The Amber Spyglass Part III of
His Dark Materials Trilogy -
by Philip Pullman
Brand New 12 CDs 14.9 Hours - Performed by the
Author along with a full cast
The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heart-stopping end, marking the final amount of His Dark Materials as the many effective of the trilogy.
Along with all the return of Lyra and different familiar characters within the initially 2 books come a host of brand-new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with all the force to find Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spymaster to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. So too come startling revelations: the painful cost Lyra should pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting energy of Dr. Malone's amber spyglass, and the names of who usually reside - and who might die - for love. And all of the while, war rages with all the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that - in its shocking result - can find the secret of Dust.
Philip Pullman deftly brings the cliffhangers and mysteries of His Dark Materials to an earth-shattering conclusion and confirms his fantasy trilogy as an undoubted and enduring classic.
About the Author Philip PullmanPhilip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946) is an English author. He is the
best-selling writer of His Dark Materials, a trilogy of fantasy novels, along with a
amount of additional books.
Biography
Pullman was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England, to RAF pilot Alfred Outram and
Audrey Evelyn Merrifield. The family travelled with his father's job, including
to Southern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe), where he invested time at school. His dad
was killed in a airplane crash in 1953 when Pullman was 7. His mom
remarried and with a move to Australia came Pullman's discovery of comic books
including Superman and Batman, a medium which he continues to espouse. From
1957 he was educated at Ysgol Ardudwy school in Harlech, Gwynedd and invested time
in Norfolk with his grandfather, a clergyman. Around this time Pullman
noticed John Milton's Paradise Lost, which would become a main influence
for His Dark Materials.
From 1963 Pullman attended Exeter College, Oxford, getting a Third class BA
in 1968, in an interview with all the Oxford Student he reported that "he didn't
love the English course" and that "I thought I was doing very perfectly
until I came out with my 3rd class degree and then I realised that I wasn’t —
it was the year they stopped offering 4th class degrees otherwise I’d have
1 of those". He noticed William Blake's illustrations around 1970, which
would furthermore later influence him greatly
Pullman wedded Judith Speller in 1970 and started training youngsters and composing
school plays. His initially published function was The Haunted Storm, which joint-won
the New English Library's Young Writer's Award in 1972. He nevertheless refuses
to discuss it. Galatea, an adult fantasy-fiction novel, followed in 1978, but
it was his school plays which inspired his initial children's book, Count
Karlstein, in 1982. He stopped training around the publication of The Ruby in
the Smoke (1986), his 2nd children's book, whose Victorian setting is
indicative of Pullman's interest in that era.
Pullman taught part-time at Westminster College, Oxford between 1988 and 1996,
continuing to write children's stories. He started His Dark Materials about 1993.
Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in the US) was published in
1996 and won the Carnegie Medal, the most prestigious British children's
fiction awards, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.
Pullman has been composing full-time since 1996, but continues to deliver talks
and writes sometimes for The Guardian. He was granted a CBE in the New
Year's Honours list in 2004. Pullman equally started lecturing at a seminar in
English at his alma mater, Exeter College, Oxford, in 2004. He is currently
functioning on The Book of Dust, a sequel to his completed His Dark Materials
trilogy.
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials consists of Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in
North America), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (see furthermore a brief
companion piece, Lyra's Oxford, containing products of interest along with a brief story,
plus the yet-unpublished prequel, The Book of Dust ).
The initial amount of the trilogy, Northern Lights, won the Carnegie Medal for
children's fiction in the UK in 1995. The Amber Spyglass, the last amount, was
granted both 2001 Whitbread Prize for ideal children's book and the Whitbread
Book of the Year prize in January 2002, the initially children's book to get
that honor. The trilogy won favored acclaim in late 2003, taking 3rd region in
the BBC's Big Read poll.
In 2005 Pullman was announced as joint winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial
Award for children's literature.
Philosophical and religious perspective
Pullman is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and an
Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
The His Dark Materials books have been at the heart of controversy, incredibly
with certain Christian groups. Some, including Peter Hitchens, claim that he
actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda. Proponents of the view quote the
important articles he has created regarding C. S. Lewis' series The Chronicles
of Narnia (which Pullman denounces as religious propaganda), and the normally
bad portrayal of the "Church" in His Dark Materials.
The 2 series have some resemblance. Both feature kids facing adult moral
options, chatting animals, religious allegories, parallel worlds, and concern
the best fate of those worlds. The initially published Narnia book, The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe, starts with a young girl hiding in a wardrobe, as
does the initially His Dark Materials book, Northern Lights (published as The
Golden Compass in North America).
Some, including Hitchens again, have watched the His Dark Materials series as a
direct rebuttal of C. S. Lewis's series.Pullman has moreover criticised the means
Lewis excludes the character Susan within the final 'heaven' scenes in The Last
Battle, suggesting she is refused for her growing worldliness. Lewis devotees
argue that Pullman has read too deeply into this; Lewis created no statement about
Susan's ultimate destiny, and not excluded the possibility of her rejoining
her neighbors in paradise later, as they are dead and she continues to be alive.
But, Pullman has found help from additional Christians, many notably Rowan
Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. These groups and people point out
that Pullman's attacks are focused found on the constraints of dogmatism and the utilization
of religion to oppress, not on Christianity itself. Dr. Williams has gone thus
far as to propose that His Dark Materials be taught as piece of religious
knowledge in universities. Moreover, even authors of functions focused on important
appraisals of religious themes in his writing have described Pullman as a
friendly and good debating partner.
Screen adaptations
* A movie adaptation of The Butterfly Tattoo is set to movie in 2007. It is
a Philip Pullman supported project to let young artists a chance to receive movie
industry experience.
* A co-produced BBC and WGBH Boston tv adaptation of The Ruby in the
Smoke, starring Billie Piper and Julie Walters, was screened in the UK on BBC
One on 27 December 2006 and premiered on PBS Masterpiece Theatre in America on
February 4, 2007. The BBC and WGBH have plans to adjust the different 3 Sally
Lockhart novels, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin
Princess, for tv.
* A movie adaptation, titled His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, is to be
introduced in December 2007 by New Line Cinema, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel
Craig and Dakota Blue Richards.
Bibliography
Non-series books
* 1972 The Haunted Storm
* 1976 Galatea
* 1982 Count Karlstein
* 1987 How to be Cool
* 1989 Spring-Heeled Jack
* 1990 The Broken Bridge
* 1992 The White Mercedes
* 1993 The Wonderful Story of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp
* 1995 Clockwork, or, All Wound Up
* 1995 The Firework-Maker's Daughter
* 1998 Mossycoat
* 1998 The Butterfly Tattoo (re-issue of The White Mercedes)
* 1999 I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers
* 2000 Puss in Boots: The Adventures of That Many Enterprising Feline
* 2004 The Scarecrow and his Servant
The New-Cut Gang
* 1994 Thunderbolt's Waxwork
* 1995 The Gasfitter's Ball
Sally Lockhart
* 1985 The Ruby in the Smoke
* 1986 The Shadow in the North (initially published as The Shadow in the Plate)
* 1990 The Tiger in the Well
* 1994 The Tin Princess
His Dark Materials
* 1995 Northern Lights, retitled The Golden Compass in the US
* 1997 The Subtle Knife
* 2000 The Amber Spyglass
Companion Books
* 2003 Lyra's Oxford
* 2009(According to Pullman himself, Although this may change) The Book of
Dust (not yet published)
Plays
* 1990 Frankenstein
* 1992 Sherlock Holmes and the Limehouse Horror (from Wikipedia)
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