The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

"The Amber Spyglass" is the third and final book in the "His Dark Materials" Trilogy by Philip Pullman. I was a little nervous going into this book about the direction that the series was taking, but I was curious enough to want to read it anyway!

Let me first say that Philip Pullman is a highly imaginative author. He has vivid descriptions and does a great job of creating his own universe that he sets his characters in. For that reason, I appreciate his authorship. 

My main concern with this book was that I knew from the previous book that Lord Asriel intended to take on the Authority, or God, and kill Him. A large portion of the book had nothing to do with that, and I really enjoyed that portion of the book because it was simply fascinating! Like I said, Pullman has a very inventive mind.

I didn't really like the conclusion of the book though. I can ignore a lot in books, but it did bother me the way God was portrayed in the book. Mainly, that He is displayed as a weak and out of touch fool. I suppose even that wasn't what bothered me as much, as that it was written with an obvious agenda. The author was pounding it into your head that he does NOT like the concept of God, and I don't really like books that are written with such obvious agenda's. Despite the inventiveness of this author I don't think I'll be reading any more of his books. 

Having said that, since this series has received so much acclaim and created so much controversy, I am glad that I read it. I now understand why there is so much controversy over the series, and if someone brings it up I have an educated opion and not just some vague "well I heard..."