The Da Vinci Code (2003)

Dan Brown (2003). The Da Vinci Code. New York: Anchor.
My rating: **
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
What irritated me about this book was not so much the much fêted hilariously bad writing style, nor the erratic pacing which meant nothing much happened until the middle of this lengthy tome, but the presentation of [...]

Read Full Post »

The Amber Spyglass

My rating: *
Spoiler Alert
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

My review
This book is well written and the story really hooks you in, but I really disliked the philosophy Pullman is pushing. This philosophy seems to be a kind of Nietzschean materialist version of gnosticism (phew!). His is a universe which allows only of one interpretation, [...]

Read Full Post »

The Subtle Knife

My rating: ***
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

My review

I found this book a bit disappointing after the first one. It has taken me a while to analyse why. I think it is a combination of a number of things.
First of all I’m not quite convinced by Pullman’s cosmology. Somehow it isn’t [...]

Read Full Post »

Northern Lights

My rating: ****
Northern Lights (His Dark Materials I) Tenth Anniversary 1995-2005 by Philip Pullman

My review

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Well-written and well-plotted with interesting characters. It also created a most convincing alternative world.
Of particular interest is the idea that humans have souls which manifest themselves in physical animal form and [...]

Read Full Post »

The Ancaster Demons

My rating: *
I have put up a review of this rather dire book simply as an excuse to introduce the only social networking site I have found to be of any use – Goodreads. This site allows you to keep a record of the books you read and to share your ratings and reviews of [...]

Read Full Post »