fini

Finally wrapped up the dramatic conclusion of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials story with The Amber Spyglass. Despite the complexity of the story, it all wrapped up pretty well and overall Materials made for a good and interesting read, and I'd highly recommend it.

Mr. Pullman would seem to have really had some really sweet timing in terms of the release of these books. Harry Potter was all the rage, and while the Christian community was up in arms over those, His Dark Materials slid into the public consciousness garnering awards and gaining a devoted following with material far more confrontational to the Christian ideology. That said, the uprising over Potter didn't make much sense to me (this is fiction people) and had they attacked Materials, that wouldn't have made much sense either (still fiction after all). I'll say this again. If your faith is such that it can be challenged and overthrown by a work of fiction, perhaps it wasn't that strong to begin with and you may need to be asking yourself more probing questions than "was it Pullman or Rowling leading me astray".

I digress...

The Amber Spyglass is the summation of a story about the very nature and building blocks of human existence told largely through the eyes of the two coming-of-age characters Lyra and Will. Their tale crosses through multiple worlds all operating in parallel and contains a rich and diverse collection of supporting characters. Pullman lays out an interesting take on life, love, creation, and death that makes for a really compelling and absorbing story. We have animal civilizations, angels, ghosts, witches, and new creatures of Pullman's invention. Much like the worlds inhabited in the story, Pullman's writing brings everything together with a sense of precision and intent.