The Amber Spyglass
Philip Pullman, 2000
★ 4.11 from 392.7k ratings on Goodreads
Fantasy Science fictionYoung adultHorror
In a cosmos where every soul has an animal shape, two children carry a knife between worlds while heaven and rebellion collide. A sweeping, lyrical journey with moments of wonder and dread, philosophical arguments, and a pace that sometimes slows.
Feels like wonder, dread and tenderness. About freedom, faith and love.
Who it’s for
You may enjoy it if you like fantasy that mixes adventure with big questions about faith, consciousness, and other worlds. Some readers find the middle slow and the religious themes heavy-handed, and the heroine's role shrinks.
Why read it
It closes a vast story about love and rebellion, and it leaves you with images of dust, grass, and rain that linger.
A page from the book
What if oblivion were not an ending but a scattering into the world.
Even if it means oblivion, friends, I’ll welcome it, because it won’t be nothing. We’ll be alive again in a thousand blades of grass, and a million leaves; we’ll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we’ll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was. What readers say
Readers are sharply divided: many found the finale moving and emotionally resonant, especially its ending and central relationship, while others were disappointed by slow pacing, bloated plotting, and heavy religious messaging; some also criticized the heroine’s reduced agency and the gender portrayal.
Philip Pullman.Pullman worked as a schoolteacher for years and has said His Dark Materials was partly a reply to C. S. Lewis's Narnia books.
Books that feel like this
More by Philip Pullman
Northern Lights
Philip Pullman, 1995
A girl in an Oxford of daemons and airships overhears a word—Dust—and follows it north into a mystery about consciousness, authority and other worlds.
The Subtle Knife
Philip Pullman, 1997
A boy inherits a knife that cuts doorways between worlds, a girl can read the truth, and a war is gathering over both. Read for the pace and the doubt.
The Golden Compass
Philip Pullman, 1995
A girl and her shape-shifting daemon leave Oxford for a frozen north of armoured bears, stolen children and a compass that tells the truth.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Amber Spyglass for me?
- You may enjoy it if you like fantasy that mixes adventure with big questions about faith, consciousness, and other worlds. Some readers find the middle slow and the religious themes heavy-handed, and the heroine's role shrinks.
- What is The Amber Spyglass like?
- A sweeping, lyrical journey with moments of wonder and dread, philosophical arguments, and a pace that sometimes slows. Feels like wonder, dread and tenderness. About freedom, faith and love.
- What should I read after The Amber Spyglass?
- If you liked The Amber Spyglass, try A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin), Eragon (Christopher Paolini) and Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinniman).
A taste of the feed
The oldest rule of magic is a warning about unintended consequences.
You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard’s power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow.
A Wizard of Earthsea · Ursula K. Le Guin
Advice that sounds like freedom and costs almost everything to keep.
Let no one rule your mind or body. Take special care that your thoughts remain unfettered, one may be a free man and yet be bound tighter than a slave. Give men your ear, but not your heart. Show respect for those in power, but don’t follow them blindly. Judge with logic and reason, but comment not. Consider none your superior in life. Treat all fairly or they will seek revenge. Be careful with your money. Hold fast to your beliefs and others will listen. Of the affairs of love, my only advice is to be honest. That’s your most powerful tool to unlock a heart or gain forgiveness.
Eragon · Christopher Paolini
The difference between a building being destroyed and a building being taken away.
The building smashed down to the ground. I watched it happen. The seven-story apartment building was there one moment, and then it was gone. But it hadn’t disappeared. I was looking right at Mrs. Parsons when it went down. It was like the building was a massive tin can that had been crushed by a giant cosmic boot. I saw it, and I heard it. Wind rushed at me, and it was instantly dark outside. The streetlamp just to my left was gone. The buildings all around me were gone. The cars on the street were gone, too.
Dungeon Crawler Carl · Matt Dinniman
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