Most of the time one has the distinct feeling that government agencies have the mo to shrink the individuals rights. However, the securities and exchange commision was created to protect the every day investor from insider trading, hostile trading and other illegal activities. The book is very informative, well written and should be a must have for anyone interested in the stock market or the working of the federal government.

This book details what the bones in your body look like and their functions. Colorful pictures are helpful and entertaining. This book also mentions a broken arm. Fun reading if your child is in a cast.

Sally Lockhart, a financial consultant, has just found out that one of her clients lost all the money she invested in a company that went bankrupt. In order to get her money back, Sally decides to investigate who was in charge of the company and why it went bankrupt.
At the same time, Sally's friends Fred and Jim are trying to figure out who is trying to kill a famous magician, Mackinnon. This magician can see images of something that happened by touching an object. He once saw a murder taking place using this talent, but he did not see the murderer of the victim. The person who is trying to kill Mackinnon was the murderer, and he thinks Mackinnon knows everything.
The man who Sally is looking for is the same man who is trying to kill Mackinnon, but they do not realize this until later.
As they are trying to solve these mysteries, Sally realizes that she is in love with Fred, as he had said many times. Jim falls in love with Mackinnon's wife, the daughter of a duke.
I liked this book because it had two mysteries going on at the same time, but in the end they met up and were really just one mystery. This book had mystery, suspense, romance, and tragedy all in one. Sally and Fred realize they love each other but something happens to keep them apart. This is the second book in a trilogy. I read the first one, A Ruby in the Smoke, which I loved, so I thought I would like this one. There is also a third book and another trilogy by the same author, The Golden Compass trilogy, which I also liked a lot. I thought The Shadow in the North was just as good, if not better, as these other books by Philip Pullman.

Sincerely this is the best book I have ever read! Shadow in the North has everything from mystery to adventure, from adventure to romance.

Sally Lockhart is now 22. Even though a woman,in the year 1878, she has a business and a mind of her own. When one of her clients lose a large sum of money Sally is determined to find out what happened. Like always her friends Jim and Fred are there to help. Together the three of them embark in an unpredictable adventure which leads to heartache but happiness too.

Philip Pullman surely found a way to keep you wanting to read this book. He introduces the characters in such a way that you cry and cheer for them as they face obstacles. That makes you want to keep reading to see what's going to happen until you find it is the best book you have ever read.

The thing that I like the most about the book is the courage that Sally Lockhart has to fight for her self and what she believes in.(Even though it took her a while to actually realize she could be in love and still be her own person.)

This book is really, really good, although my words may not have described it well. I MOST DEFINITELY recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a mystery, adventure or romance book!

Philip Pullman pulled off yet another wonderful tale of London. Sally Lockhart is a young women starting her own consulting business, and lost a clients large sum of money. When this happens her friend and fiance Frederick Garland, photographer and private detecive, is looking into another inquire. As the story continues the two become more connected. I will not spoil the end for it is sad and wonderful. This one was favorite because of Fred. What a life like and dynamic character. Although I enjoyed Sally just as much. It is one of the best books ever, and I recomend start with Ruby in the Smoke and go in order. The first is wonderful, but I found the last less believeable. This is great book everyone should read it.

This wonderful novel, recommended to me by a friend, is transporting. The earth as you know it remains familiar, though Pullman's imaginative rendering of it distorts, changes and disorients you just enough to make it magically different. The story could hardly be more compelling, and stars a spunky small girl named Lyra. The intriguing concepts abound, including the fascinating concept of a human's daemons, creatures that shift form and mirror their owner's souls until adolesence, at which time they become one animal or another. But that concept is only one detail amidst thousands more. Like the wonderful JRR Tolkien books, and the Star Wars sagas, this book sets up with formidable plotting, planning and wonderfully appealing characters, and devious, horrifying villians, a masterful story that reads that a thriller -- you cannot put it down. If you are looking to be whisked away with a book that is intelligent, well-written and enormously entertaining -- sparking your own imagination -- get this book immediately. You will be aching for Part II, as I was, once you reach the last page.

I first enjoyed The Golden Compass by itself, and found it to be a compelling, well-developed story. I later read the second and third books in the trilogy and was both impressed by the detailed world created by Pullman and shocked by some of the apparent bias of the author.

