Synopsis
Lyra and Will find themselves at the center of a battle between the forces of the Authority and those gathered by Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2000-10-01 | | Series: | Costa Children's Book Award (Awards) |
| Size | | Length: | 518 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.6 in | | Weight: | 25.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heart-stopping end, marking the final volume of His Dark Materials as the most powerful of the trilogy.
Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, come a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spymaster to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. So, too, come startling revelations: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone's amber spyglass, and the names of who will live--and who will die--for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that--in its shocking outcome--will uncover the secret of Dust. Philip Pullman deftly brings the cliff-hangers and mysteries of His Dark Materials to an earthshattering conclusion--and confirms his fantasy trilogy as an undoubted and enduring classic.
Industry Reviews
"Pullman's intellectual imagination has scope for inventions that can match his ambitious themes, but such freedom overrides the constraints of plot and characterization necessary to a credible and satisfying dramatic shape."
New York Times Book Review - Brian Alderson (11/19/2000)
"[A]dds further luster (not that he needs it) to Pullman's reputation as a breathtakingly brilliant writer who renders scenes and characters and plot in vivid language."
Washington Post Book World - Lois Winkel (05/10/2001)
"THE AMBER SPYGLASS is vast and engrossing, though likely a little too challenging for younger readers or those lacking a certain intellectual sophistication."
January Magazine - Monica Stark
Fans who endured the three-year-wait . . . will be rewarded once more by powerful writing, vivid description, and realistic action. This 500-pager is packed with the struggles between good and evil, realizations both true and painful, and an almost-tangible sense of otherworldliness. Its myriad twisting and intertwining plots and its emotional roller coaster make it an exhausting yet exhilarating read. . . . Almost-13-year-old Lyra should not necessarily set the readership age. Some disturbing images and mature themes may make this book more appropriate for older readers. <BR>Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Christian Science Monitor - Karen Carden (10/24/2000)
The question of God's existence, the problem of death, the power of the imagination--all these meet in Pullman's long-awaited conclusion. . . . [In the first two books], Pullman set up an argument between the old orders of faith and the new republicanism and scientism of the Enlightenment, an argument which was . . . utterly gripping. . . . It was pretty heady stuff, and rumors circulated that Pullman was paralyzed with writer's block. . . . In fact, there was no way he could satisfactorily conclude what he had undertaken, as the amazing, admirable, and disappointing The Amber Spyglass testifies. . . . I am willing to follow Pullman a long way . . . in his argument against our theological inheritance. . . . But to seize Heaven on the ground that it straightjackets desire, what a bore! . . . But we might remember that . . . blasphemy is often the handmaiden of awe. This fantasy series is worth a read. <BR>Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Commonweal - Daria Donnelly (11/17/2000)
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