon being rescued in the middle of a battle between the Church and her helpers insists on finding the world of the dead to rescue her friend Roger, who she inadvertently led to his death. As they set out on this mission, other storylines unfold, and they are all brought together in a powerful and moving climax. It was a bit of a sad finish to the story but a reminder that life can't turn out the way we want it to, all the time, but the overall effect was very satisfactory.
I don't want to spoil things for anyone who hasn't read the book so I really can't go into it anymore but I assure anyone whos thinking about it to read it, and then read it again!