For a middle book in a series, this was excellent. While there were parts that dragged and some sloppy writing, I still wanted to know what happens next, which is evidence for a good plot, good writing, or both! :)

I still love Pullman's character development. I feel like his portrait of what i would call 'fallen-ness' is accurate. It's still baffling to see more realistic, flawed characters in fantasy books, but I like it.

Pullman's problems with Christianity are becoming more clear, and so far, I think he gives the church a pretty realistic commission - however, these statements are few and far between - I can only think of three major ones. He does a fantastic job of being discreet, IMHO - there is one instance where he alludes to killing a god-like figure, but that's the only place where such a language is used, AND it's passive. He calls the god-figure in the story the 'Authority', and I think that's quite tactful.

I'm so interested to see what happens in the third book!