The Amber Spyglass

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The Amber Spyglass
Tas pb uk.jpg
First edition
Author Philip Pullman
Cover artistPhilip Pullman & David Scutt
CountryUnited Kingdom
Series His Dark Materials
Genre Fantasy
Publisher Scholastic/David Fickling Books
Publication date
10 October 2000
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Pages518
ISBN 0-590-54244-3
OCLC 55870599
Preceded by The Subtle Knife  
Followed by Lyra's Oxford  

The Amber Spyglass is the third and final novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Published in 2000, it won the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year award, the first children's novel to do so. [1] It was named Children's Book of the Year at the 2001 British Book Awards, and was the first children's book to be longlisted for the Booker Prize. [2]

Contents

In 2022, the novel was adapted as the third series of the joint BBC-HBO television series His Dark Materials .

Setting

The novel is set in a number of worlds dominated by the Magisterium, a theocracy which actively suppresses heresy. In some of these worlds, humans' souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sentient "dæmons" in animal form. Important plot devices are the alethiometer, a truth-telling symbol reader; the subtle knife, capable of cutting windows between worlds; and the amber spyglass, a device for viewing the form of consciousness known as Dust.

Plot

Having learned of the witches' prophecy that Lyra Belacqua is the second Eve, the Magisterium decides she must be killed to prevent a new fall. Lyra's ambitious and hardhearted mother, Mrs Coulter, hides her in a remote cave. In her drugged sleep, Lyra dreams of meeting her friend Roger in the land of the dead, and promises to help.

In the world of Cittàgazze the angels Balthamos and Baruch try to persuade Lyra's friend Will to take the subtle knife to Lord Asriel, whose army is preparing to fight the Magisterium, but Will insists on finding Lyra first. They are attacked by the archangel Metatron but escape to another world just in time with the help of the subtle knife. The angels explain that the very first angel to condense out of Dust had falsely claimed to be the creator, and had acquired great power as the Authority. Now aged, he dwells in an isolated citadel and has delegated most of his powers to his regent Metatron.

The physicist Mary Malone finds herself in a world of sapient creatures called mulefa. The trees they rely on have been dying, and she uses lacquer from their sap to construct a spyglass that allows her to see Dust. She discovers that it is streaming rapidly away, no longer able to provide the trees with nourishment.

Will meets Iorek Byrnison. Together they find Lyra's cave, arriving at the same time as the forces of the Magisterium. Will wakes Lyra and uses the knife to escape into another world, but when he loses concentration the knife breaks. Iorek uses his metalworking skills to repair it.

Lyra and Will travel to the world of the dead. Visitors are forced to leave their dæmons behind, causing Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon enormous pain. Will's dæmon, previously internal, now becomes visible. After finding Roger, they persuade the harpies that control the world to allow them to open a window so the dead can leave. The dead step through and joyfully dissolve, their atoms becoming one with the universe.

Asriel's army and the forces of the Magisterium join battle. Mrs Coulter, who has allied herself with Asriel, enters the Authority's citadel, tempts Metatron, and then betrays him. Mrs Coulter, Asriel and Metatron fall into an abyss and are destroyed. Lyra and Will free the Authority from a crystal litter in which he is being carried, and find him demented and powerless – so feeble that mere exposure to the wind causes his form to dissolve.

Lyra and Will escape with their dæmons to the mulefa world, where Mary tells them of her own past. Before becoming a physicist she had been a nun, but had lost her faith when she had fallen in love and realised that the nun's heaven was empty. Hearing her words, Lyra experiences new and strange sensations of her own. The next day, Lyra and Will set off to picnic in the wood. The couple kiss and confess their love for each other, and the Dust envelops them.

The wooden bench at the back of the Oxford Botanic Garden featured in The Amber Spyglass and shown in a photograph in the sequel, Lyra's Oxford. TASbench.jpg
The wooden bench at the back of the Oxford Botanic Garden featured in The Amber Spyglass and shown in a photograph in the sequel, Lyra's Oxford .
"Lyra+Will" carved in the bench in the Oxford Botanic Garden. Lyra+Will.jpg
"Lyra+Will" carved in the bench in the Oxford Botanic Garden.

The witch Serafina Pekkala explains that each opened window between worlds creates a new spectre, and it is through those windows that Dust has been escaping. All existing windows must be closed, apart from the one leading from the world of the dead. Lyra and Will are devastated to learn that they must return to their respective worlds, as they cannot survive for long in any other. They promise each other that they will go to a bench in their respective Oxford Botanic Gardens every midsummer's day to remember.

They return, and the witches set about closing the windows. Will deliberately destroys the subtle knife. In her own world, Lyra finds that she has lost the ability to intuitively read her alethiometer. She decides to take up the academic study of alethiometry and, together with Pantalaimon who has now taken the permanent form of a pine marten, she resolves to build the Republic of Heaven.