Although I am a strong advocate for free-speech and I am happy that I read these books, I am also an adult who enjoys comparing differing religious viewpoints. For those who hold strong Judeo-Christian beliefs, this can be a very disturbing series. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND PARENTS OF CHILDREN UNDER 14 READ THESE BOOKS BEFORE THEY BUY THEM FOR THEIR CHILDREN. In my opinion, the books are a direct, literal attack on "God", and will likely raise questions that I believe should be discussed by families.

I am also upset that the author's bias does not appear until the second book, allowing readers (i.e. parents and teachers) to read the Golden Compass and determine it to be acceptable, referring young readers to it who then go on to The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass on their own, without adult guidance on the issues raised.

Lyra's world is amazing, and it is great as literature. I just don't want parents caught unaware when their child asks tough questions after reading this trilogy.

What can I say to express how wonderful this book is? It's beyond perfect. Usually, I ignore fantasy books, but this one is an obvious exception. I've read it literally dozens of times (my book is starting to fall apart). This is one of those few books where you begin to see the characters as real, feeling people. Pullman is a master of characterization. He puts together a great plot with all the suspense and surprises needed to keep you on the edge of your seat until the end (which, I might say, is one of the best conclusions I've read in any genre). His writing is filled with exquisite detail and beauty. Somehow he makes it easy to accept a world so totally different from ours. I could rave for pages and pages on this great book, but I think it'll be sufficient to say that this is head and shoulders above any other work in its genre, and a lot of work from other genres, as well. If you don't enjoy it, I feel sorry for you because you're missing out, big time!

Not up to the same standard as 'His Dark Materials' but it's aimed at a different market, I guess.

I found the writing good, creating that dreamlike, unreal, almost nightmarish feeling when your world is suddenly turned upside down.
The book grips you and you feel dragged along with our heroine as she tries to make sense of what is happening and the 'visions' she has; the only failing is the ending which seems a bit of an anticlimax.

Nevertheless, a very good read.

This was nice and yet it was slow to begin with. I enjoyed it very much. I have read almost all his other books and am hoping to get the one coming out in January. I got so into this book it took me one night to finish it.

The Broken Bridge is a beautifully written book about a girl named Ginny Howard, who is one of the very few black children in Wales. Ginny lives with her father, striving to reach her goal of becoming an artist. Then she finds out that she has a white half-brother named Robert. Even worse, she is illegitimate. Knowing that her father may not be telling her the whole truth about her own life, Ginny decides to find out all that she can about herself and her mother. The plot is embellished with Ginny's unique ideas about herself and also her artistic views. This book was very inspiring and I find that I can associate many of the things discussed in it with my own life. I am definitely better off from reading it.

As I already have stated in my Amazon.com review of "The Golden Compass," Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy is a fantastic, amazing, mind-boggling, exciting, moving, heartbreaking, brilliantly written classic at the level of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" (and believe me, I'm a huge Tolkien fan and I NEVER thought I'd be saying that!!). Also, it is important to reiterate that this is NOT a "children's book" in the sense that it is strictly for - or about - children (although certainly, it can be read by intelligent young people!), and it is absolutely not "fantasy" in the usual sense of the word (Phillip Pullman has stated that he can't read "fantasy" books, because they don't "tell [him] anything interesting about being a human being"). Instead, this trilogy is Phillip Pullman's dark take on Biblical Creation and an extended riff on many of the themes raised in John Milton's "Paradise Lost." The bottom line: if Phillip Pullman is mainly "fantasy" for children, than so are John Milton and the Bible! I don't think so....

Anyway, the second book in Pullman's trilogy, "The Subtle Knife," continues his exploration of themes like courage, love, free will, sin, God, the Church, and, of course, swirling around all of this, the ever-mysterious dark matter, or "dust." Plus, the terrifying Mrs. Coulter is back, as are many of the other characters we have become acquainted with in Book 1 (plus some new ones too, especially former nun and current "dark matter" scientist, Dr. Mary Malone). And just as the "The Golden Compass," can be thought of as being about Lyra (and her beloved daemon, Pantalaimon), "The Subtle Knife" is mainly about a powerful and fascinating new character, Will Parry. To my mind, "The Subtle Knife" is really the key book in the entire trilogy, and possibly the best of all. As soon as Will steps through the window into Cittàgaze, the beautiful yet terrible "city of magpies", where only children and horrible soul-sucking specters live, Pullman's themes begin to really kick into gear. Perhaps the turning point in the entire trilogy occurs when Will gains possession of the "subtle knife" (again, a parallel with "Paradise Lost," in which the Archangel Michael has a sword which "was given him temper'd so that neither keen nor solid might resist that edge") in the Torre degli Angeli, and learns how to use it, allowing Will and Lyra (his soul mate who immediately trusts him because he is a murderer!) to cut windows through into different universes (the knife has MANY more powers than that, including - possibly - God destroyer!), and opening up a whole range of amazing possibilities for this gifted author -- and his readers...

