Book Review: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials #3)

 

I was quite surprised when this book arrived in the mail just at how large it was, being almost twice as thick as Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife. It's finally time to end my decade-long quest to finally finish reading this series. Spoilers ahead!

The battle for the kingdom of heaven have begun, and Will and Lyra decide to go on a journey that will take them to the land of the dead. Angels will fall, daemons will settle and our two leads are in the middle of it all.

Overall, I consider this a big step up from The Subtle Knife. Don't get me wrong, I really liked that book, but it didn't feel as epic as I'd hoped and it just didn't have the same nostalgia-factor for me as Northern Lights did.

But I am pleased to say that this book once more pretty much gave me what I wanted from this series. It's epic, we get unique worlds and lore, Lord Asriel's battle against the Authority is finally fought, we see some of our favorite deceased characters again as ghosts, Lyra's and Will's daemons finally settle, etc. It's all great and I just loved reading pretty much all of it.

I do have two very minor nitpicks. They in no way ruined the book for me (hence the five star rating), but I do feel the need to bring them up. One: I sometimes had a hard time following what was going on. This book just has a lot happening and it gets quite intense sometimes, so be sure to constantly pay attention to everything, or else you might end up confused.

Second: the love relationship between Lyra and Will. It just...didn't work for me personally. I never saw them in that way and while I guess it was kind of inevitable that they'd fall in love together, I just didn't feel like their romance was all that genuine. It's luckily rather brief and late into the book, so it in no way broke the story for me, but it just wasn't personally my taste. I do like the conclusion where they both return to their respective worlds and seal up the windows, though, permanently ending the possibility for reuniting. 

But, aside from that, I'm really excited about this book. I honestly didn't want to put it down for the most part. Definite recommedation!

Rating: 5/5