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A review by aeturnum
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
4.0
Real star rating: 3.5
Pullman is so good at writing children in all of their fierce desire to fully experience the world and the impossibly of them being prepared for it. He continues to play to his strength in Belle Sauvage by centering the story around a young boy and a slightly older girl who are pressed by events into protecting and transporting a young Lyra Belacqua.
The core relationships and writing of our heroes is very good and makes the book worthwhile all on its own. Our heroes struggle mightily to overcome unfavorable odds and it'a fun to read about and doubt about.
But the problems in this book, for me, start with a lack of doubt. This is set in the world of the northern lights trilogy and many of the events in this book involve prominent or background characters from that series. It's nice, but in many ways it completely drains the tension out of the story. If you have read that series *you know how this book ends*. The conclusion is known from the start.
On the flip side - if you have not read those books, there is little wind in this books' sails. Is this a child of destiny or some mistake? The book includes signs and portents (giving it the character of an infancy gospel) but no certainty for our heroes (or a reader fresh to this world).
I also thought a strength of the northern lights books were their complex and human villains. Pullman has always attacked religious fascism in his books - but the main villains were not ghoulish characters of brutes, but motivated and human people who cast aside morals to seek what they wanted. We care enough about them to see what their sacrifice of decency costs them and what awaits those who use people in that way. Without saying too much there is none of that subtlety here - our villains are faceless thugs and madmen. There is nothing to understand. It's boring.
Finally, thought it's a minor complaint, much of the book feels like filler. The first section where we meet our characters is excellent, but eventually we get to a long journey and most of what happens in that journey feels of uncertainty importance. Our characters are constantly progressing through a Gulliver's Travels style of strange and frightening encounters. Unlike the northern lights we encounter many things whose nature is unclear - which only serve as backdrop for a journey our characters do not want to take. After the northern lights it feels weirdly ungrounded.
Pullman is so good at writing children in all of their fierce desire to fully experience the world and the impossibly of them being prepared for it. He continues to play to his strength in Belle Sauvage by centering the story around a young boy and a slightly older girl who are pressed by events into protecting and transporting a young Lyra Belacqua.
The core relationships and writing of our heroes is very good and makes the book worthwhile all on its own. Our heroes struggle mightily to overcome unfavorable odds and it'a fun to read about and doubt about.
But the problems in this book, for me, start with a lack of doubt. This is set in the world of the northern lights trilogy and many of the events in this book involve prominent or background characters from that series. It's nice, but in many ways it completely drains the tension out of the story. If you have read that series *you know how this book ends*. The conclusion is known from the start.
On the flip side - if you have not read those books, there is little wind in this books' sails. Is this a child of destiny or some mistake? The book includes signs and portents (giving it the character of an infancy gospel) but no certainty for our heroes (or a reader fresh to this world).
I also thought a strength of the northern lights books were their complex and human villains. Pullman has always attacked religious fascism in his books - but the main villains were not ghoulish characters of brutes, but motivated and human people who cast aside morals to seek what they wanted. We care enough about them to see what their sacrifice of decency costs them and what awaits those who use people in that way. Without saying too much there is none of that subtlety here - our villains are faceless thugs and madmen. There is nothing to understand. It's boring.
Finally, thought it's a minor complaint, much of the book feels like filler. The first section where we meet our characters is excellent, but eventually we get to a long journey and most of what happens in that journey feels of uncertainty importance. Our characters are constantly progressing through a Gulliver's Travels style of strange and frightening encounters. Unlike the northern lights we encounter many things whose nature is unclear - which only serve as backdrop for a journey our characters do not want to take. After the northern lights it feels weirdly ungrounded.