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"Everything means something," Lyra said severely. "We just have to find out how to read it."

Lyra the little liar is back in full force. she gets to use her special power of super-lying at least twice, so it's clear that despite the amazing and horrible and life-changing adventures of the preceding trilogy, some things will never change. a witch and an alchemist cameo, and naturally her daemon Pantalaimon remains by her side. all is well in Golden Compass Land, at least for this reader. things are actually especially well, now that I know the author is working on a couple follow-up books that promise to be elephantine in size and scope. yay for elephantine! and yay for little liars and adorable little daemons who are quite handy at sneaking up on other daemons and quickly grabbing them so that Lyra can do some impromptu interrogation.

yay for Philip Pullman too. he really is the best. it's great how a slim children's book like this one is able to cast such an all-encompassing spell on its reader so quickly. the combination of idiosyncratic heroine and perfectly chosen details of her Oxford world all worked out just right. plus some sweet bonuses such as a map and snippets of a catalog, a guidebook, a postcard, etc. overall this was a trifle, but such an appealing one.

oh and the moral of the tale: see first paragraph.