The Amber Spyglass: Summary and book reviews of The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, plus links to an excerpt from The Amber Spyglass and a biography of Philip Pullman.

The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heart-stopping end, marking the final volume of His Dark Materials as the most powerful of the trilogy. Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, come a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spymaster to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. So, too, come startling revelations: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone's amber spyglass, and the names of who will live--and who will die--for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that--in its shocking outcome--will uncover the secret of Dust. Philip Pullman deftly brings the cliff-hangers and mysteries of His Dark Materials to an earthshattering conclusion--and confirms his fantasy trilogy as an undoubted and enduring classic.

Media Reviews

Newsweek Pullman [is] a big deal, and so is this final volume of the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy.   USA Today One of the most anticipated books [this fall].   Salon.com - Polly Shulman .... while Pullman may have become caught up in adult theology -- and while he has won more grown-up readers with each Dark Materials book -- he keeps the swooping plots and passionate characters that make his earlier books so appealing to young readers. With fantasies, as with mysteries, the hardest part to get right is the end, where everything is revealed. The magical objects and unexplained forces that flourish in the genre easily lend themselves to anticlimax, disintegrating into mere mechanics or bluster once the author attempts to explain them or tie them together in the traditional apocalyptic battle at the end. Given the delicious promise of the first two Dark Materials books, some disappointment was almost inevitable. But The Amber Spyglass delivers surprisingly little of it; the latest novel is nearly as satisfying as the first two.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Book Freak
Life and Love goes on
I absolutely adore this book. In fact, I own it! I love this book for its emotional trauma of how life and love move on even after the most terrible blows. I recommend this book to anyone who has a giving heart and is awed by the possibility...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Lindsey
Great Book!
This book was very very good I have read the whole Harry Potter Books and many other fantasy book, he did a great job,my mom read it too .She cried at the end and I almost did, I couldn't put it down! Thumbs up!:-)If you haven't read the book,YOU...   Read More

Review (not rated) by Starry
Magic
Pullman's magical text, accompanied by a thrilling story, is one of the best (and saddest) books I have ever read. I was heartbroken and confused when I first finished the book, but now I recognize it as a spectacular novel. Watching Lyra's...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Big Girl0013
The Amber Spyglass
I think that the book "The Amber Spyglass" s a great book because Lyra and Will was at war rages and Dust drains from the sky, the fate of the living and the dead finally comes to depend on two children and the simple truth of one simple story....   Read More

Rated of 5 by Katie
GREAT!!!
This was one of the best books I have ever read and I have read A LOT of books! It is also one of the saddest. I wish that there was a forth book!

Rated of 5 by Nell
Good Read
I loved this book. My favorite is the the The Golden Compass which is the first in the series but this is still very good. It's not your average fantasy book. This is the most complicated book of the three. I was about 12 when I read it and some of...   Read More

...24 More Reader Reviews

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