On the Back of the Book
Will is twelve years old and
he’s just killed a man. Now he’s on his own, on the run, determined to discover
the truth about his father’s disappearance.
Then Will steps through a
window in the air into another world, and finds himself with a companion – a
strange, savage little girl called Lyra. Like Will, she has a mission which she
intends to carry out at all costs.
But the world of Cittagazze
is a strange and unsettling place. Deadly soul-eating Spectres stalk its
streets, while high above, the wingbeats of distant angels sound high against
the sky. And in the mysterious Torre degli Angeli lurks Cittagazze’s most
important secret – an object which people from many world’s would kill to
possess...
Pre Read Thoughts
After
reading ‘Northern Lights’ I knew that I wanted to read this, well that and I
always try to read series together. This is once again for the ‘Banned Books’
challenge on GR although it’s a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
Once again I bought this at my local BHF (British Heart Foundation) charity
shop. I cost me £1 and is in alright condition. My cover depicts the subtle
knife and there’s an illustration of a town which is quite possibly Cittagazze.
It’s nice but not eye catching. What a synopsis though! The first sentence has
me wanting to open this book so fast you wouldn’t believe it. Definitely can’t
wait for this.
Post Read Thoughts
I feel
disappointed that the story wasn’t cranked up a notch in this instalment. The
plot could have been blown wide open but it wasn’t and I was waiting for it. It
took ages for the pace to pick up and the fact that this is part 2 of a trilogy
meant that I wanted huge story developments. Instead all I got was a couple of
pretty average plot twists that I saw coming from a mile off and that took some
of my enjoyment of the book away. On the plus side the writing itself was just
as amazing as it was in Northern Lights and I could fully picture the events of
the book in my head. It’s one of my favourite things about this trilogy so far,
along with the awesome theories that author keeps coming up with.
Will
is the main character in this book and I’m not sure that I like him as I do
Lyra. Don’t get me wrong, he’s well written and easy to connect with but I just
preferred Lyra. She’s in this book though and it was great to see her grow as a
character. She’s going to be a teenager soon and she’s beginning to mature and
be able to deal with adult situations in a sensible manner. I can’t wait to see
what happens with a new character called Dr Mary Malone and there was a scene
with Lee Scoresby that brought tears to my eyes.
Overall
I think that I prefer book 1 as it had more to it that I enjoyed. The slow pace
and the difficulty to get into this are major down sides for me as I like to be
sucked into a story. As I said before
the writing and the world building are amazing, it’s just that I feel the
author would benefit from opening a story in a gripping way. Although the slow
burners that he does write draw you in without you realising it.
My Rating
3 stars – it’s not bad, it’s just that
it’s not amazing either. It’s good and when there are so many stories that are
more than just ‘good’ out there who wants to settle for it? The addition of
Will may make boys enjoy this as I feel they’ll relate to him better than Lyra.
These are turning into good books if you want your kids to develop their
imaginations.
3 stars – it’s a good series but I
think that it’s better suited for younger readers after completing the series. The beautiful descriptions make this worth a
read but then that’s negated by the slowness of the plot. The characters are
likable and easy to relate to.
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