Review of 'Secret Commonwealth : the Book of Dust Volume Two' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Mmmmmm.
I liked it. Don't get me wrong, 3 stars isn't a bad review. It was easy enough to read, with a solid enough story. I liked the exploration of layers of reality, and the nature of myths and fables, where there is perhaps no clear or meaningful answer to "is this real". The way in which this is done is... perhaps not as subtle as the author thinks it is, but OK.
I find it unbelievable that daemon separation is as common as it is in this book, and yet it is not known (except via the exotic technique at Bolvanger) to the experimental theologians of a decade earlier. Indeed, unknown to society at large, even though they might not speak of it.
A conclusion would have been nice - this feels less like the middle of a trilogy and more like the first half of a two-part book. …
Mmmmmm.
I liked it. Don't get me wrong, 3 stars isn't a bad review. It was easy enough to read, with a solid enough story. I liked the exploration of layers of reality, and the nature of myths and fables, where there is perhaps no clear or meaningful answer to "is this real". The way in which this is done is... perhaps not as subtle as the author thinks it is, but OK.
I find it unbelievable that daemon separation is as common as it is in this book, and yet it is not known (except via the exotic technique at Bolvanger) to the experimental theologians of a decade earlier. Indeed, unknown to society at large, even though they might not speak of it.
A conclusion would have been nice - this feels less like the middle of a trilogy and more like the first half of a two-part book. And.... I can't help feeling that Pullman's writing is more and more that of not just an older white man, but an older white man who is a little too comfortable within the walls of an Oxford college.
Still, I enjoyed it, and I'll read the third one when it appears.
