His Dark Materials
The trio of novels that comprise His Dark Materials were written by Philip Pullman. I read them a while back after getting a recommendation from a co-worker. This review has a few, minor - I think - spoilers so if you dislike spoilers, please avoid this post.
The first book is The Golden Compass for those of us in the US (and possibly Canada, although I am not sure). For the rest of the world, it was titled Northern Lights. The novel starts off normally enough for fantasy novels. A young girl - orphaned - or so we are told gets into trouble because she doesn't follow societal norms for a young girl. Over the course of the novel she comes to make friends with a sentient, armored (polar) bear among others. She uncovers the conspiracy wherein children are being abducted. Further, it is being hidden by the Magisterium - a religious and political organization.
The novel ends with the promise of more mystery and the confirmed existence of alternate realities.
If the story had ended there, I would rank it as worth reading but nothing special. The novels continue with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. What can I say about these? If you are an atheist, an agnostic, a deist or a theist (with strong internal belief/faith) then give them a read. They are quite good.
However, it is obvious that Mr. Pullman is disgusted with religion: he particular dislikes Christianity and it would appear that Catholicism is his favorite lightning rod. It could be argued based on my reading of the book that the Magisterium is the alternate worlds analog of the Catholic Church (although that would be an over-simplification) with all the warts in full view.
I began to loose interest in the series around the third book because of the obvious diatribe against religion. That is not to say that the books aren't good, they are; however, I grow tired of books that preach a moral. I don't really care if the moral is religious or not. If I want to have a discourse on religion, I will sit down with the same co-worker that recommended the books. If I want to read escapist fiction, I want to leave the morals out of it.
In closing, I found it difficult to read the books as I got pulled out of the immersion layer by the preachy tone. However, the novels are well written and the story is not bad. Feel free to give it a go.
The first book is The Golden Compass for those of us in the US (and possibly Canada, although I am not sure). For the rest of the world, it was titled Northern Lights. The novel starts off normally enough for fantasy novels. A young girl - orphaned - or so we are told gets into trouble because she doesn't follow societal norms for a young girl. Over the course of the novel she comes to make friends with a sentient, armored (polar) bear among others. She uncovers the conspiracy wherein children are being abducted. Further, it is being hidden by the Magisterium - a religious and political organization.
The novel ends with the promise of more mystery and the confirmed existence of alternate realities.
If the story had ended there, I would rank it as worth reading but nothing special. The novels continue with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. What can I say about these? If you are an atheist, an agnostic, a deist or a theist (with strong internal belief/faith) then give them a read. They are quite good.
However, it is obvious that Mr. Pullman is disgusted with religion: he particular dislikes Christianity and it would appear that Catholicism is his favorite lightning rod. It could be argued based on my reading of the book that the Magisterium is the alternate worlds analog of the Catholic Church (although that would be an over-simplification) with all the warts in full view.
I began to loose interest in the series around the third book because of the obvious diatribe against religion. That is not to say that the books aren't good, they are; however, I grow tired of books that preach a moral. I don't really care if the moral is religious or not. If I want to have a discourse on religion, I will sit down with the same co-worker that recommended the books. If I want to read escapist fiction, I want to leave the morals out of it.
In closing, I found it difficult to read the books as I got pulled out of the immersion layer by the preachy tone. However, the novels are well written and the story is not bad. Feel free to give it a go.
posted by ludomastro | 22:11
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