{"id":463,"date":"2011-08-02T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2011-08-02T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=463"},"modified":"2011-07-30T12:29:49","modified_gmt":"2011-07-30T19:29:49","slug":"mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/08\/mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;The Amber Spyglass&#8217;: Chapter 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the twelfth chapter of <em>The Amber Spyglass<\/em>, adsf; SD:LF Fd D:FSkl SDFHJ DSOFI&amp;$ :DFH SPO*&amp;*(^ s;dlkfja dsf;akf <strong>OH MY GOD MY HEART IS GOING TO EXPLODE<\/strong>. Intrigued? Then keysmash along with Mark as he continues to read <em>The Amber Spyglass<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><!--more-->CHAPTER TWELVE: THE BREAK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When Philip Pullman sets things up, he is not afraid to knock it all down.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My brain wandered to <a title=\"Mark Reads \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Golden Compass\u00e2\u20ac\u2122: Chapter 16\" href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/06\/mark-reads-the-golden-compass-chapter-16\/\">chapter sixteen of <em>The Golden Compass<\/em><\/a>, and I must say that Pullman found a way to replicate the emotional and physical response I had to that chapter without being repetitive. More so than any other author I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read, this man is so ridiculously talented at crafting scenes of horrific tension, the kind that actually create a pit in one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stomach, or send your heart rate racing. I knew that the battle at the cave would have to be intense, but until I read it, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begin to appreciate just how stressful and chaotic it starts off as.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pullman sets up all the pieces, and I like how matter-of-fact and omniscient the narration is. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not attached to any one particular character. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s merely saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just so you remember how totally in control I am of all of this, here are all the parties heading straight for the cave. Lol try and be calm <em>i dare you<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I also noticed immediately that he left Father Gomez out of the list and I will do my best to be prepared for his arrival, but&#8230;well, there are other things to discuss first.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so arresting about this all is the fact that there are any number of variables at play here, and the fact that Ama is terrified to silence, or that Balthamos is suffering from a particularly debilitating sense of grief is not making me feel good. Everything about the beginning of this chapter fills me with dread. Will, Ama, and Balthamos quietly make their way to the cave, a loose plan in their heads that, frankly, is full of holes, but is probably the best that they can do.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Traveling in another world, Will finally cuts through to Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world and is relieved to see that his calculation was accurate: he has Mrs. Coulter and her d\u00c3\u00a6mon in view. Unfortunately, Lyra is not where she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supposed to be, so the three of them have to <em>creep about the cave to find her<\/em>. Actually, Will initially wants to go by himself, but Ama (BLESS HER) puts her foot down and demands to come with him, especially since she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only one who knows how to use the drug to wake up Lyra.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the worst thing that could happen?<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And then his heart sank. There lay Lyra, stretched out in the depths of her sleep, right next to Mrs. Coulter. Their outlines had merged in the darkness; no wonder he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen her.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">WELL. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s awesome. And it only gets worse, as just seconds later, <em>Mrs. Coulter wakes and sits up<\/em>. Ok, my heart is going to <em>burst<\/em> into a million pieces, I thought, because this is quickly becoming a disaster. But thankfully, it seems she woke up due to the blaring sounds of the zeppelins outside the cave, the voices of the men pouring inside. Will and Ama rush to Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side, and Will prepares to open a window to the other world and&#8211;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how to describe this. I will just quote it.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He looked at Mrs. Coulter. She had turned around silently, and the glare from the sky reflected off the damp cave wall, hit her face, and for a moment it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t her face at all; it was his own mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face, reproaching him, and his heart quailed from sorrow; and then as he thrust with the knife, his mind left the point, and with a wrench and a crack, the knife fell in pieces to the ground.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It was broken.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cut his way out at all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I JUST HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS AND FEELINGS!!!!! Why did Will see his mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face? HOW CAN A KNIFE THAT CAN CUT THROUGH ANYTHING EVER <em>BREAK??????<\/em> oh my god HOW IS THAT EVEN FUCKING POSSIBLE? How is Will going to be able to do <em>anything<\/em> without the knife???<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pullman doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop to give us time to contemplate any of this. