Expectations were high

After the volume one , the expectations were high, and so was the disappointment.
Still OK, but stretched out thinly, and narrator ruins it by exaggeration.
The end is missing,
I presume that sooner or later the story will continue in a Volume 3, but still, it feels like the the book ends midd sentence, leaving me disappointed.

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I Didn't Love It

Missing a lot of the charm shining from La Belle Sauvage

Not a great deal happens

Once upon a time not having a daemon was unthinkable now it's everywhere.

Lyra goes on a journey bouncing from one person who helps her to another

Political Commentary is very thinly veiling (The evil petrol company is called TP)

Malcolm's position is borderline disturbing

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Very enjoyable!

Phillip Pullman has written yet another, amazing book!
Can't wait for the last book!

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The Secret Commonwealth

I loved this book and can't wait for the next book. it was read beautifully.

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Lyra grows up

The book is superbly written and has several protagonists you want to follow further. However, some scenes are not pretty to read…

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Whoever complains about Lyra’s accent

Don’t be fooled by watching too many episodes of Inspector Morse, the accent Michael Sheen uses for Lyra is actually far closer to a local Oxford accent than the usually RP dross. I say this as someone who has lived in Oxford my entire life…so stop complaining about it!

Other than that an entirely absorbing book, one less star but it’s not so much for the story, it’s just hard to give 5/5 for the second book in a trilogy where the ending is still open

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Not a real story, the worlds longest intro

I would NEVER have used a credit to buy this book if I had any clue it was not a complete story. It ended mid-sentence with no closure for any of the characters.

The Dark Materials trilogy was firstly honestly advertised as a trilogy and each book stood alone. If I had known this is the start of an infinite series I would have waited till all the books are published to decide If I wanted to invest that many credits.

This half (thrid, quarter???) story was not worth a credit. I would recommend that Mr Pullman take a leaf out of Diana Gabaldon's book who writes great long stories (55 hrs) with as many details as you please yet each book has an ENDING.

Obviously this is triggering.

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Missing the magic!

2,5 stars. I only rounded the stars up to three because I managed to finish the book, more out of duty though, than out of interest.

I wanted to finish it mostly because of the Northern Lights trilogy, hoping it would eventually lead to something equally exciting. I didn't like the the direction the story took early on, but I was willing to give it a chance. It wasn't all negative though. The world Philip Pullman has created is truly marvellous and I enjoyed spending more time there, getting to know it better. It was a bit of a nostalgic experience, above all else.

However, the slow paced and depressing storyline wasn't quite rewarding enough, and here is why:

The biggest problem was that the plot was missing a proper arc. The set-up was impatient and the conclusion non-existent. The book felt like a middle without an end. Barely any questions of note were answered and actually, very few were asked in the first place. The last chapter revealed nothing but a cliffhanger, a big "to be continued."

That in itself would not have been such a big problem if the book had been more character driven. I don't mind slow paced, character driven books with little plot, as long as the main protagonist's inner journey makes a significant progress. That wasn't the case here. The book seemed little more than a set-up for the next installation.

The main characters lacked the depth and charisma from the author's previous works from this world. They weren't awful or poorly written. I just never felt properly connected to any of them and couldn't bring myself to care. I was totally unaffected by the hardships and trauma they endured.

A huge factor to this was the presence of too many viewpoint characters. I often like reading books with multiple POV's, but this time their number wasn't justified. The author could easily change the feel and atmosphere to distinguish between each one, but I felt the "extras" took away from the story, instead of adding value to it. There were too many strings pulling in different directions. The information provided through many of the viewpoints wasn't unneccessary. Had it been discovered through the lens of fewer characters, however, it would have been a more immersive experience and given those characters a better chance to grow.

I was disappointed with Lyra, whose main problem was loss of drive, enthusiasm and curiosity, all of which were her most attractive qualities in the previous books. Had she retained those qualities, I could have coped better with her lack of imagination. Instead, I wanted to desert her almost as much as her deamon did.

I was really excited to see Malcolm again. I just wish he had been given more space and a stronger storyline. His journey didn't add much to the story and he didn't get to shine like the hero he was in La belle sauvage. He deserved more and I hope he gets it in the next book.

I'm unsure about reading the third book. On one hand, I want to see Lyra, Pan and Malcolm done justice. I really hope that the issues I had with this book get resolved in the next. On the other hand, I'm afraid it will not, and even worse, that it might ruin the original series for me. I just don't want to leave it like this either.

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disappointing middle part

to be continued ...
Most threads are unresolved and we will have to wait for years

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wonderful!

amazing book. totally captured by imagination just as the original northern lights trilogy did. can't wait for the next one!!

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