Changes to US edition

Pullman's publishers have primarily marketed the His Dark Materials series to young adults, but Pullman also intended to speak to adults. The Amber Spyglass is partly a re-evaluation of the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve. Pullman said Lyra's sexual awakening "is exactly what happens in the Garden of Eden … Why the Christian Church has spent 2,000 years condemning this glorious moment, well, that's a mystery. I want to confront that, I suppose, by telling a story that this so-called original sin is anything but. It's the thing that makes us fully human." [3]

The North American edition alters passages describing Lyra's incipient sexuality. [3] The text in the UK edition [4] includes this passage in the chapter "Marzipan":

As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognised the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, deep in the darkness of the building she felt other doors opening too, and lights coming on. She sat trembling, hugging her knees, hardly daring to breathe, as Mary went on...

This is amended in the US edition to:

As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, she felt the other doors opening deep in the darkness, and lights coming on. She sat trembling as Mary went on...

Other passages have also been modified in the US edition. [5]

Chapter headings

Each chapter carried at the beginning a quotation from one of Pullman's favourite authors, including Milton ( Paradise Lost ), William Blake and Emily Dickinson. [6] Before His Dark Materials first came out the publisher had asked Pullman to produce his customary drawings for the head of each chapter, his drawings first appeared in the Lantern Slide editions of the books. [7]

Critical reception

The Amber Spyglass won critical acclaim and became the first children's book to win the Whitbread Book of the Year. It also won the British Book Awards, Children's book of the year, American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, Parents' Choice Good Book Award, Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book, New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age and ABC Children's Booksellers' Choice, and became a New York Times Bestseller.

Michael Dirda praised The Amber Spyglass as "an expertly paced and orchestrated novel." He notes Pullman's allusiveness: "In his acknowledgments Philip Pullman admits he has stolen material 'from every book I have ever read.' Besides finding hints of Paradise Lost and Blake's poetry, the astute will pick up echoes of the following: Christ's harrowing of hell, Jewish Kabbalah (the legend of the godlike angel Metatron), Gnostic doctrine (Dust, our sleeping souls needing to be awakened), the 'death of God' controversy, Perelandra , the Oz books (the Wheelers), Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs (Siegfried's mending of the sword), Aeneas, Odysseus and Dante in the Underworld, the Grail legend and the wounded Fisher King, Peter Pan, Wordsworth's pantheistic 'Immortality Ode', the doctrine of the hidden God and speculation about the plurality of worlds, situational ethics (actions, not people, being good or bad), the cessation of miracles, Star Wars ...and even Pullman's own early novel for adults, Galatea." He concludes by writing that "His Dark Materials is a novel of electrifying power and splendor, deserving celebration, as violent as a fairy tale and as shocking as art must be." [8]

In 2019, it was ranked sixth in The Guardian 's list of the 100 best books since 2000. [9]

TV adaptation

The third series of the joint BBC-HBO television adaptation of His Dark Materials , released in December 2022, mainly covers The Amber Spyglass.

Audiobook

An audiobook version narrated by Pullman and with a full cast was released in 2001. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Pullman</span> English author

Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945". In a 2004 BBC poll, he was named the eleventh most influential person in British culture. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to literature.

<i>His Dark Materials</i> Novel trilogy by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. The novels have won a number of awards, including the Carnegie Medal in 1995 for Northern Lights and the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year for The Amber Spyglass. In 2003, the trilogy was ranked third on the BBC's The Big Read poll.

Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the heroine of Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. In His Dark Materials Lyra is a young girl who inhabits a universe parallel to our own. Brought up in the cloistered world of Jordan College, Oxford, she finds herself embroiled in a cosmic war between Lord Asriel on one side, and a deity figure known as The Authority and his Regent, Metatron, on the other. Lyra also features prominently in the subsequent trilogy The Book of Dust.

<i>The Subtle Knife</i> 1997 novel by Philip Pullman

The Subtle Knife is a young-adult fantasy novel published in 1997 and the second book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The novel continues the adventures of Lyra Belacqua recounted in the first novel, Northern Lights, as she investigates the mysterious phenomenon of Dust. Will Parry is introduced as a companion to Lyra, and together they explore new worlds in the search for Will's father.

<i>Lyras Oxford</i> 2003 book by Philip Pullman

Lyra's Oxford is a 2003 novella by Philip Pullman depicting an episode involving the heroine of His Dark Materials, Pullman's best-selling trilogy. Lyra's Oxford is set when Lyra Belacqua is 15, two years after the end of the trilogy.

<i>Northern Lights</i> (Pullman novel) 1995 novel by Philip Pullman

Northern Lights is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "Dust".

<i>The Book of Dust</i> Fantasy novel trilogy by Philip Pullman

The Book of Dust is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman, which expands his trilogy His Dark Materials. The books further chronicle the adventures of Lyra Belacqua and her battle against the theocratic organisation known as the Magisterium, and shed more light on the mysterious substance called Dust.

Will Parry is one of the protagonists in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, along with Lyra Belacqua. He first appears in the series at the start of the second novel, The Subtle Knife, and continues through to the final book, The Amber Spyglass. Introduced as a 12-year-old boy, he meets and befriends Lyra in the world of Cittàgazze and teams up with her in order to uncover the mysteries of Dust and the disappearance of his father many years previously. He takes possession of the Subtle Knife which he uses to aid Lord Asriel in his bid to destroy the Authority.