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much happening that I forced myself to read the words slowly enough so that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d understand what was going on. We discover that MRS. COULTER HAS A GUN. Where the <em>fuck<\/em> did she even get that??? As more zeppelins and gyrocopters descend on the cave, Ama begins to spread the powder on Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upper lip, helping her wake up.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As men are CLEARLY DYING outside the cave, I was suddenly struck with terror when I realized that Mrs. Coulter was simply standing there <em>doing nothing<\/em>. She is making no attempt to stop Ama from waking up Lyra, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing nothing about the people outside, who are surely coming to kill her. Look, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just come out and say it: I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T FUCKING UNDERSTAND THIS. Why is she so unconcerned with it all? She has to have another motive or plan in mind, right? What if Will\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right about her lying, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what I guessed myself? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T LIKE IT. It makes me uncomfortable as hell.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Will manages to pick up the seven pieces of the knife scattered on the floor and&#8230;seriously, what is he going to do with them? What <em>could<\/em> someone do with them? How do you repair the subtle knife? Oh god, why am I even asking questions? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to get any answers anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As the battle rages outside the cave, men and ships literally falling out of the sky, lives already lost, Mrs. Coulter says something that makes EVEN LESS SENSE THAN EVERYTHING BEFORE IT.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Will said above the noise:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What are you going to do?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hold you captive.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What, as hostages? Why should they take any notice of that? They want to kill us all anyway.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153One force does, certainly,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure about the other. We must hope the Africans win.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">She sounded happy, and in the glare from outside, Will saw her face full of joy and life and energy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I have ever been this confused in my whole life. <strong>WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?<\/strong> <em>Now<\/em> I am willing to believe that Mrs. Coulter is actually telling the truth. There is no benefit that I can think of that she could gain from making a statement like this or acting happy about the thought of Lord Asriel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s force <em>winning<\/em>. Did she truly break away from the Church? Have I been mistaken about her motivations? Or does she have her own idea of what she wants to do with Lyra?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Speaking of Lyra, <strong>SHE WAKES UP!!!<\/strong> Oh my god, amidst all this chaos, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some victory: Lyra is no longer asleep. Seriously, I never thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be so happy to read lines of her dialogue, but I am. However, any sort of joy that I am experiencing is rather short-lived. Pullman constantly reminds the reader that there is a war outside this cave, that men are dying by the minute, and that the crossbow men from the Consistorial Court are on their way. Balthamos, shockingly so, is <em>cowering<\/em> during all of this. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an angel, dude! Why are you so afraid?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yet before Will can even deal with this, the arrival of Tialys and Salmakia gives this chapter one <em>hell<\/em> of an ending. Lady Salmakia is captured by Mrs. Coulter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s d\u00c3\u00a6mon right at the moment that Mrs. Coulter drops her pistol and Will rushes to the woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side, and he sees <em>why<\/em> she dropped her gun.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a stalemate. Tialys has his spur in Mrs. Coulter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neck, and Lady Salmakia is in the golden monkey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Breathing deeply and swallowing hard to govern the pain, Mrs. Coulter turned her tear-dashed eyes to Will and said calmly, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So, Master Will, what do you think we should do now?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">SD;KFJASD;FKASD;FKJ ASD;KLFJ ;AKSDFJ ;ASKDLFJ<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I THINK THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHAPTER ENDING YET. Holy god, <em>this book<\/em>. My heart is going to erupt soon, and WE ARE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH IT. oh my god.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the twelfth chapter of The Amber Spyglass, adsf; SD:LF Fd D:FSkl SDFHJ DSOFI&amp;$ :DFH SPO*&amp;*(^ s;dlkfja dsf;akf OH MY GOD MY HEART IS GOING TO EXPLODE. Intrigued? Then keysmash along with Mark as he continues to read The Amber &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/08\/mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-12\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,79],"tags":[23,81,62,80],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-his-dark-materials","category-the-amber-spyglass","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass","tag-philip-pullman","tag-the-amber-spyglass-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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