*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***
When Ken Netflixed this movie, I had zero interest in it, so Ken watched it on his own. Recently, when I told Ken I was in the mood for some light reading, he picked this book up from the library for me. Well, I liked it so much, I will certainly be re-Netflixing the movie for myself. The book's plot is centered on mysterious particles called Dust and their relation to humans. As the book progresses, the reader begins to understand that characters in the book believe Dust is a physical representation of sin; adults attract Dust, but children do not. It becomes clear at the end of the book that while Mrs. Coulter - with the support of the Church - is researching a way to prevent children from ever attracting Dust, Lord Asriel - without anyone's support - is concerned with finding a way to eliminate Dust entirely. I know there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding this trilogy in regards to its position on Christianity, but so far - keeping in mind that this book is set in a fantasy world - there isn't anything that offends me. (It may or may not be worth noting at this point that the author is an atheist and Humanist.)
What I really enjoyed most about this book was the fantasy aspects. Each person has a daemon, a physical representation of his/her soul. The daemon takes the form of an animal, one that reflects the person's character, and stays by the human's side at all times, never being more than a few yards away. They can speak and they have their own thoughts, and they can also act on behalf of their humans. They are constant companions, confidants, sounding boards, and even protectors. Who wouldn't want one of their own!? I very much enjoyed imagining this world in which daemons were as much a part of human life as humans themselves.
I also really enjoyed the existence of armored bears. These massive animals were bears in every way, but they also talked and were skilled metal-workers. At first I thought talking bears might be too silly to take seriously, but they really grew on me, and Iorek Byrnison became one of my favorite characters.
While I liked the author's style of prose, I was bothered by the way he minimally introduced characters and ideas, not fully explaining them until later. Of course he was droppings hints as a way of foreshadowing, but in addition to having my interest piqued, I also just got plain annoyed. And, sometimes coincidences seemed to propel events forward in a too-convenient type of way.
I also felt like the book left me with unanswered questions. Why did Lyra take the spy-fly from Farder Coram in the first place, instead of just letting him keep it? Of course it turned out to be useful that she had it, but she couldn't have known that in advance. Why is it, exactly, that Lyra can read the alethiometer without any training? And as Lyra was captured multiple times by other groups, it was clear why she didn't feel safe giving her real name to the Tartars, but why did she give her real name to the armored bears? What is the author getting at when he says that even though Lyra frequently tells complex and fantastical lies, she actually has no imagination? And finally, why did Lyra even bring Roger to Lord Asriel in the end? Why didn't she just leave him to rest comfortably in Svalbard?
The ending was not entirely satisfying, but I think that can be forgiven because this book is only the first in a trilogy. I was, however, especially confused about the way Mrs. Coulter was portrayed at the end. The entire book painted a certain portrait of her character, and then seemed to introduce a whole other side to her just in the last few pages. Still, I definitely look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy, and maybe a few of my questions might even be answered. I have, however, been forewarned by other reviews that the author's atheism takes a more prominent role in the sequels.
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