Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club |
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The Amber Spyglass (2000) |
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Characters: Lyra Silvertongue - girl with a destiny feared by some, can read alethiometer Will Parry - boy bearing the subtle knife, a knife that can cut through anything Pantalaimon (Pan) - Lyra's daemon Mrs. Coulter (Marisa) - Lyra's feared mother (golden monkey daemon) Lord Asriel - Lyra's father, fighting the Authority (daemon Stelmaria, a snow leopard) Chevalier Tialys - Gallivespian spy, tiny human, communicates with loadstone resonator Lady Salmakia - Gallivespian spy, tiny human Lord Roke - Gallivespian spy captain, works with Lord Asriel Dr. Mary Malone - physicist who studied Dark Matter, former nun Balthamos - angel that accompanies Will, not of a high order Baruch - angel, companion of Balthamos, takes secret to Lord Asriel King Iorek Byrnison - an armored polar bear, Lyra's friend, fixes the knife Serafina Pekkala - Lapland witch, queen of a witch clan (daemon Kaisa, a snow goose) Roger - boy in world of the dead, Lyra's friend Lee Scoresby - Texan aeronaut or balloonist, in world of the dead John Parry - Will's father, shaman, in world of the dead Ama - girl in Himalayas who gets powder to wake sleeping Lyra King Ogunwe - African working with Lord Asriel Metatron - Angel, Lord Regent of The Authority Atal - a Mulefa, friend of Mary Father Gomez - sent to kill Lyra, follows Mary, did preemptive penance Hugh MacPhail - President of the Consistorial Court Kirjava - Will's daemon Places, things, and other beings: Alethiometer - symbol reader, tells you the truth Dust - elementary particle, attracted especially to adults The subtle knife - one edge cuts through anything, other edge cuts between worlds Amber spyglass - device Mary constructs that allows her to see Dust Angels - winged beings hard to see in daylight Dragonflies - winged steeds of the Gallivespians Mulefa - alien people with short trunks, diamond formation of legs Seedpods - round, three feet across, Mulefa use them for wheels Intention craft - complex vehicle which stands on six legs Specters - children of the abyss, feed on Dust and daemons Consistorial Court of Discipline - branch of the Magisterium, the Church |
| Dan | 8 | Amy | 8 |
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10 Wow! Don't miss it 8-9 Highly recommended 7 Recommended 5-6 Mild recommendation 3-4 Take your chances 1-2 Below average; skip it 0 Get out the flamethrower! U Unfinishable or unreadable - Skipped or no rating given |
| Cheri | 7 | Barb | 10 | ||
| Aaron | 8 | Cynthia | - | ||
| Jackie | - | Ron | - | ||
| Caren | 2 | Sara | 8 |
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Aaron's Commentary
Philip Pullman - The Amber Spyglass Like J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman has written a young adult fantasy series that should be remembered alongside classics like the Oz and Narnia series. Pullman has not received quite the attention that Rowling has, but I'm not sure that his isn't the better of the two series. The Amber Spyglass, third and final volume of His Dark Materials, shares the same amazing imagery that made The Golden Compass so memorable. As Pullman shuttles us between Mary Malone's visit to a strange planet of intelligent wheeled aliens, and Lyra's and Will's journey into the dismal world of the dead, accompanied by tiny Gallivespian spies riding colorful giant dragonflies, we can only marvel at his inventiveness. This book is also tremendously ambitious for a young adult novel. All in one book, Pullman shows us the dead being freed from an unwanted afterlife, a Miltonian battle against Heaven, and a reenactment of original sin. The characterization in this volume is strong. Will and Lyra's growing bond is presented well, and the side characters are interesting (I particularly enjoyed the weak-kneed angel Balthamos). The only character whose personality changes did not ring true for me was Mrs. Coulter. With all of this book's great strengths, I recommend it highly, even though there are some very large holes in the plot. As things begin, why is Mrs. Coulter hanging out in a cave with Lyra doing nothing but waiting to be captured? Why does Will challenge Iorek Byrnison to combat, instead of just telling Iorek that he is a friend of Lyra? Why does Iorek back down, when he could certainly knock the young man's head off, knife or no knife? Why is visiting the dead so important to Lyra that she is willing to break her vow never to be parted from her daemon? What explanation is there for the unlikely coincidences of the daemons winding up within shouting distance of Lord Asriel's castle, and Lyra later bumping into the Authority? How do the ghosts, who are not omniscient, know to warn Lyra about the danger from a lock of her hair? Why is Metatron, the ruler of the Universe, so desperate for female companionship that Mrs. Coulter can easily manipulate him? While Pullman did not tie these issues up as well as I might have hoped, I still enjoyed this book, and the series as a whole, very much. An aside: Why is this book not more controversial? There is no shortage of nitwits running around slamming the Harry Potter books for the absurd reason that it endorses witchcraft. (Apparently these people would rather have their kids spend even more time watching graphically violent TV shows, rather than read an entertaining story of good and thoughtful children struggling to overcome evil.) Yet there have been comparatively few complaints about Pullman's books, in which we see that God is senile and a new and corrupt leader of Heaven has taken his place, we watch church officials send out assassins to kill an innocent girl, and we hear multiple characters denouncing Heaven's influence on the world and one specifically criticizing Christianity. (To say nothing of the book's favorable depiction of a twelve-year-old girl losing her, ahem, innocence.) It will be interesting to see if these elements of the story remain intact, when they get around to filming these books. What do you think? Your comments are welcome. Please send them to vanaaron@excite.com |
The Golden Compass (1995) |
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Hardback cover art by Eric Rohmann (left) |
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