His Dark Materials

• 1. Golden Compass, The (1995)

  [7/10]

  "Pullman has created a moral fantasy that will sit well on the shelf next to C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and may even have similar staying power."

• 2. Subtle Knife, The (1997)

  [6/10]

  "For the middle book in a trilogy, Pullman manages to keep the plot and pacing in The Subtle Knife quite engaging, and he ends the book just about as suddenly and tragically as in The Golden Compass."

• 3. Amber Spyglass, The (2000)

  [5/10]

  "In this final volume of the triolgy, Pullman seems to have lost some control over his story. When you get to the end of The Amber Spyglass, you can sort of see where he was trying to take you, but he certainly didn't take a direct route. The story also becomes less about the characters we have followed for three books and more about the metaphysical events surrounding them."

  Average score: 6.00