his dark materials

[bantha_fodder]

So, I just finished The Golden Compass, and it's not the best thing I've ever read but it's interesting enough that I'll go find the next part, but I didn't actually expect Lord Asriel (the book's on the other side of the room; I'm not sure how to spell it, so let's call him James) to kill Roger. It was pretty clear that Lyra was going to be going to the city in the Aurora, but I try not to look for clues and think about it when I'm reading (doing such a thing makes it too much like writing, and I like them to be distinct), so Roger died and I had to go back and reread the previous page. It was just so quiet and unobserved; they're fighting and then Asriel plugs the cord into the daemon and then Roger goes limp and I love that sort of writing.

So that was cool.

Comments

[utopos.livejournal.com]

Erm...spoiler warning?

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

Roger's fucking dead mate. Deal with it :-)

(I also didn't know, prior to this post - having only read Northern Lights and not been terribly impressed whilst still thinking it light years better than Horrible Potter)

[bantha-fodder.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely finding myself comparing it to Potter as I go: the authorship is comparably better, as is the plot and the world building, but I'm still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

Northern Lights is the same as The Golden Compass, so you should have read the bit about Roger's death.

[ataxi.livejournal.com]

How could I have finished the book without spoiling myself? I was thinking "hmm - was Roger the bear then?". Honestly I'm not usually this bad.

I suppose The Golden Compass is the special "make it sell in the US" title then.

I agree - it's better written, but somehow not as much of a page-turner as HP (or Narnia for that matter).

[bantha-fodder.livejournal.com]

Darling, it's behind a cut. Given how freely I usually talk about plot points, what did you honestly think I was going to say?