The Amber Spyglass

Entering the world of Lyra and her friend Will is not a singular task, nor a single world as the children frantically cut through from one world to the next, using the magical knife introduced in the second of Pullman's trilogy, THE SUBTLE KNIFE. If listeners persevere, they are likely, eventually, to sort out what is happening within the many layers of plots and the metaphysical explorations, not to mention the fast-paced action of battles and escapes. The best approach may be what children do so well--just hold on to what interests you and let the rest go. You can enjoy the armored bear, Iorek Byrnison, played magnificently by Sean Barrett, or the daemons, each character's soul or spirit or perhaps alter-ego. For science fiction/ fantasy buffs, the elephant-like "mulefa," who get about on wheels, may hold your interest. The production, recorded with so many characters, and with such care and sureness, is a masterwork. Don't even try to drop into this world unprepared; start with THE GOLDEN COMPASS and savor every word. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award. 2002 Audie Award Finalist. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

October 9, 2000
In concluding the spellbinding His Dark Materials trilogy, Pullman produces what may well be the most controversial children's book of recent years. The witch Serafina Pekkala, quoting an angel, sums up the central theme: "All the history of human life has been a struggle between wisdom and stupidity. The rebel angels, the followers of wisdom, have always tried to open minds; the Authority and his churches have always tried to keep them closed." Early on, this "Authority" is explicitly identified as the Judeo-Christian God, and he is far from omnipotent: his Kingdom is ruled by a regent. The cosmic battle to overthrow the Kingdom is only one of the many epic sequences in this novel--so much happens, and the action is split among so many different imagined worlds, that readers will have to work hard to keep up with Pullman. In the opening, for example, Lyra is being hidden and kept in a drugged sleep in a Himalayan cave by her mother, the beautiful and treacherous Mrs. Coulter. Will is guided by two angels across different worlds to find Lyra. The physicist and former nun, Mary Malone, sojourns in an alternatively evolved world. In yet another universe, Lord Asriel has assembled a great horde of otherworldly beings-including the vividly imagined race of haughty, hand-high warriors called Gallivespians--to bring down the Kingdom. Along the way, Pullman riffs on the elemental chords of classical myth and fairy tale. While some sections seem rushed and the prose is not always as brightly polished as fans might expect, Pullman's exuberant work stays rigorously true to its own internal structure. Stirring and highly provocative. Ages 12-up.