In all honesty, I disliked the books. When I first read the series as a teenager, I thought they were excellent. Now, coming back to it a little older, the writing seems stale and contrived.

My theory is that the books weren't intended to be entertainment. Sure, the plot is interesting, and character development is better than in some other teenage fiction, but on a critical re-read, it becomes apparent that the books are merely vehicles to peddle out Pullman's scathing attacks on organized religion. The Amber Spyglass reads less like a teenage orientated novel and more like a Communist inspired diatribe against religion. Sure, it's good to introduce complex and searching themes, and I for one am more than encouraging of questions asked about religion, but to sacrifice all that was good about the trilogy to pass on a rather ill organized and incoherent message is a waste of time, effort and potentially excellent literature. A shame.

Still, not as bad as the film. At least Northern Lights had the balls to insult religious organizations. The film was lacklustre, boring and convoluted, but of course, that's not really the director's fault. Due to intense pressure, he had to drop that theme on religion, and because the whole book is based around that theme, the resulting movie isn't going to be good. Again, a waste of a good premise.