All in all, "The Subtle Knife" is even richer, more complex, more exciting, and more mind boggling than "The Golden Compass." And extremely complex morally, although some have (falsely) accused Pullman of being anti-religion (Catholicism in particular). But, really, this is NOT a simple book at all, and Pullman is a great enough author to basically leave it up to YOU to decide whether you agree with statements such as ''every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling." In my opinion, at least, Pullman is not preaching or didactic, but just laying out a view of things, which I basically find very satisfying, but which of course some will disagree with...

To summarize three points I made in my review of "The Golden Compass": 1) this is far darker and more disturbing material (especially if you have a closed mind towards explorations of God, religion, the Church and the nature of man - all the interesting and important things, in other words) than the perfectly serviceable "Harry Potter" books, to which the Pullman trilogy inevitably is going to be compared (this trilogy is far, far greater than Potter!!); 2) Pullman is a master of language, and his use of names (among other things) is fascinating.. "Lyra," for instance, is a constellation in the NORTHERN Hemiphere, plus of course "Lyra" sounds awfully much like "liar," which is Lyra Belacqua's main skill (besides reading the alethiometer), and one in which she takes great pride. (Coincidence? Hmmmm...I don't think so!); and 3) Pullman has borrowed freely from this all-time classic poem by John Milton, "Paradise Lost," in creating his own take on Genesis, God, Satan, free will, the temptation in the Garden of Eden, and the "Fall" of man into "Sin" (among other things). In interviews, Phillip Pullman has confirmed that the biblical Creation story, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and "Paradise Lost" are major sources for "His Dark Materials" trilogy, and that the title itself comes from the following quote: "Unless the almighty maker them ordain / His dark materials to create more worlds." But don't forget that there is real science behind "dark matter" - scientists right now are investigating this as a possible sub-atomic force which could help hold the universe together!

Anyway, I strongly recommend that you read Phillip Pullman's magnificent book, "The Subtle Knife" (and the other two books in the trilogy) whether you want a great story that you won't be able to put down, or whether you want to be challenged, amazed, intrigued, and deeply moved. And OF COURSE you should read it if you're curious to know more about the ever-enigmatic, but ultimately all-important "dust" ("From DUST thou art....").

Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy really increases the reading pulse of kids and adults alike. After reading the first book in this series, "The Golden Compass", I looked forward to the second and was not disappointed.

"The Subtle Knife" continues the plot of "Compass" as Lyra Belacqua (now Lyra Silvertongue) continues her search for the nature of the spiritual particle known as Dust. After crossing over into the haunted world of Cittagazze, she encounters young Will Parry. Will is from our world and, after providing a respite for his ill mother, begins the search for his father, an explorer who disappeared in the arctic shortly after Will was born. Will accidentally trips into Cittagazze through a slice in the continuum. Once they stumble onto one another Lyra and Will's adventures really take off. Witches, soul-eating Specters, exploding dirigibles, shoot outs, break-ins at an English mansion, tortures, communications with spirits on an Oxford computer, even angels, percolate to the top in this adventure. Wow!

We are reminded, however, that this is a little above "Harry Potter" as for the second time in two books one of the main characters close to Lyra dies. As a matter of fact, a number of folks die in this story. The much ballyhooed allusions to "Paradise Lost" abound. While no 12-year-old will necessarily be familiar with Michael and the fall of the angels, the subplot of Lyra's father, Lord Asriel, building a fortress to prepare to battle the "High Authority" for heaven will keep them glued to the pages. References to a "New Eve" and a "New fall" keep the Milton comparisons churning along for literay students more interested in scholarship than in entertainment. Asriel, for example, is a son of Manasseh, who was related to Joseph of Technicolor Dreamcoat fame. But who cares?

