Loopy Ker's Life: series

Showing posts with label series. Show all posts

Saturday, January 05, 2013

loopyker's #CBR4 Review #15-#18: His Dark Materials, Books 1-4 by Philip Pullman

I really wish I had gotten to this review when His Dark Materials was fresh in my mind, but some major things happened in my life right then so here it goes almost a year later! I can't really separate the books well in my head now, so the review will be very general.

I had reviewed The Lighthouse Land by Adrian McKinty shortly before listening to The Golden Compass, which was also my introduction to Philip Pullman . I take back what I said about wanting to continue The Lighhouse Trilogy. The Golden Compass reminded me what a really good book was! There is no comparison and I will not waste my time listening to the rest of The Lighthouse Trilogy. Since then I've listened to several Philip Pullman audiobooks and have enjoyed every one.

His Dark Materials is about a young girl named Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon or "Pan" for short. Pan acts like a pet, but you will learn in the book that it is much more than that.

In the The Golden Compass (note: in some countries it is titled Northern Lights), Lyra and Pan overhear some dark plans that begin them on a journey to discover the truth behind the disappearance of children throughout the land. Of course, there are many dangers for herself and others along the way. With a heartbreaking, cliffhanger ending, I immediately went on to the next book.

The Subtle Knife follows Lyra and Pan as they travel to another world with a new friend, Will. Here it is the adults who are in danger from forces that can attack at puberty. Lyra and Will are all too close in age to that for comfort. They find a tool that helps them travel through worlds to continue the quest to find the truth about the missing children and the dark things happening in multiple worlds. Again I wanted to continue immediately to the next book which is the conclusion of the trilogy.

Lyra and Will's adventure continues with The Amber Spyglass. They are learning a lot about life and love with all they've had to go through. There is a war with the Kingdom of Heaven and they still have to find the the final pieces to the puzzle. The conclusion is satisfying, but heartbreaking. I was very emotional at this point in my own life, so I cried a whole lot with this.

Overall, His Dark Materials is so good because it treats its readers like intelligent and curious individuals. It doesn't dumb things down like so many things do nowadays for readers - and not just for children. Philip Pullman questions authority and organized religion and the corruptions of power. He wants his characters and readers to have a critical mind and to find the truth behind appearances. His characters also learn a lot about the different kinds of love and sacrifice for the greater good. I didn't really agree with the jealous love shown by the witches - I don't think we are supposed to, but it is still called "love" in the series, which is what I question. But the themes of the other types: self-love, friendship and romantic love are more important and treated well. And all of this is portrayed through unique worlds and characters.

I was very sorry for the Trilogy to end. I wanted to hear more about the characters. I looked forward to Lyra's Oxford, but it is only a short story about an adventure Lyra has two years after the end of The Amber Spyglass and didn't offer much.

The first three books are now amongst my favourite fantasy books. I will certainly be rereading them and adding them to my permanent library. The audiobooks were very well done with a terrific cast of narrators. One of the best I've heard.

The series is recommended for ages 12 and up. Each book has received several awards in both the print and audio versions.

His Dark Materials
Author: Philip Pullman
Narrated by Philip Pullman and a full cast
Publisher: Listening Library

Book 1: The Golden Compass
Duration: 10 hours, 33 minutes
ISBN: 9780739345122
Release date: Jun 27, 2006

Book 2:The Subtle Knife
Duration: 8 hours, 55 minutes
ISBN: 9780739350355
Release date: Aug 15, 2006

Book 3:The Amber Spyglass
Duration: 14 hours, 53 minutes
ISBN: 9780739345054
Release date: Jun 27, 2006

Book 4: Lyra's Oxford
Duration: 48 minutes
ISBN: 9780739353288
Release date: Oct 31, 2006

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

loopyker's #CBR4 Review #03: Circle of Magic Series by Tamora Pierce

I listened to all four audiobooks in this series in rapid succession right before signing up for CBR4, so I will treat them as one review since I can't really separate them completely in my memory now.

