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shimauchiha 's review for:
The Secret Commonwealth
by Philip Pullman
I was excited about La Bella Sauvage AND its sequel, which I imagined would follow Malcum's adventures.
But a book with (relatively) grown-up Lyra, set AFTER the original trilogy?
It's not the stuff dreams are made of, but the stuff I never even dared dream of.
Update after my dreams came true:
So, I can confirm that this book, is in fact real. I have held it in my hand. I have read it with my own eyes (In fact, it's the first book in 15 years that I've read with my very own eyes, and that was a choice, not a coincidence, and yes, you should most definitely get lasic. Reading without glasses just opens up a whole new world of reading positions)
I read it. The first book with Lyra Silvertounge, who has grown up right beside me. (I was 11 when she was 11, I'm 22 when she is 20. So, I think time runs just a little behind on her world.)
Now I'm PISSED OFF.
I'm so so mad.
Angry.
Raging.
Horribly frustrated.
Because that was not how the book was supposed to end.
I have a deal with myself in writing reviews. I don't go and look at other reviews, or the synopsis and cover for the next book in a series until I finish writing the review. I've never had as much trouble with that rule as right now. I need to look at the next book's publication date. I need to know that it's coming out preferably tomorrow, maximum by the end of the week.
Because what the hell? That wasn't even a cliffhanger. I just turned the page and I got to the acknowledgements, and Philip Pullman didn't even offer an explanation.
I demand an explanation.
I don't know if at some point I should actually start an attempt at writing a coherent review. I can offer this much though. I was terribly excited when I heard about this book, stopped-my-heart kind of excitement, and I was terribly scared. I'm not the type who thinks bad later instalments can ruin a beloved series, not something like Harry Potter or The old kingdom or His dark materials. They are beyond getting ruined, so any new instalment I don't like I just view as fanfiction. Even the very worst ones offer a way to revisit the places and people you love.
So it wasn't that I thought this could ruin my childhood. Not really.
But what if I hated who Lyra grew up to be? What if the book was terribly boring? What if it changed the world I loved instead of deepening it? What if it did something like suddenly deciding Lyra couldn't get back to Narnia because she liked makeup? (Some wounds never heal!)
Beyond that though, I wanted it to be good.
Even in my pissed-off dazed state, I can tell you that much at least. It's good.
It's complicated and strange, difficult at times, heart-pounding, important, it's new.
It is NOT Philip Pullman just telling the same story again. If you thought Lyra's world was vast and colourful and surprising before, just you wait. If you had a thousand and one questions about Daeomons and humans, just you wait.
And it's Lyra.
It's Lyra, a grown-up, changed woman, uncertain and questioning herself and her world, lonely, naive and experienced at the same time, but it's Lyra, and I loved her more now, because she might be one of the only characters whose experiences at the beginning of their twenties rang true to me.
In a lot of ways, this book is a slow one. (Never you mind that I could hardly put it down). There is a lot of philosophy, and not so much witches and armoured bears, but one thing remains the same. Lyra's story remains real in the way only the best fantasy books can be. It is real, not literally, but in all the ways that matter.
But, this is not a five-star review.
Because did Lyra have to be almost raped?
And did Malcolm really have to be attracted to Lyra, when she was fifteen?
And did there have to be a love story at all?
And did the middle east have to be a horrible stifling place where no woman should travel alone?
And did he have to use a Persian legend like the Simurgh, who is an ancient force of wisdom as good, as a terrifying beast?
And do we really want to see two white people stand in for even a made-up tale of clearly eastern-inspired origins?
No
And would I have given this four stars if this wasn't Lyra, and if this wasn't the world of Deamons and oxford and the altheiometer from the first writer who thought me about atheism?
I don't know.
But a book with (relatively) grown-up Lyra, set AFTER the original trilogy?
It's not the stuff dreams are made of, but the stuff I never even dared dream of.
Update after my dreams came true:
So, I can confirm that this book, is in fact real. I have held it in my hand. I have read it with my own eyes (In fact, it's the first book in 15 years that I've read with my very own eyes, and that was a choice, not a coincidence, and yes, you should most definitely get lasic. Reading without glasses just opens up a whole new world of reading positions)
I read it. The first book with Lyra Silvertounge, who has grown up right beside me. (I was 11 when she was 11, I'm 22 when she is 20. So, I think time runs just a little behind on her world.)
Now I'm PISSED OFF.
I'm so so mad.
Angry.
Raging.
Horribly frustrated.
Because that was not how the book was supposed to end.
I have a deal with myself in writing reviews. I don't go and look at other reviews, or the synopsis and cover for the next book in a series until I finish writing the review. I've never had as much trouble with that rule as right now. I need to look at the next book's publication date. I need to know that it's coming out preferably tomorrow, maximum by the end of the week.
Because what the hell? That wasn't even a cliffhanger. I just turned the page and I got to the acknowledgements, and Philip Pullman didn't even offer an explanation.
I demand an explanation.
I don't know if at some point I should actually start an attempt at writing a coherent review. I can offer this much though. I was terribly excited when I heard about this book, stopped-my-heart kind of excitement, and I was terribly scared. I'm not the type who thinks bad later instalments can ruin a beloved series, not something like Harry Potter or The old kingdom or His dark materials. They are beyond getting ruined, so any new instalment I don't like I just view as fanfiction. Even the very worst ones offer a way to revisit the places and people you love.
So it wasn't that I thought this could ruin my childhood. Not really.
But what if I hated who Lyra grew up to be? What if the book was terribly boring? What if it changed the world I loved instead of deepening it? What if it did something like suddenly deciding Lyra couldn't get back to Narnia because she liked makeup? (Some wounds never heal!)
Beyond that though, I wanted it to be good.
Even in my pissed-off dazed state, I can tell you that much at least. It's good.
It's complicated and strange, difficult at times, heart-pounding, important, it's new.
It is NOT Philip Pullman just telling the same story again. If you thought Lyra's world was vast and colourful and surprising before, just you wait. If you had a thousand and one questions about Daeomons and humans, just you wait.
And it's Lyra.
It's Lyra, a grown-up, changed woman, uncertain and questioning herself and her world, lonely, naive and experienced at the same time, but it's Lyra, and I loved her more now, because she might be one of the only characters whose experiences at the beginning of their twenties rang true to me.
In a lot of ways, this book is a slow one. (Never you mind that I could hardly put it down). There is a lot of philosophy, and not so much witches and armoured bears, but one thing remains the same. Lyra's story remains real in the way only the best fantasy books can be. It is real, not literally, but in all the ways that matter.
But, this is not a five-star review.
Because did Lyra have to be almost raped?
And did Malcolm really have to be attracted to Lyra, when she was fifteen?
And did there have to be a love story at all?
And did the middle east have to be a horrible stifling place where no woman should travel alone?
And did he have to use a Persian legend like the Simurgh, who is an ancient force of wisdom as good, as a terrifying beast?
And do we really want to see two white people stand in for even a made-up tale of clearly eastern-inspired origins?
No
And would I have given this four stars if this wasn't Lyra, and if this wasn't the world of Deamons and oxford and the altheiometer from the first writer who thought me about atheism?
I don't know.