(no subject)

Well, I finished The Amber Spyglass, which seemed to take forever - unlike the first two books, which I read very quickly. Every time it started to get interesting, the author would break off and take us somewhere else. I got really tired of those dratted Houhynyms - oops, I mean mulefa. Plus it was really obvious that he had an axe to grind; the preaching (if that's the right word) got in the way of the story quite a bit.

I think an editor needed to sit him down with a not-so-subtle knife and say, "Come back when it's half as long."

ETA: I should make the obligatory noises here: it was a remarkably inventive, creative work; there were some breathtaking scenes and terrific characters; there were multiple allusions of great erudition. I just didn't like it very much.