ISBN: 0-345-41336-9 Order from: Amazon.com
This continuation in the novel fantasy series brings two juvenile heroes from differents worlds into a mounting political, magical and possibly cosmological upheaval.
Reviewed by David on February 14, 1999
Genre: Fantasy (Multiple Worlds, Weird Science)
Synopsis: This novel is a sequel to The Golden Compass, in which Lyra, a young girl from an England subtly different from ours, gets involved in the machinations of a ruthless church, and the battle to harness magical and political power. In Lyra's world, each person has a daemon, a magical creature tied to the individual and carrying a part of his soul.
When she stumbles into several plots, all related to the mysterious substance Dust, Lyra becomes a target for both the decent and the ruthless factions. After going through a doorway opened into another world, Lyra's life becomes entwined with Will, a boy from our own world (or one just like it).
Will's father, a famous explorer, has disappeared when Will was very young, while researching a mysterious opening in the far North. Will's haunted and disturbed mother starts to suffer from delusions of persecutions. After years of helping and sheltering his mom, Will discovers that just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they are not after you. When ruthless strangers invade his home and torment his mother, Will does his best to protect his fragile parent and escapes into another strange gateway.
The world where Lyra and Will meet suffers from terrifying Haunts, ghost-like creatures destroying all adults. These dangers don't stop Lyra's ruthless church from following her. Meanwhile, in the far North, where the worlds begin to touch each other, forces gather for a war whose last battle was fought thirty millenia ago. This war may change all the worlds mysteriously and dangerously linked by magic and destruction.
Full Review: The first book has introduced a truly original world, with the Dust, the magical all-seeing Alethiometer (the Golden Compass of its title), and the familiar-like daemons. The excitement of the strange, magical science and the intriguing characters (both good and evil) started to lag at the end of The Golden Compass under the load of new, improbable inventions such as armored bears and immortal witches.
Fortunately, this sequel introduces few new building blocks, instead introducing our own world to the mix. This eases the suspension of disbelief, while following two likable heroes. Will and Lyra are capable, while still being child-like. The scope of the conflict is clarified, and the stakes are almost unbelievable in scope. It would be interesting how Pullman handles the almost cosmological outcome of the gathering struggle. The series continues to be one of the most innovative fantasies in recent years,
The His Dark Materials trilogy will conclude in The Amber Spyglass, to be published in August 1999.
Overall: 6.5; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 6; Style: 6; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 9;
Copyright date 1997, Ballantine Publishing Group (Del Rey), May 1998, Mass-market paperback, 288 pages
ISBN: 0-345-41336-9 Order from: Amazon.com