THE AMBER SPYGLASS (His Dark Materials #3) by Philip Pullman ⭐⭐⭐

(Original review written June 23, 2019)

Spoilers Ahead

I wasn’t head over heels, but I was thoroughly enjoying the ride with Lyra and Will across the universes. And while all the different stops made in this book are incredibly vibrant and inventive, there was some drag involved, and there’s a lot of reliance on “the children need to do this thing because they are meant to” as a plot driver. The first two books have more of an urgency from saving the children and finding Will’s dad, but we start here with a passed out Lyra for the first quarter and the urgency is lost.

I also honestly feel like I could spend another whole book watching Mary and the mulefa colony. The moments of communication trading were very reminiscent of Kwothe learning the literal body language in The Name of the Wind. I have a theory: if you make up an entire language from scratch or invent a way for impossibly different people or species to communicate, you’re guaranteed to have a winner sci-fi/fantasy entry (the two mentioned, Lord of the Rings, etc.).

The climactic end battle did pull off some Avengers: Endgame-level team ups, with all the big hitters from the three books getting a moment to shine. Seeing that come together was worth some extra time spent waiting for Lyra to wake up in the beginning.

And don’t let the negatives overshadow that it’s an unquestionably lovable book and series. The characters are growing/changing/contemplating constantly, the imagination is pretty next level, and there’s an invitation to take a deep dive into death and the afterlife, amongst many other things.

I feel like if I had read this when I was much younger, it would have been a more profound “daemon-like” bond to hold on to. Instead, I took notice a tad late, and I'm just happy to have seen into that world through an unclosed window.