Still, if you think Pullman is anti-Christian because he paints the church in Lyra's world as totalitarian and shows little clarity as to whether the "Authority" is good or not, or whether you think he is sexist because Lyra cooks for Will, please don't lose sight of the fact that this is still a children's book where, hopefully, children's heroes will prevail.

As with all middle books of a trilogy, Pullman ends this one with a cliff hanger ending. He concludes the series with "The Amber Spyglass". I can hardly wait.

The Subtle Knife, the second book in the His Dark Materials series, is a powerful and riveting continuation of the story that began with The Golden Compass. The story opens with a new character, Will Parry, who lives in Oxford in our world. Having killed someone, Will stumbles upon a window that takes him into a new world, Cittagaze. There, he meets Lyra Belaqua, the hero of book one. Together, Will and Lyra explore two worlds together, in search of Will's father. Along the way, they meet old friends, with the return of Serafina Pekkala and Lee Scoresby, new friends, such as Dr. Mary Malone, old enemies, in Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter, and new enemies, in Sir Charles and the Specters. They also make important discoveries, both in the field of Dust and finding new and important tools in their everlasting fight. A powerful novel, the Subtle Knife will leave you waiting in anguish for the conclusion of the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass.

We start the story with Sally living happily in the country, with her friends and her daughter, and everything is wonderful. Then she falls into a nightmare - someone, claiming to be her husband, wants custody of her daughter. Who hates Sally so much that he wants to destroy her utterly, and steal her daughter?

This is a really gripping story with no loose ends. Sally goes on a journey through the underside of Victorian London, ending up in Spitalfields. I used to live in this area, and loved reading the way that Pullman brought its history to life. The baddies are very bad, and get their comeuppance. The finale is worthy of a Hollywood action movie.

I came to these books after reading The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. The Sally Lockhart trilogy has none of the fantasy aspects of these books - it's set firmly in gritty, dirty Victorian England. The stories are simpler, so the books would be easier for a younger reader. Sally is a real role model heroine for a young girl - she never gives up, and is very smart and brave.

For the older reader, the attractions are the quality of the stories (except perhaps for the middle book), and the excellent descriptions of life in Victorian England. These stories rattle along at a fast pace, with plot twists coming from the baddies trying to outwit Sally and her friends. Sally ends up in the Victorian underworld, and the portrayal of street gangs, and the lives they lead, is very believable. A nice piece of social history. Highly recommended.

I notice that Pullman's Sally Lockhart Trilogy are all rated 'Young Adult'. Who made that dumb decision? Pullman is eminently readable by anyone from 10 to 100 (and I should know, because I'm about halfway between the two!). Put simply - no matter what age you are, if you read just ONE Philip Pullman book, you'll be totally hooked. He has the rare ability to draw his readers into his story-telling right from the first pages, and he doesn't let go of you until he's finished spinning his yarn. He doesn't exactly attack you, but he sure has a mean way with words, that will leave a firm grip on your throat for a long while after the final page has been turned.

He also has an exquisite command of characterization. Not for Pullman the weak, wishy-washy characters. His positively jump off the page at you and drag you into their world of Victorian London. There's something of Dickens in Pullman's stuff. The good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad. But that makes it sound trite and clichéd - which it isn't. It's much more complex than that, which probably explains why Philip Pullman is one of the few authors from this side of The Big Pond, who succeeds on that side of The Big Pond.

The Sally Lockhart trilogy is on my list of 'Books you MUST read before you die'. And since I'm no longer a Young Adult, I've made sure to read them quickly!

After reading the Golden Compass and Subtle Knife I knew I would have to read more by him while waiting for the end of His Dark Materials trilogy. Once I got past the first three chapters of The Ruby in the Smoke I was hooked, and although The Shadow in the North broke my heart and made no one seem indivisable, the Tiger in the Well tied almost* everything up. I'd like to say that I never put the book down, but I can't. I was just a little too enraged at the beginning ( you understand if you read the series ), but once you get to chapter 20 ( the second book ) you better have time cause there is simply no place to put it down. The ultimate climax though was in the last ten chapters ( the third book ) and you get the feeling that the other books ( meaning Ruby in the Smoke and Shadow of the North ) were just an intro, and this is the only real story. I highly suggest this and I must say that the coversation between Con, Tony, and the Officer in I think the last chapter ( Rabbits ) is the absolute funniest I've ever read. Funny, exciting, with, romance, and drama the absolute best.

