La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One

What a joyous thing to see this book arrive, the sequel to "His Dark Materials" and learn that it will be the first in a trilogy. It tells a grand tale of adventure and danger, as the young Malcolm Polstead rescues Lyra Belaqua and embarks on an epic journey down a mystically flooded river Thames. It doesn't quite match the thrill of the books which precede it, but in its surreal and mythic account of an alternative dimension, a secret commonwealth, Pullman extends his universe in other ways. The impression it left on me is that it was a poetic turn, the events were dreamlike, appealing to deeper cultural instincts. The religious extremism and oppression of the Magisterium remains firmly in place from the previous books.

I am rather dissappointed with this book.

The first part started really well. It had context, it raised questions and good tension. A fine mystery, a nice mix. A solid book.

But the second part felt like a mess. The tone changed, it lost its flow. The story got repetitive and i felt like i complete different book.
I also did not get the second leadcharacter that came somehow out of nowhere.
The ending was rather sad and pointless.

I hope the second book will explain why the first book was like this.