The Amber Spyglass "While the beasts of prey, Come from caverns deep, View'd the maid asleep." These three lines by William Blake from his poem The Little Girl Lost preface the first chapter of The Amber Spyglass, the final volume of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Aficiandos of Blake will know that his maid …
Continue reading Not all universes are the same (part three)
On the Natural Selection of Charles Darwin A Review of The Origin of Species Around the middle of the nineteenth century, an Augustinian friar, physicist and mathematician called Gregor Mendel experimented with pea plants and, without realising it, founded a whole new field of scientific endeavour. Mendel's valuable contribution to science became known and recognised …
A Review of Northern Lights The first book in Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy for young adults The main protagonist in Northern Lights is Lyra, a twelve-year-old girl who lives in one of Oxford University's many colleges. Only Lyra's Oxford is a different Oxford. It lies in an alternate universe, an upside-down world with zeppelins, witches …
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch A Review Long-listed for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, Jamrach's Menagerie is an absorbing story of the sea, a sort of cross between The Life of Pi and The Ancient Mariner; at any rate it has a tiger and a cursed ship. Jaffy Brown is eight years old. He runs …
