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shamentha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
rap_tor_god's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
alexjstewart's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
tomasthanes's review against another edition
4.0
The book itself is well written. The story and characters are good. The world building is superb but I'm giving it 4 stars rather than 5 because it seems like the entire trilogy is intended to criticize Christianity except that the author gets it wrong.
When you get quotes like:
You get the real reason that the author is writing. Not to tell a story but to criticize a caricature of Christianity. Unfortunately, what he's attacking isn't Christian (or even Biblical). The Magisterium is not the Catholic church, his angels aren't the angels of the Bible, and his "God" isn't the God that Christians worship.
The author isn't describing God but a convenient straw man that he can criticize.
The theology of the book (series), like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, is a highly skewed exaggeration of "Christianity" that is then very easy for the story to criticize. This is basically the Tower of Babel except that that the "god" and the "church" of the books isn't at all like Christianity (well, it may resemble certain aspects of *medieval* Roman Catholicism like the Inquisition but not historical Christianity as a whole) and therefore just falls apart. It almost sounds like wishful thinking on the part of the author of an otherwise entertaining set of books.
When you get quotes like:
"I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all." (Location 6025)
You get the real reason that the author is writing. Not to tell a story but to criticize a caricature of Christianity. Unfortunately, what he's attacking isn't Christian (or even Biblical). The Magisterium is not the Catholic church, his angels aren't the angels of the Bible, and his "God" isn't the God that Christians worship.
"The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty -- those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves -- the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are..." (Location 580)
The author isn't describing God but a convenient straw man that he can criticize.
The theology of the book (series), like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, is a highly skewed exaggeration of "Christianity" that is then very easy for the story to criticize. This is basically the Tower of Babel except that that the "god" and the "church" of the books isn't at all like Christianity (well, it may resemble certain aspects of *medieval* Roman Catholicism like the Inquisition but not historical Christianity as a whole) and therefore just falls apart. It almost sounds like wishful thinking on the part of the author of an otherwise entertaining set of books.
iluxia's review against another edition
4.0
"But I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. All we can say is that this is a good deed, because it helps someone, or that's an evil one, because it hurts them. People are too complicated to have simple labels."
the_gingery_one's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I wanted to like it, I really did, but I just didn't really. There were some parts that were good but overall, meh.
The first book was so good and then the second 2 became long, meandering and in some cases pointless.
If I'm honest I don't really understand what the whole point of the story was.
The first book was so good and then the second 2 became long, meandering and in some cases pointless.
If I'm honest I don't really understand what the whole point of the story was.
nicole_minerva's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe this series is just a “it’s not you, it’s me” moment?
halthemonarch's review against another edition
4.0
Oooookay there’s a lot to love in the series. The unique language, the true and honest characterization of a large ensemble of characters, a massive plot all bowed together at the end to say free thinking and the spirit of unity and creativity will rebuild the republic of Heaven after rotting in the hands of the close-minded blah blah— It’s all good and great when you take several steps back from it. The fabric of the story started to fall apart in the second book for me. Now after finishing the trilogy, it felt like a detour in introducing our second protagonist that had no plot, that moved onto a conclusion filled with extradimensional imagery and a bunch of broad generalizations about how Pullman feels about Christianity.
At the end of book 2, enough has happened to turn Will and Lyra into steadfast friends. We open on book three and Lyra is telling Roger (she comatose, he a ghost) that Will is her greatest friend and ally. Then as soon as she wakes up, Lyra’s whole motivation for going to the world of the dead was to say sorry to Roger? “Sorry that my shitty dad killed you. That I guess I led you into a trap and betrayed you.” And everyone was just.... down with that plan? Will had lost his father, sure, but weren’t there more pressing issues like the war between Heaven and Earth? That the betrayal of the prophecy was to do with Lyra and Pan, and yet there was no mention of Will at all, not to mention that he’s totally devoid of personality— the whole book he’s mopping up his wounds, pining for his mother, or backing Lyra up. The concept that the Adam and Eve of old weren’t punished for seeking knowledge, and later through this grand adventure the multiverse would be blessed with a steady flow of cosmic energy because two adolescents fell in love at the right time, after the right ordeals, on the right planet, in sight of the right deities the worlds would be put back to normal again just seems coincidental. As much as I enjoyed each leg of the journey, none of it felt like part of the same story.
I keep trying to compliment these themes but it all seems random and chaotic. The lore of so many worlds coming together— the spectors in Cittegazze, the deamon-less people off Will and Mary’s world and yet the simple, teachable, available in less than a minute way to see one’s deamon Serafina imparts on Mary, the Mulefa and their problems, the existence of angels, how simple it was to convince the harpies to change jobs after a millenia, the instant re-death of Roger but the lingering spirits of John Parry and Lee Scoresby, how Angelica and her brothers were never mentioned again— It was a lot to take in!! It took me the whole three weeks the library had to lend it to me to finish this book. A lot was happening and there were many different layers to see and absorb.
It left a bad taste in my mouth that Asriel and Marisa died in service of their daughter after lying to, mistreating, and neglecting her for, in Marisa’s case the short time they knew each other and in Asriel’s her WHOLE LIFE. I understand Marisa’s side of it more easily than Asriel’s, which speaks to my unique experience about how complicated a mother’s love can be and what it looks like to be at war on the inside— Asriel never struck me as a model parent and after he killed his daughter’s best friend we barely hear from him except to be a foil for Mrs. Coulter’s frantic energy whilst captured or in danger. I can understand that from her very first appearance she was self serving, yes, but she did grow to have a genuine love for her daughter. Asriel seemed horrified at the idea of sacrificing her and sent regents to attain her when she was in danger, but he didn’t go through half the lengths Marisa went through to keep her safe, and yet they were both equal in their cruelty and equal in their martyrdom.