*The Tin Princess

This book is the most amazing I've read. Ever.
Philip Pullman's unbelievable description and detail makes it easy for the reader to be sucked into the story and make it seem real. The book starts off with a bang and never settles down until the end - Sally's life is always in danger. "Her name was Sally Lockhart, and within fifteen minutes she was going to kill a man." What kind of a reader could put down a novel after an entry like that?! This suspenseful mystery is best not read right before bedtime, if you'd like untroubled dreams. The Ruby in the Smoke is real, the realest I've ever seen in a mystery, and the best.

I'd also like to recommend: The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, The Tin Princess, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass

I've read this book at least 5 times, it's wonderful and full of suspence. The Sally Lockhart series are one of the best that i've ever read, Philip Pullman wrote them beautifully, in a style that reminds one slightly of Dickens, just a touch more modern. From the first page to the last one (that leaves you craving for the next in the series), the pace never lessens, but does not, I am thankfull to say, overdo it. Set in the 17 century London, we are introduced to a set of vividly described characters, that one quickly starts to love! The beautiful Sally who's "had a throgh grounding in military tactics, can run a business, ride like a Cossack and shoot straight with a pistol" but hasn't aclue of what a lady needs to know, is left to fend for herself when her father, who raised her alone, is drowned under suspicios circumstances in the South China Sea. Thogh she doesn't know it, she is already in terrible danger, and with her investigations she only brings herself deeper in to the heart of an unbelievable plot, closely entwined with her own past, opium smuggling, and a ruby. She wouldn't of lasted long without the help of her friends...
A great book!

Phillip Pullman once again captures readers in the poetry of his stories. The Ruby in the Smoke is an intruiging and wonderful book, I could not put it down. Readers of all ages will enjoy this book. Based in 1700 victorian london, entertaining and enjoyable Sally Lockhart finds herself sucked into the journey of a life time. After uttering three simple words "The Seven Blessings" to her diseased father's former worker he drops dead. The whole book pulls you in and never lets you out. His characters including terrifying and sickening Mrs. Holland who steals everything including her diseased husbands false teeth as his coffin closes over his body, and of course smart, business like Sally Lockhart, who knows how to navigate her way around trouble, danger, and hot pursuit are well thought out and realistic. Which of course are all elements of Phillip pullmans Awe inspiring novellette.

Like the previous two books in this trilogy, "The Amber Spyglass" is a mesmerizing read. It draws you in and refuses to let go. The plot was wonderfully interwoven with symbolism and subtle humour, the characters are fresh and lifelike, and the overall writing is almost surreal.

So why did I not rate this book 5 stars? The ending. All right, yes, the ending was beautifully written - no question about that. It was, however, a rather weak ending to such a strong trilogy. It was so terribly sad it made me cry, and I was disappointed that Pullman chose to end his series with a whimper rather than a bang. In my opinion, this ending is the coward's way of finishing the trilogy (or maybe I just like happy endings). Nevertheless, it was meant to tug at the heartstrings and so it did. It was, really, unbearably sad, and made me think about what became of the characters for far too long afterwards.

The religious part I enjoyed, because it isn't a very popular opinion in the world today. The "killing God" angle really was very interesting. To everyone who objects to this book for religious reasons, remember: it's called freedom of speech. If you don't like it, don't read it. Be forewarned now that the book presents controversial views of the Church.

All in all, a book worth reading. Just be sure to have some Kleenex for the end.

The greatest fantasy series to come from the past twenty years isn't the bestselling Harry Potter series or the overblown Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time) books. It is His Dark Materials, perhaps the second most innovative fantasy trilogy I have ever read, next only to The Lord of the Rings. The characters are complex, dynamic, and well-developed. Mrs. Coulter, in particular, behaves in a manner that contrasts her actions in the other books. Side characters such as Dr. Mary Malone are developed, while the main characters - Lyra and Will - become even more endearing and well-written. The end, in particular, is superlative and sad. I had high expectations for the third book in the series of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, but Phillip Pullman has surpassed them all. Truly an excellent book.

