`Hardback children's fiction doesn't sell," goes the mantra. And yet not one, but two fantasy novels for children have been published in hardback within months of each other, both mighty tomes (far exceeding the agreed staying-power of today's young readers), and both eagerly awaited by avid fans. The Amber Spyglass is the final volume in a trilogy, however, whilst Harry Potter and the Gob- let of Fire is, as we all know, but the fourth in a series of seven. Thus this book terminates Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, his best and most ambitious work to date.
His Dark Materials is in the tradition of Tolkein rather than J.K. Rowling. Its sci-fi/ metaphysical base is consistent and thoroughly thought out, and it is about much more than just the conflict between good and evil - although that conflict, the core of all good stories, lies at the heart of this. Pullman's sources range from universal myth, through Milton's Paradise Lost to palaeology and quantum physics. He has invented a multi-world universe through which his heroine Lyra and her friends travel (despite the attempts of the Authority and his minions to stop them) in pursuit of Lyra's final destiny, the redemption of all worlds. Heavy stuff. The series is definitely best read in order, but The Amber Spyglass does work on its own.
Some readers might find the pace off-putting, especially at first, as Pullman resists the modern pressure on children's authors to keep exclusively to short sentences and snappy dialogue. Concentration is needed, too, to follow the complexities of the plot and its metaphysical/scientific underpinnings. But readers should not be discouraged. The evil figures are deeply (though not always entirely) evil and the good not namby-pamby, while the battles, tortures and escapes-in-the-nick-of-time will keep even those readers uninterested in the deeper meanings reading on.
In this last volume, Pullman pulls together his many strands, reintroduces the main characters in order that they might play their part in the final outcome, and ends the saga satisfyingly, both in the overall plot and in the fate of his two main protagonists. Lyra and Will have, by the end of the trilogy, left childhood behind and (like Harry Potter) discovered love. The book is well produced, with an attractive typeface and plenty of white margins. The square woodcuts at the beginning of each chapter contain quotes from Milton, Blake and the Bible, but also from Emily Dickinson. There are a few instances of poor editing and unnecessary repetition, but this is a mere quibble. His Dark Materials is a unified, exciting and thought-provoking work and the final volume forms a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
Margrit Cruickshank writes novels for children and young adults