by The WandererAuthor: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: Young Adult, Steampunk
Series: His Dark Materials Book Three
Pages: 518
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(Spoilers for The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife are below).
Philip Pullman concludes the His Dark Materials Trilogy with the Amber Spyglass, and what an ending to the trilogy this book is. Pullman continues to prove he has guts as a storyteller, not only with his philosophical statements, but also with the way the plot the resolves itself at the end. More importantly the book is like riding an emotional whirlwind, as plot threads resolve in unexpected ways, readers will find it nearly difficult not to be entranced by everything this book throws at them.
Reading the Amber Spyglass makes you forget that this is a book for children. Various literary critics and literary award committees seem to have forgotten that the book was for children, too. The Amber Spyglass would win the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year Award (A British book award that is an equivalent to the American Pulitzer), becoming the first children’s book to ever accomplish this feat.
Exceeding all of my personal expectations for this book, Pullman delivers a beautiful, deeply meaningful conclusion to his trilogy. The plots all resolve, many in unexpected ways, and they provide a catharsis of emotion that neither of the previous books had been able to match. Simply put the Amber Spyglass is perfection in children’s fantasy.
