His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
buy bestselling books in print, audio books
|
 |
List Price: $22.50
Our Price:
$15.30
You Save: $7.2
Features
• Box set |
| [ + Zoom ] [ Buy Now ] |
Book : Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
|
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) description
In the epic trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman unlocks the door to worlds parallel to our own. Dæmons and winged creatures live side by side with humans, and a mysterious entity called Dust just might have the power to unite the universes--if it isn't destroyed first. The three books in Pullman's heroic fantasy series, published as mass-market paperbacks with new covers, are united here in one boxed set that includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Join Lyra, Pantalaimon, Will, and the rest as they embark on the most breathtaking, heartbreaking adventure of their lives. The fate of the universe is in their hands. (Ages 13 and older) |
|
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) Customer Reviews
|
|
|
|
♥♥♥♥♥ |
Disappointed
|
Disclaimer - All reviews, this one included, are subjective.
Having said that, I came away from these three books disappointed. I was not familiar with Pullman's writing. All the hype around the recently released "Golden Compass" movie supposedly promoting atheism, prompted me to buy the trilogy. I had great expectations that were soon dashed. The movie, I might add, does not stay faithful to the ending of the first book. I will be surprised if the sequels don't wander considerably from the books as well.
Atheists will laugh at all the hoopla and tell you, point blank, Pullman's trilogy hardly rings true to the core beliefs of genuine atheists. Pullman is far too moderate, allowing much in his books to suggest spiritual and metaphysical ideals. Many, if not most Gnostics will find much here they are in agreement with. Agnostics would be confused and probably find these books too spiritual for their tastes.
I find it interesting that Christians appear to be highly offended by the much touted "killing of god" but the consensual sex between a 15 year old boy and a twelve year old girl (main characters in the trilogy) doesn't even earn a footnote?!
I suspect that much of the "bad" pre-publicity the movie received may have been cleverly conceived by the financial backers of the movie. People are drawn to controversy. I was looking forward to more controversy. I found it to be rather bland in that respect.
I am a recovering Christian so I have some bias in Pullman's favor but I think he reined himself in, perhaps not wanting to be overly controversial. This too depends on your perspective. If questioning your long held religious beliefs is new territory for you then Pullman's writing might seem highly polemic to you.
One has to give Pullman credit for attempting to make the Church and even "god" the antagonists. Still, Pullman's "god" was amazingly benign after a slow build-up that ended in what I felt was a disappointing anti-climax.
If this book is supposed to be for children, I don't get it and neither will they. I suppose they are entranced by fighting polar bears, animal daemons, and good witches. Adults will probably not attempt to explain the deeper implications about "The Church" to anyone under the age of 14. It doesn't take an atheist to recognize the truth's embedded here, sometimes hinted at, sometimes direct. Most of the "controversial" stuff (a thimbleful) comes in the final book and is pretty much a direct slap at the Catholic church. More than a few protestants would agree with Pullman's premise but that doesn't make them, or Pullman atheists.
I don't read a lot of fiction. I just so happened to be reading Follett's Pillars of the Earth at the same time. Though fiction of different genre, Follett is clearly a better writer. Honestly I got bored in several places in the Pullman and had to struggle to finish the books. Pullman wanders about at times, including things that seem somewhat irrelevant, the elimination of which might condense the trilogy into a more manageable size.
I feel the over-all climax takes far too long to develop and will probably leave some people feeling left up in the air. Pullman has his moments (arguably just enough) perhaps and there are some nice visuals (what the movie people saw) but otherwise the book just wasn't consistently gripping enough to hold my attention and completely pull me in. In my opinion this trilogy is over-rated. The 3 ranking is because 2.5 wasn't an option.
|
|
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) Books In Print, Audio Books.