His Dark Materials

4.75

I really enjoyed this collection. Some parts in the third book didn't interest me as much but I still enjoyed the characters, the writing and the story. I loved following young characters and watching them grow up and learn how to deal with the things that are thrown their way.

Maybe even 4.5...
It's just that at some (pretty crucial) points it felt like there was no continuity. People (or ghosts) knowing something they had no way to know. The mother's transformation felt a bit abrupt. And I have questions about the prophecy and the tempter. It feels like it was building up for something more significant. Dunno, maybe I just need to read the second trilogy, but definitely not right now.
Other than that, it was a very pleasant read. Now I can watch the show

I liked it less and less as it went on. The first book, I was in, because it focused on one character's quest, and had a sense of discovery as Lyra learned about the rules of the world. There are many strange mysteries, and they all tie into her quest.

By the third book, the world-building and multiple plotlines have gotten so complex that it feels like the characters need to explain what's going on to each other in every other chapter. Lyra spends a third of it asleep, and she's the only character I ever really cared about. (Will is okay, but too brooding.) I found myself rushing through whole sequences, just to get back to her story.

Some subplots I found unsatisfying:
- The war against the Authority doesn't amount to much. We simply haven't seen the Authority do anything to make us want him to lose.
- The assassin sent to kill Mary because she was going to tempt Lyra... he gets killed without the confrontation ever happening.

Technically children's lit but every bit as engaging and meaningful as much adult fiction. Wonderful, memorable stories with a grand sweep of anti-church sentiment (the institution more than the belief). Good stuff.