The third and final book in His Dark Materials trilogy, The Amber Spyglass was a nail-biting adventure. The prose is absolutely lovely, which made it more difficult to speed through the plot like I wanted to – I kept getting caught up in the word choices and imagery. But I wasn’t upset – I loved this book. As with any story told from multiple perspectives, there were some characters I loved to follow and others that I simply tolerated. However, all the story arcs came together in the end to create a satisfying completion. I will say that this book was rather intense for a kid’s book – I might hold off until they can cope with death and betrayal a bit better. In terms of religion, I can also see why so many people have complained about the trilogy. The first book had nothing really that I found objectionable as a Christian, but this book certainly did. However, I am able to separate my faith from fiction, so I could appreciate the world-view Pullman has, no matter how pessimistic it is. In terms of appropriateness for kids, I find the pessimism more objectionable than the religious stuff, though there is, to be sure, things to be upset about as a Christian. As someone who is confident in my faith and can see where the story splits from scripture, I found the philosophy of the books fascinating. For a newer or younger Christian, I could see this book being confusing and possibly raising questions a Christian parent might be uncomfortable with. I’m going to hold off letting my daughter read it mostly because the themes are deep and mature, and I want her to be able to fully engage the philosophy of the book (plus, she would not like all the blood and death).

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