It's a really great book. You religious folks who are angry about it, don't ban your kids from reading it. It gives them an alternate view, so they can choose what they think, personally. It is sort of violent, but not bad enough so that a tween can't handle it. It's a must read!

WOW! This series isnt too bad or gory, wake-up with nightmares stuff. Its an amazing story and the ending of this book is amazing. Its "on" for ages 10+, although if you're highly sensitive to war and religion then wait till you're 11. I read these when I was nine and they are amazing!

What was great about this whole trilogy was that it's written well. Sadly, that should never be enough. All the rest seems very stale to me. The behavior of the characters is questionable, and because of that, I lost all my love for them. I failed to care about them, and only continued to read because it's supposed to be "the next LOTR". I doubt it. The Earthsea cycle seems much more worthy of such praise. This book ruined the other two, for me. And if you are a Christian you will only be disappointed in the end. There is an unveiled attack on God and on those who beleive in Him.

I read this book when I was around 12 and I thought it was amazing. It's brilliantly written, with lots of action and great description and an all around inspiring story. The characters are brave and strong and willing to sacrifice for the greater good. It's extremely imaginative and makes you laugh and cry and gets you excited...basically everything a good book should do! Some parts of the book are controversial (in it, there is no heaven and hell)...but I think reading this book was good for me. My parents brought me up with religion, we pray every day and believe strongly in God and heaven and hell. Reading this book just showed me that there are other possibilities. YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR KIDS LOCKED UP FOREVER! Eventually they're going to learn about atheism and sex and stuff like that. I personally feel that it's much better to learn about these things when your parents are still around so you can ask them questions. if you're, say, in college and someone asks you "Hey! How do you KNOW that there's a heaven and a hell? Hmmmm? Why do you believe this?" And it would really suck if you had no answer. When I have kids, I want them to know why I have this belief and why religion makes more sense. PEOPLE NEED TO OPEN THEIR EYES!!! There are so many people and things that can influence children and make them question. LET THEM!!!!!! My parents let me question and it made my belief so much stronger. The only reason why someone might wait until they were older to read this book is so that they could better understand the themes and the message. And I guess some parents are worried about the sexual content, but seriously, when I read the book when I was little I didn't even realize that the main characters had had sex. I only noticed it when I re-read the book when I was older. So overall, this book is incredible and inspiring and A REALLY GOOD THING FOR ANYONE TO READ!!!!

I have read this book (and the whole trillogy for that matter)twice and this is the best of the series. So much action and adventure. I do however believe you should be 13 and up to truly understand it. There are a few curse words and violence is not much except for a few deaths and many explosions. For alot of you, you thought the main characters, and there is no sex in the book so to those of you who read all the Off adult reviews, it never says that lyra and will do that. They kiss, but I dont consider that to be sexuality. The adult reviews also say that they try to kill god. They dont kill god, but a false god called Metatron. There are instances where characters express that god does not exist but I know that is not true. It did not change my views on christianity at all. Truly a masterpeice. I think 13 and up can read this.

This is a thought-provoking and well-written book, but it is not a children's book. There's too much violence, and part of the plot involves the sexual awakening of two twelve-year-olds. I also think the themes of the book are above a child's head. The author interweaves Biblical imagery and allegory to express his belief in atheism. For children, though, who have trouble with abstractions and symbolism, I think it's unlikely that they'd reach the author's intended conclusion that there is no God. Instead, I think they'd take the story at face value and come to the conclusion that there is a God but he is bad and we should rebel against him. Also, there is never a clear dividing line between who is good and who is evil. For example, Lyra's father is supposedly one of the good guys and all the characters are flocking to join his revolution, but in order to set things in motion, he kills an innocent child. Blurred lines between good and evil might be realistic, but it's too confusing for a young child. I think this would be a great book for a teenager, but I'd be hesitant to let a younger child read it.

The amber spyglass is a book that I think should be read by the people who are mature enough to appreciate it. The book does have some anti-christian beleif in it but I thought that tht added to it's unique style. It's not like the book changed any of my beleifs or the way I think of God and his angles. It has some sexual tension between the two main charactors at the end and ends very sadly in my oppinion. I would indeed recomend this book and thi series because of its high paced action and adventure.

Honestly, first off I want to ask the other reviewers what their issue is. You all seem to be so judgmental it's ridiculous. Just because the book was written by an athiest doesn't mean you should put down everything he writes. It's a story, and a good one at that, and you guys need to get over it. If you don't like it, the don't read it. It's pretty simple. But I can tell you all, it does have adult themes, and it is definitly not a children's book, but it was one of my absolute favourite series of all time. I applaud Pullman on his fantastic writing style and ability. Do not listen to these people that like to go hunt out the bad things in the book and even go so far as listing the page numbers. Obviously, these people have little or no lives, and need to be ignored. Give the book a try. It is amazing, regardless of who wrote it. And to the reviewers before me, It is not nice to be intolerant of other religions. Maybe you should actually try to accept and RESPECT other people. Otherwise, they won't respect you. Enough said.

in the third book, the bad guy is god, the church and angels. god has to be killed in order to save the world. this book is truly crazy!!!! the main characters also manage to have s**. the story line may be appropriate for adults, but definitely not children. the author's atheist views should not be thrown on families who have any religious beliefs.