His Dark Materials

Picked up the third volume (The Amber Spyglass) of Pullman's acclaimed trilogy this aft, and expect to read it sometime later this weekend.

Having read the first two volumes now, I can review Pullman positively enough, and say if you're an adult reader with a bit of taste who has some reason to take a look at young adult-level fantasy, this is probably one of your better bets--but I must also confess to my usual mystification at some of the truly rave reviews on the covers.

Dunno. I'm genuinely not striking a pose or anything--but I seem to have this experience more often than not. As in: read dust jacket blurbs, read reviews, hear respected people raving about what a marvellous, life changing experience was reading this work for them...

Then pick up and read the work in question yourself, and find an inventive, well-crafted piece of fiction--but nothing that quite evokes the literary ecstasy you'd have quite reasonably thought you were in for, given the reviews.

I can rave about maybe four or five books I've read in my entire life, as truly startling and memorable, and genuinely worthy of the excitement that seems so readily to pour from the pens of certain critical scribes. And I've read a lot of books. Sometimes, methinks, the critics get a bit carried away about things. (Life of Pi? Anyone? What the hell was that?)

Anyway. Passing on the hyperbole, my view: His Dark Materials, so far, is well-crafted and inventive. And Pullman's two principal protagonists are memorable, involving creations. Worth a look, certainly.

But that's it. That's all I'm sayin'. Not gonna raise your expectations past that.