tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450344280949194866.post6373508942707381335..comments2023-05-11T14:32:07.108+01:00Comments on The Expectation of Our Lady: A view of the Golden Compass.Oliver Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02790738673074885191noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450344280949194866.post-15832822272784252932007-12-20T23:52:00.000+00:002007-12-20T23:52:00.000+00:00Where I saw it there were actually quite a few tit...Where I saw it there were actually quite a few titters at quite how bad some bits of it were, and here and there I felt that everyone (myself included) was rooting for the Magisterium and the Kossacks (or whatever the soldiers were meant to be). I'm also virtually certain that a sequel <EM>will</EM> be made, even if it ends up being like the <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367093/" REL="nofollow"><EM>Starship Troopers</EM> sequel</A> that only the fans have actually heard of. Given how derivative the book itself is (see Kingsley Amis's book <A HREF="http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/amis.html" REL="nofollow"><EM>The Alteration</EM></A> for most of the sources), I suspect Mr Pullman is not a great suffering artist and will not mind much if his own work has been ill-serverd by Hollywood. Clearly some of Pullman's stuff has a certain charm, such as the squeaky-clean sci-fi version of Oxford where everyone has his or her own cute talking pet to cuddle and play with all the time. But unless the Kingdom of the Ice-Bears and the history of the Gyptians are seriously fleshed out in the books, he very much deserves to be considered a better-than-average hack-writer for kids - a sort of pompous version of Anthony Horowitz, whose books are at least readable. (I started <EM>Northern Lights</EM> whilst I was at Oxford about seven years ago. I quickly gave up on it and moved on to <A HREF="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Folk-Classic-Mammoth/dp/0749712856" REL="nofollow">John Masefield's <EM>The Midnight Folk</EM></A>, which was vastly more exciting and enjoyable.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450344280949194866.post-41985414614766392182007-12-20T18:31:00.000+00:002007-12-20T18:31:00.000+00:00Great review Oliver. Will show my daughter Katy wh...Great review Oliver. Will show my daughter Katy who loves Pullman books..but she doesn't believe in his atheism!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com