The Amber Spyglass – Reviewing Classics
Laurel Leaf, 2000
Fantasy Fiction
ISBN-10: 0375846735
480 pages
2001 Whitbread Prize for Children’s Literature
2002 Whitbread of the Year Prize
Synopsis
All of the characters come together is the ultimate battle for all of the conjoining worlds. Dust, it turns out, is not the byproduct of original sin, but the byproduct of moving from innocence into true sentience, which takes different manifestations for different species. For humans it’s sexual interaction, even something like kissing. However, as insignificant as this seems, Dust is essential to maintaining the world of sentient beings, and because of the doors that have been opened between the worlds, Dust is being sucked out into nothingness. Will and Lyra are the keys to solving these issues, and they will be faced with the most difficult tasks in order to make right all of the worlds in all of the dimensions once again.
Critique
All three of these books are a fun read, and each story is able to stand on its own as unique and interesting apart from the others, even though it’s one story spread over three novels. There is definitely some obvious anti-Judeo-Christian themes, but if you really drill down to what Pullman is communicating through them, they work more as a satire intended to be a mirror to people who hold onto self-righteous and bigoted beliefs that isolate and abuse others. Ultimately, though these are fun stories born out of a creative mind that was able to construct an entirely original fantasy that critiques our own culture. It’s a rare gem, blending both an imaginative fantasy with a pointed social commentary. I recommend this series to all readers 9+ and I also recommend rereading them as you get older, because alike books such as Wrinkle in Time, and The Narnia series, the layered conflicts, references, and commentaries will grow with you as a reader.
The other books in this series are The Golden Compass (book 1), The Subtle Knife (book 2), and Lyra’s Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North as companion novels.
Rating Rubric
Enjoyable Read: Original Fantasy: Original Plot: Language: 
Asthetics: Depth In Characters: Depth In Story: Social Commentary: Layers/Complexity: Classroom Text: 
Overall Rating:
For the Classroom
These books aren’t relevant to any classroom subject, per se, but so many elements regarding religion, historical/social structures, and inventive sciences are rife throughout that they could serve as interesting companion materials for any of the above subject or a general English course, especially considering the amount of essays and study books have been written about them just in the past 10 years.
Here is a short list of some of the companion books seeking to study and deconstruct elements of the trilogy in order to expound on some of Pullman’s ideas:
