I seem to spend a lot of my days on this blog apologising for my tardiness in posting. Unfortunately I had a bit of a health scare this week which resulted in a visit to A&E and a lot of lifestyle changes. It was all a bit scary, so it is lovely to be back writing a review again. I've been doing quite a bit of reading as well and have some great reads to share with you all.

In other news, the country is gearing up for the Coronation of King Charles, the bunting is up in the village and lots of events are planned here including screenings of the Coronation and concert, a street party and Hymns and Pimms! We also read a royal themed book for our Village Classics Book Club. (Review coming soon!)

Read my review of The Northern Lights

Today's post is a book I read years ago, and re-read today and has even entered the BBC Big Read list at number 3. How would the re-reading do? Would it still be as good? Let's find out shall we.

The Plot

Will is 12 and has just killed a man. He's on the run. His escape will take him far beyond his own world to the eerie disquiet of a deserted city, and to a strange, savage girl called Lyra. Her destiny is linked to his own, and together they must find the most powerful weapon in all the worlds......

My Thoughts

A quick note here, this is the second book in the His Dark Materials series. Definitely read these books in order otherwise you will have absolutely no clue what is going on.

When I remember reading this years ago, I initially struggled to get into it. This time was very different as having just read Northern Lights, was immediately ready for the next one!

The story picks up straight after the events of Northern Lights and we meet a brand new character, Will. A young teenager with a poorly mother and who we learn has just 'killed a man.'

Lyra and Will meet in a strange town, almost Mediterranean in feel, with no adults and gangs of children roaming the town. A strange figure is spotted in the tower. As Lyra and Will dip into Will's Oxford they encounter more enemies and always with the smooth, velvety terror of Mrs Coulter nearby.

We follow some of our favourites - Lee Scoresby is tasked with finding the mysterious Grumann. We finally get to see more of the enigmatic Serafina Pekala. These are characters who are coming to mean more than us.

As always, the theoretical theory bubbles under the surface with Pullman introducing more philosophical discussions for us, the reader to consider.

This is an excellent follow-up to Northern Lights, but I really would recommend reading this immediately after Northern Lights. To be honest you will want to dive right into The Subtle Knife anyway!