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A review by noranne
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman
3.0
I really enjoyed this book and being back in the world of Lyra's Oxford. Although I found some of the things raised in this trilogy to be a bit at odds with the world I had been imagining. In His Dark Materials it seemed like a sort of 19th century type world perhaps, but it seems a LOT more modern in this trilogy. There's photons and air conditioning and pick-up trucks and machine guns--but yet bizarrely no telephones, radios, or even a telegram? Honestly it just doesn't make that much sense.
But setting that aside, it's a good story (and well-narrated, though it benefits greatly from listening on >1x speed) and just fun to see this glimpse into the future. I know Lyra is the focus here, but it's hard not to miss Will and want some insights into what he's up to.
I've always been fascinated by daemons, which I think are a stroke of world-building genius that helped the first trilogy be so amazing, and so I really enjoyed the deeper dive into them and that relationship. The relationship between Pan and Lyra is really interesting here.
Probably the parts of the book that I didn't like were sections that felt a bit too preachy-to-the-reader in ways that are a little off-putting even when I agree (and I didn't always). And a potential new romance that I'm not feeling enthused about.
Oh and there was a big disconnect from the events in HDM. Like obviously the Church isn't just going to fall apart immediately, but it's really unclear how much anyone in this world knows anything of what happened (it seems like the answer is no, but given the scope of HDM that seems...unlikely?). And some of the HDM events have repercussions (ie the disappearance of Mrs. Coulter) but the rest are just...? Even Lyra barely thinks about it.
Looking forward to the finish!
But setting that aside, it's a good story (and well-narrated, though it benefits greatly from listening on >1x speed) and just fun to see this glimpse into the future. I know Lyra is the focus here, but it's hard not to miss Will and want some insights into what he's up to.
I've always been fascinated by daemons, which I think are a stroke of world-building genius that helped the first trilogy be so amazing, and so I really enjoyed the deeper dive into them and that relationship. The relationship between Pan and Lyra is really interesting here.
Probably the parts of the book that I didn't like were sections that felt a bit too preachy-to-the-reader in ways that are a little off-putting even when I agree (and I didn't always). And a potential new romance that I'm not feeling enthused about.
Oh and there was a big disconnect from the events in HDM. Like obviously the Church isn't just going to fall apart immediately, but it's really unclear how much anyone in this world knows anything of what happened (it seems like the answer is no, but given the scope of HDM that seems...unlikely?). And some of the HDM events have repercussions (ie the disappearance of Mrs. Coulter) but the rest are just...? Even Lyra barely thinks about it.
Looking forward to the finish!