OT- His Dark Materials

Hey everyone, I just finished The Amber Spyglass last night and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the entire trilogy. The only review I read of it was backhandedly complimentary and very critical of Pullman's negative approach to God and the Church. I think the reviewer dropped the ball though. It seems to me the work is profoundly Gnostic and having taken that viewpoint, it couldn't go in any other direction. Careful reading reveals that Pullman (no matter what his personal beliefs, which I don't know) leaves open the question of an ultimate Creator. All he's really saying is the God of the Christian Church ain't it. He's the Demiurge, a big faker who makes the world a worse place than it needs to be. It's really interesting to read him with Wolfe in mind. Though Pullman isn't nearly as subtle a writer, IMO, he is certainly as humane, and probably more sympathetic to women than Wolfe. (Though I tend to agree with Blattid's fallen world theory regarding that). But they're apples and oranges I suppose. Just my two cents Don