But as always I was charmed by Pullman’s style of writing. I was charmed by the world of the Mulefa and the Galithespians, I was charmed that love was the answer to all of the problems, to all of the wrongs of the universe and the. end to a knife that should have never been made. There’s a lot to find charming in this series, not least of which is the messages that one would be able to take away. I did feel it dragged and stuttered sometimes. It was repetitive with adjectives and some parts lacked proper tension or stakes, in my opinion? It felt like I was reading another Coehlo novel, except with more concrete details.
At the end of book 2, enough has happened to turn Will and Lyra into steadfast friends. We open on book three and Lyra is telling Roger (she comatose, he a ghost) that Will is her greatest friend and ally. Then as soon as she wakes up, Lyra’s whole motivation for going to the world of the dead was to say sorry to Roger? “Sorry that my shitty dad killed you. That I guess I led you into a trap and betrayed you.” And everyone was just.... down with that plan? Will had lost his father, sure, but weren’t there more pressing issues like the war between Heaven and Earth? That the betrayal of the prophecy was to do with Lyra and Pan, and yet there was no mention of Will at all, not to mention that he’s totally devoid of personality— the whole book he’s mopping up his wounds, pining for his mother, or backing Lyra up. The concept that the Adam and Eve of old weren’t punished for seeking knowledge, and later through this grand adventure the multiverse would be blessed with a steady flow of cosmic energy because two adolescents fell in love at the right time, after the right ordeals, on the right planet, in sight of the right deities the worlds would be put back to normal again just seems coincidental. As much as I enjoyed each leg of the journey, none of it felt like part of the same story.
I keep trying to compliment these themes but it all seems random and chaotic. The lore of so many worlds coming together— the spectors in Cittegazze, the deamon-less people off Will and Mary’s world and yet the simple, teachable, available in less than a minute way to see one’s deamon Serafina imparts on Mary, the Mulefa and their problems, the existence of angels, how simple it was to convince the harpies to change jobs after a millenia, the instant re-death of Roger but the lingering spirits of John Parry and Lee Scoresby, how Angelica and her brothers were never mentioned again— It was a lot to take in!! It took me the whole three weeks the library had to lend it to me to finish this book. A lot was happening and there were many different layers to see and absorb.
It left a bad taste in my mouth that Asriel and Marisa died in service of their daughter after lying to, mistreating, and neglecting her for, in Marisa’s case the short time they knew each other and in Asriel’s her WHOLE LIFE. I understand Marisa’s side of it more easily than Asriel’s, which speaks to my unique experience about how complicated a mother’s love can be and what it looks like to be at war on the inside— Asriel never struck me as a model parent and after he killed his daughter’s best friend we barely hear from him except to be a foil for Mrs. Coulter’s frantic energy whilst captured or in danger. I can understand that from her very first appearance she was self serving, yes, but she did grow to have a genuine love for her daughter. Asriel seemed horrified at the idea of sacrificing her and sent regents to attain her when she was in danger, but he didn’t go through half the lengths Marisa went through to keep her safe, and yet they were both equal in their cruelty and equal in their martyrdom.
But as always I was charmed by Pullman’s style of writing. I was charmed by the world of the Mulefa and the Galithespians, I was charmed that love was the answer to all of the problems, to all of the wrongs of the universe and the. end to a knife that should have never been made. There’s a lot to find charming in this series, not least of which is the messages that one would be able to take away. I did feel it dragged and stuttered sometimes. It was repetitive with adjectives and some parts lacked proper tension or stakes, in my opinion? It felt like I was reading another Coehlo novel, except with more concrete details.
kaylamolander's review against another edition
1.0
Hot misogynist garbage. All the women are temptress, manipulative liars (except Mary, a perfect example of the madonna in his whore/Madonna view of women) who are at fault for everything. How is Lord Asriel the hero, and Lyra responsible for the death of Roger? The story also got so full of itself and unwieldy to the detriment of actually making sense, building characters, filling plot holes, and having a point. Also, I couldn't really buy the romance of two 12 year olds boning down and saving the worlds with their epic love. I mean, they aren't the first set of young people who fall in love (whatever that means to 12-year-olds) and are separated. It really wasn't that romantic, or some big tragedy. They're 12, and I'm pretty sure Pullman has never met a 12 year old, judging from how they were acting in this book. Ugh, the whole series felt like a bait and switch after the first book with an awesome heroine. No consistency across the series (all of a sudden we have quotes at the beginning of every chapter?) And the characters also didn't seem to act in character ever --- always inconsistent. What a let down. Plus, the arrogance of "fighting God" for the greater good, but not a single mention of solving inequality or hunger or making the world a better place. Just that ghosts don't have to stay ghosts forever? And the lesson is that we should all live life to the fullest and be atheists? How hedonist, amoral, and small minded. It's all rubbish, sorry. Again, I'm not a Christian and don't oppose it on religious grounds, but just thought it sucked as a book/series. It's like Pullman was high on his success with Northern Lights and got so full of himself that he changed the whole series - all character motivations, the world, etc. to satisfy his own ego. He completely pivoted to this anti-christianity garbage and abandoned the world and characters and wonders of the first book. The first big indicator of that? He changed the name of the first book to The Golden Compass after it's success as Northern Lights, then named the other books after the new name. And the worst part is that the next 2 books weren't just bad in all the ways I've listed already, they were just flat out boring.
drm001's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. I found it a bit slow for the first 2/3 as there were many story lines but they all merge towards the end and it is great!