So I was far more pleased with this one than the previous one - in part because I have feelings about prequels and, moreso, because I just want to know more about this world and the daemons and Dust and everything that's going on.
And this book does exactly that.
And ALSO there's something hilarious about how Pullman writes a book that includes a screed against authors who cleverly...and not so cleverly write books that are meant as philosophical takedowns. Which is SO obviously a response to critiques of the Amber Spyglass and also a clear dislike of certain authors and I'm assuming Ayn Rand is one of them because I also have my own feelings.
And yet he also has written such a book in this book - this is a story about the dismissal of feelings, of emotions, of experiences, of assuming that his utter dismissal of religion is commensurate with a creeping scientism that dismisses anything that can't be quantified.
Granted, Pullman's anger is more directed - not against all philosophical novels, merely the ones with bad philosophy.
Luckily for us readers, Pullman is not that writer.