This book is better than the Golden Compass and the Subtle Knife because the writing is a step above. Pullman is a fantastic writer, and I think he ranks among the best storytellers in literature today -- regardless of genre. Some younger children might be a little put off by the relatively complicated and difficult style; I'm not sure why this trilogy is still classified as 'young adult.'

I didn't realize until I read this book that the His Dark Materials trilogy is essentially a sequel to Paradise Lost. Really fascinating stuff -- Milton was inspired to write Paradise Lost by an enigmatic passage of the bible... some early part of Genesis. Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge and god says, "You know good and evil, now you are one of us." Milton thought "what does he mean by 'us?'" and wrote an epic poem about how angels had a fight with god before creation and god banished some of the angels from heaven. By 'us' he meant the angels he had banished. Starting to see the similarities? Now Lyra being Eve starts to make sense, huh?

Anyway, buy this book. It's well worth the money.

P.S. The passage around page 30 involving Metatron is really incredible writing... he manages to give a sense of urgency and immediateness without resorting to tired fantasy cliches.

I have read a great deal of bad, and extremely bad sci-fi, and fantasy books. I'm unsure why it is that those two genras of fiction are so often bent on pornography and unreasonable amounts of blood-shed. What I like about this trilogy, having just finished the last book a couple nights back, is the stark lack of either of these characteristics that generally typtify the scope of sci-fi/fantasy. It echos the emotions and ideas/interests of other great(er) stories --The Little Prince or the Narnia Series for philosophy and theology, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for description of worlds, like our own, yet so terribly beautiful and different, and The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings for the increadibly important and epic battle between good (right) and evil (wrong).

The hero and heroine are sympathetic characters, they are 'human' (neither perfectly good nor increadibly bad). They are forced by circumstance (a.k.a. the author's slightly heavy-handed manipulation of his characters) to make adult choices and through that process grow up themselves, feel love, and change the world(s) around them.

In short (though it's already too late for that), it's good, honest writing, that deserves more than one reading by anyone old enough (or young enough in spirit) to be considered a "young adult."

After finishing the 4th Harry Potter book I moped around for a few days lamenting the fact that the next installment isn't due for publication for quite some time. Luckily, a friend of mine suggested the Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman. Five pages in to The Golden Compass I was hooked. With a "Potter like" fervor I ripped through the first book in two very long nights. After which I was useless at work, but just as satisfied as when I first discovered the work of J.K. Rowlings. A great read!

A note to parents: The world that Pullman conjurs is a bit darker than Harry Potter's. There is more violence and some very frightening situations. I'd say 11 and up would be a good age for these books.

This epic trilogy is closer in tone to Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_than the _Harry Potter_ books, but religion and philosophy take center stage. It's still a battle of Good versus Evil, where Pullman updates Milton and Blake by questioning a LOT of assumptions.

With the Catholic Church scandal revealing painful new developments every day, Pullman's work becomes even more timely. Are institutions created to teach morality capable of staying moral? Can moral authorities resist authoritarianism? Which is more important, the integrity of the institution or protecting our most vulnerable citizens? All these issues come to fore in _His Dark Materials_.

Written as a fantasy-adventure featuring 2 pre-teens, Lyra and Will, this three-volume set features an alternate Oxford (UK) where everyone has a animal-daemon who stays close at hand, intrigue in our own Oxford and the travel between the two, a dangerous Mediterranean world where soul-sucking wraiths only kill adults, and the underworld of the dead. Armored and intelligent polar bears figure, along with corrupt church adminisrators who kidnap and experiment on children.

Pullman clearly detests the evil done in the name of religion, which is why the Good and Evil discussion gets intricate. He is not necessarily anti-Catholic or anti-Christian but anti-authoritarian. Anyone who has studied European history will recognize the characterization of a corrupt and overly powerful Church (denomination never specified in this book, btw). Lyra and Will are bringing The Enlightenment to several worlds who are as politically forward as pre-Reformation Europe, and must defeat powerful forces who have no interest in power-sharing. The books work both as a springboard to the Big Questions and as an allegory for growing up and finding one's own way.

Literate, informed, evocative, and conceptually brilliant, this supposed Young Adult release will captivate adults as well.