He then goes on a tangent describing their culture, which while interesting doesn't add much to the plot. Aside from Lyra who was reduced to a dependand sissy and Will, the grand young adult fiction boy-on-a-quest stereotype Pullman introduces more and more characters like the new race of Mulefa, the bug-like creatures. Not that other characters are handled expertly. The great villain is reduced to a mere puppet in Pullman's hands, who seems to have forgotten how to hold the strings. This is just so ridiculously uncharacteristic and unbelieveable. The Grand Evil Lady (who was so great in Northern Lights!) suddenly out of the blue starts loving Lyra. Oh Will! What shall we do? Will! Oh Will! Where is the girl who rescued children and planned it all on her own? Here Lyra doesn't seem to be able to do anything without depending on Will. Lyra from The Amber Spyglass is almost fullly submissive to Will. Lyra, the cocky and bratty protagonist of Northern Lights disappears almost entirely.

The novels is such a tremendous let-down that it's hard to decide where to start a list of its failings. It's the ugly baby that came out of Pullman's imagination and his hatred of religion. The Amber Spyglass is no Return of The King. It was a transitional piece so some of these things might be excused, and I approached the final installment expecting a grand payoff. Most of what made Northern Lights wonderful was dropped - there was no world building in this volume, the characters seemed stalled and the book was a chore. The next one, The Subtle Knife was laborious indeed. It was suspenseful, the presented world was enchanting, and Northern Lights was pregnant with interesting ideas and concepts - that's why I chose to read all three. Pullman introducted us to a fantastic world of great scope. I really enjoyed Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass as it is titled in the US), the first volume of the trilogy.

The Amber Spyglass is the final volume in His Dark Materials trilogy.

The amber spyglass by philip pullman