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The Golden Compass

The His Dark Materials Trilogy, Book 1

Del Rey
Fiction, MG? Fantasy
Themes: Alternate Earths, Bonded Companions, Epics, Girl Power, Religious Themes
***

Description

Young Lyra lives in a world not unlike our own in a previous era, but where every human has a daemon, which is like a living extension of their soul. Until adulthood, a daemon can change shape as it pleases, but then settles into an animal form that reflects something of its human.
It has been discovered that Dust, a mysterious substance visible only through special photography methods, will "stick" to adults, but not to children. This is the "proof" that the church-backed government has been looking for concerning sin. Lyra, by way of her estranged parents, is caught up in the search for the source of Dust, and the horrible plans to keep it from "sticking" to adult humans. All she has to guide her her daemon Pantamalion and a strange golden compass which can tell the truth, if you know how to read it. In her journeys, she meets tree-witches and the mighty armored bears of the north, as well as other friends... and dangers.

Review

If that sounded confusing, it's not entirely my fault. The book is hardly the most coherent thing I've read. This is often placed in the Middle Grade section, but I can't see why. Some of the tale is a little too complex and definitely too disturbing for younger readers, not to mention graphic. There is a fight scene with the armored bears that, were it in the theater, would earn at least a PG-13, if not R. (Yes, I know there's been a movie made of this book; I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know how true to the text they were - I'm just saying, the book's fight got pretty gruesome.) After slogging through the first half of the book, I finally found myself getting the hang of the universe and getting into the story... just before the ending. I was warned at the outset that this was a three-parter, so it wasn't a total shock, but it did throw me a bit. The early parts drag and meander something fierce, with just enough glimmer of hope to keep me reading, and then it goes and ends on me! What gives? Anyway, it was an okay story overall, with a few decent characters and some different situations. If I'd paid for the hardcover edition, I would've been really ticked off, but at paperback price it was a reasonable read. When I bought it, I was looking for something different, and I got it.
I see that the second book is now out in paperback. I may pick it up someday, but maybe not. I just don't know if I want to struggle through 3/4 of a story only to just start enjoying it before it ends. Again.

 

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The Ruby in the Smoke

A Sally Lockheart Mystery, Book 1

Knopf
Fiction, YA Historical Fiction/Mystery
Themes: Cross-Genre, Girl Power
****

Description

After Sally Lockhart's father died in a shipwreck in the South China Sea, she finds herself alone in Victorian England at the tender age of sixteen, living with a cruel distant relative and seemingly doomed, like the vast majority of women of the era, to be little more than property. One day, she recieves a mysterious letter, seemingly sent on behalf of her father shortly after his death. Penned in a strange hand, it hints at trouble with Captain Lockhart's shipping company, with a special cryptic warning about the "Seven Blessings." Inquiring at the offices of her father's former business partner, the utterance of those two words scares the clerk on duty to death. Suddenly, Sally is caught in the middle of a dangerous web of international intrigue, opium smuggling, fraud, lies... and a ruby that lies at the heart of it all.

Review

Pullman spins a dark and intricate tale, crafting several memorable characters as he wends his unflinching way through the Hell of London's opium trade and other underworld pursuits. This is pitched at the Teen end of Young Adult, but I was still a bit surprised as to how dark Pullman went with it. Sally makes a decent detective, surrounded by a good crew (as most detectives are) and pitted against fittingly ruthless enemies. The resolution of the mystery is just a hair shy of too convoluted, tying together unresolved issues from Sally's own past as well as the tale of the titular ruby. As one might surmise, there are more books in this series, though oddly enough the next one doesn't pick up until Sally is in her early 20's.
Incidentally, in my work at the library, I've seen a DVD of a televised version of this book go through a time or two. I haven't seen it, so I have no idea if it's in any way faithful to the book or not.

 

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