pabloss

** spoiler alert ** I disliked The Golden Compass, but went back to the series after seeing the movie. And I'm glad I did because there were many things I liked about it: excellent world building, interwoven with action, philosophy, religion. Now for what I didn't like. 1. Will and Lyra's fate: one of the themes of the series is that adult sexual maturity and love are good things, not evil things. That being the case, why are Will and Lyra parted forever, just after taking their first steps towards adult love and sexuality? Their sexual/romantic awakening restores the universes and as a reward they lose each other forever? Sounds an awful lot like a punishment! 2. Asriel's great rebellion: if it did not end the domination of the supporters of the Authority, why the huge conflict? All through the series we are told Asriel will finish the rebellion started long ago by rebel angels, only to find out at the end of the series that the forces of the Authority are weakened, not destroyed. Really? Then why did anyone bother to fight? 3. The World of the Dead: So due to the savior, Lyra, "sinners" are now those who don't live their lives to the fullest and don't have interesting enough stories to tell the harpies to get out of the underworld. Huh? The Republic of Heaven starts to sound a lot like the Kingdom of Heaven it's going to replace about now. I enjoyed the turning "the Judeo-Christian view of God and Satan upside down" theme of the series. But the development of it stalls in this book and peters out into resolution that doesn't change much in the infinite universes, except the dust stops leaking away, which was a weak ending to a good series.

2022-10-21 05:20