Hylton Warburton Warburton itibaren 8231 Cerovec pri Trebelnem, Slovenya itibaren 8231 Cerovec pri Trebelnem, Slovenya

I found this series tedious, contrived, and just rather boring. To be clear, I usually enjoy the fantasy genre, and I have no issues with the atheism/anti-religion themes. Still, I had a hard time getting interested in this series. Most of the characters were either one-dimensional (Lee Scoresby, Lord Asriel) or unlikeable/boring (Lyra was so annoying and shallowly drawn I wasn't rooting for her). Will was at least likeable though not particularly fascinating. The only character I really enjoyed was Mrs Coulter--at least she had some complexity and depth! The books do have some interesting sub-plots and there were times were I was engaged, which is why I kept reading, but by the third book Pullman is trying so hard to paint an epic picture but ends up with nothing more than overly broad brushstrokes. I had a hard time keeping track during the action scenes or frankly caring at all. There are lots of inconsistencies that Pullman just glosses over in an effort to force his plot forward (e.g., how come the gyptians can sail to another world at one point but at the end that option is never mentioned?). He uses metaphors/allusions very poorly and forces them in where they don't fit or doesn't fully explore them (e.g., Mary as serpent, Authority's desire to destroy Church, etc)--definite lack of subtlety. The third book in particular moves in sprints (over)full of details and action alternating with places where the plot crawls so much you lose interest. I think the ideas of the books are interesting and could have been worth exploring. I don't know if the problem lies in trying to squeeze too much into 3 shorter books or if the fault lies in Pullman's skill as a writer, but I felt like this series just didn't live up to its potential for me. I am a bit puzzled as to why people are so devoted to it.