I was actually considering just having one word in this review: “Meh”…
In Victorian London, Sally Lockhart becomes an orphan at 16. Shortly after she receives a mysterious letter which kick-starts an adventure in pursuit of the truth about her past and family.
I’ve read it in audiobook and it might be the reason I didn’t feel strongly about anything in the book, either in a good or bad way. I’ve been building the theory that with audio, the existence of a reader between me and the story somehow detaches me from it.
The story was interesting enough, and I was surprised at how Philip Pullman approached opium addiction and organized crime in a YA book, but Sally was just to perfect.
She’s “uncommonly pretty” and although not familiar with the more feminine arts of languages and music, she’s an expert in military tactics, accountancy, business management and a great shot and rider (sounds cool doesn’t it? I thought so too!). Pullman went for the unconventional heroine, but Sally is just too aloof, never directly affected by dangerous situations (unlike the secondary characters, who are kidnapped and beaten bloody because of her) and smoothly solving the problems of everyone around her.
Secondary characters are all very Dickensian as suits the Victorian setting, but the wonderful world building and brilliant atmosphere he created for “His Dark Materials” was missing here. Descriptions, plot twists and characters, they all felt a bit hurried and lacking depth (no excuse that it’s YA!).
Has anyone seen the TV adaptation with Billie Piper? What did you think? Haven’t see it yet, she fell in my consideration after staring in the worst Jane Austen adaptation ever made to date 😉
8 comments
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February 20, 2011 at 11:35 pm
nymeth
I actually enjoyed this one (though nowhere nearly as much as HDM), but I’m glad we agree that something being YA is not and can never be an excuse for mehness 😛
February 20, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Ti
A one word review would have said it all, huh?
February 21, 2011 at 10:50 am
Mady
I’ve just had my try with audiobooks and I confirmed what I was quite sure about: it’s not a thing for me! I have a “visual” brain: if I don’t have some image, I don’t absorb it. This happens with reading books (I need the letters to be in front of me), studying languages (I need to see the words written), learning about new people (I need a picture)…
Maybe re-reading books in audiobook format can be a good thing for me, as I think it’d helpful to improve my language skills.
February 22, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Joanna
Hmmm… The story sounds interesting enough so I might try it anyway. Of course I still haven’t even read HDM so who knows when that will be! 😉
As for audio, I’m getting into it now. And I think that some narrators make me more into the story, since I don’t act it out like they do when I read it on my own!
February 26, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Alex
@nymeth: … as one can tell from, e.g. The Disputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.
@Ti: it would, but I thought it might be too hard 😛
@Mady: re-reading in audiobooks books you first read in paper is definitely different experience. Try Stephen Fry reading the HP books, he’s fabulous!
@Joanna: Did I see HDM in your TBRs? So true, some narrators don’t feel like an intermediary at all. Again, Stephen Fry comes to mind.
February 26, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Mady
Thx for the suggestion! Will try to see if the local library has any of them.
And HP books were the ones to make me realise that I can easily read books in English! 😀
July 26, 2011 at 10:00 am
theoncominghope
Ruby in the Smoke is ok, but you have to read the sequels. Shadow in the North is just terrifically suspenseful (and has an ending you’ll never, ever forget!) And then the third book is best of all.
September 19, 2012 at 4:13 pm
SuperSpinage
I watched the TV first, then listened to the audiobook, the edition read by Joanna Riding, not Anton Lesser. It’s very a interesting book, with so many coincidences happening in such a short time. Riding’s voice resembled Billie Piper’s in TV so there’s an image in my mind. The TV adaptation to me is OK, with the cast including Billie Piper, JJ Field (ah, he’s so cute) and Matt Smith (well, very Doctorish). But I might have missed some things, for being a foreigner who don’t understand cockney well. Wish to read the following two of the series.:)