Dust (<i>His Dark Materials</i>) Fictional particle in His Dark Materials trilogy

In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust trilogies, Dust or Rusakov particles are particles associated with consciousness that are integral to the plot. In the multiverse in which these trilogies are set, Dust is attracted to consciousness, especially after puberty; the Church within the series associates Dust with original sin and seeks its end. Pullman described Dust in an interview as "an analogy of consciousness, and consciousness is this extraordinary property we have as human beings".

Dæmon (<i>His Dark Materials</i>) Fictional being from Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials

A dæmon is a type of fictional being in the Philip Pullman fantasy trilogies His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust. Dæmons are the external physical manifestation of a person's "inner-self" that takes the form of an animal. Dæmons have human intelligence, are capable of human speech—regardless of the form they take—and usually behave as though they are independent of their humans. Pre-pubescent children's dæmons can change form voluntarily to become any creature, real or imaginary. During adolescence a person's dæmon undergoes "settling", an event in which that person's dæmon permanently and involuntarily assumes the form of the animal which the person most resembles in character. Dæmons are usually of the opposite sex to their human, though same-sex dæmons do exist.

Lord Asriel is a character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Asriel is a member of the aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by the Church. Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and commands great respect in both the political and academic spheres, being a military leader and a fellow of Jordan College in his world's version of Exeter College, Oxford.

Marisa Coulter, known simply as Mrs. Coulter, is a character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and one of the main antagonists of Northern Lights: the former lover of Lord Asriel and biological mother of Lyra Belacqua.

<i>The Golden Compass</i> (film) 2007 film directed by Chris Weitz

The Golden Compass is a 2007 fantasy adventure film written and directed by Chris Weitz that is based on the 1995 novel Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, the first installment in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which was published as The Golden Compass in the United States. It stars Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter, Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, and Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, alongside Sam Elliott, Ian McKellen, and Eva Green. In the film, Lyra joins a tribe of seafarers on a trip to the far North in search of children kidnapped by the Gobblers, a group supported by the universe's rulers, the Magisterium.

<i>The Golden Compass</i> (video game) 2007 video game

The Golden Compass is a 2007 action-adventure puzzle video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, and by A2M for Nintendo DS. The game was published on all platforms by Sega, and was released in Europe in November 2007, and in North America in December. It is the video game of the 2007 film of the same name, although it is also partially based on the 1995 novel upon which the film is based, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. The game was released prior to the film and features a slightly different sequence of events towards the end of the story, as well as additional footage at the end of the game not seen in the film. This was due to a last minute re-edit of the last half-hour of the film by New Line Cinema, which could not be incorporated into the game, as it was based on the shooting script. Due to this the game manages to portray motives and themes of the book in much more detail, including details only present in later books of the trilogy. The Golden Compass was the last game developed by Shiny before Foundation 9 Entertainment merged them with The Collective. A significant feature has Dakota Blue Richards and Freddie Highmore reprising their roles from the film.

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). This is a list of the fictional races and creatures in the novels.

This article covers the fictional locations in the His Dark Materials trilogy and related works by Philip Pullman.

<i>The Secret Commonwealth</i> 2019 novel by Philip Pullman

The Secret Commonwealth is a 2019 fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, the second volume of his planned trilogy The Book of Dust. The story is set twenty years or so after the events of La Belle Sauvage and ten years after the conclusion of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Lyra Silvertongue is now an adult.

<i>La Belle Sauvage</i> 2017 novel by Philip Pullman

La Belle Sauvage is a fantasy novel by Philip Pullman published in 2017. It is the first volume of a planned trilogy titled The Book of Dust and is set twelve years before Pullman's His Dark Materials. It presents events prior to the arrival of the six-month-old Lyra Belacqua at Jordan College, Oxford.

<i>His Dark Materials</i> (TV series) 2019 British fantasy television series

His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama television series based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman. It is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Productions, for BBC One and HBO, with the latter handling international distribution. The show follows the orphan Lyra as she searches for a missing friend and discovers a kidnapping plot related to an invisible cosmic substance called Dust.

References

  1. ↑ Gibbons, Fiachra (23 January 2002). "Epic children's book takes Whitbread". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
  2. ↑ Reynolds, Nigel (23 January 2002). "Children's book scoops £30,000 Whitbread prize". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  3. 1 2 Rosin, Hanna (1 December 2007). "How Hollywood Saved God p.2". The Atlantic Monthly . The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Corliss, Richard (8 December 2007). "What Would Jesus See?". Time . Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
  5. ↑ "The Republic of Heaven • View topic". US edited versions?. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Pullman Pullman His Dark Materials | the Amber spyglass | Read an extract from the Amber Spyglass". Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Illustrations". Philip Pullman. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  8. ↑ Dirda, Michael (2005). Bound To Please. W. W. Norton.
  9. ↑ Guardian staff (21 September 2019). "The 100 best books of the 21st century". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "THE AMBER SPYGLASS by Philip Pullman Read by a Full Cast | Audiobook Review". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
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