The Circle of Magic series begins with Sandry's Book, with the individual stories of four lonely, outsider children. Each is from a very different background (noble, merchant, trader and thief) and has either been abandoned or orphaned in some way. Each is found by a kind man, and taken to a private school of sorts. There each finds their way to a teacher and mentor who turns out to be a mage in a special kind of magic - a different kind than is well-known in this world. Given the title of the series and hints along the way, it is no surprise to anyone except the children's characters that each posses their own rare kind of magic (weaving, weather, metal and plant).

As you can tell by the book titles, each of the four books, is from the point of view of one of the children (3 girls and 1 boy), but all four are still main characters in each book. The first book, Sandry's Book is rather slow to get started as it introduces all the characters and locations and really is more about setting up the rest of the series. The four children are getting to know each other and figuring out their new lives. There is finally some real action with the group of four at the end which ends up binding them in a way that is important for the rest of the series. Together they form a completely unique magic which keeps changing and surprising them in the later books.

Surprisingly, since I read a lot of young adult fantasy, this was the first Tamora Pierce book I've read! I was a good, average, juvenile-young adult fantasy book that interested me enough to continue to the next in the series, Tris's Book.

Tris's Book begins soon after Sandry's Book ends. The children are now bonded both my magic and by growing friendship. They are learning more about their abilities and how to control their magic, but still have a long way to go. However, there is a pirate attack on the way, before they are prepared. These are not the “nice” pirates of some stories, but the ruthless kind.

For me, Tris's Book was the weak one in the series. I found it predictable and emotionally flat. It also depended more than I liked on the cliche of children not listening to what they are told to do and getting into trouble when they should have known better. However, by then I was invested enough in the characters to want to continue to the third book, and I'm glad that I did.

Daja's Book, is the third in the series. By now the children are very good friends and are taking their magic for granted at times, while they still have things to learn and discover about it. Daja is from the most unique culture, with a different sense of honour and duty that we come to better understand through this book. An accident with her metal magic produces something that interested my artistic sense and I enjoyed that unexpected aspect of her blacksmithing talent.

In Daja's Book, the children also learn more about the serious consequences and responsibilities of magic, for themselves and for other mages as they travel with their teachers. Through this they start to show more maturity. Fire and drought provide the scene for more physical adventures that are more compelling than the previous book, so I happily proceeded to the fourth book.

Book four is, Briar's Book - Briar being the only boy in the group of four. Despite being the boy, he is one of the more sensitive of the group, but hides it well in a non-wimpy way. As a gardener myself, I enjoyed his work with plants throughout the series. This books gives us a much more emotional view into Briar's past and current life.

The children have now learned and matured enough to be doing some work on their own, but are still connected through their magical bond and friendships. In contrast to the physical adventures of the previous book, Briar's Book, deals more with the internal fears of illness, separation and death within their current lives which also brings up past trauma for those who had lost friends and family before.

I enjoyed this book the most out of the series because of this emotional component and maturity. However, it wouldn't have near as much impact as a stand-alone book and I would still recommend reading the series in order to watch the characters grow and develop.

Overall, I enjoyed the series and the characters. The overall message of tolerance and respect for other cultures and non-stereotyping of genders was not presented in the gimmicky way that has bothered me in other books before. Anyone who has felt like an outsider can probably relate to at least one of the children, if not more.

I enjoyed the quality of this series as audiobooks, read by Tamora Pierce and a full cast of voice actors. I will definitely be looking for more audiobooks published by Full Cast Audio, which also specializes in family-friendly books. This series is recommended for ages 10 and up. I look forward to reading the sequel series, Circle of Magic: The Circle Opens and Tamora Piece's many other books in the future.

Circle of Magic Series

Author: Tamora Pierce

Read by: Tamora Pierce and Full Cast

Publisher: Full Cast Audio