The Shadow in the North

The trouble I have with trilogies is that if I have all three books, I tend to read them right in a row (and can't seem to resist doing so). Thankfully the second installment in Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart trilogy, The Shadow in the North, is even better than the first (The Ruby in the Smoke, my review of which is here). The good characters, at least, get a bit more fully fleshed out here, even if they do remain somewhat thinly-drawn (the bad guys remain really bad). In this book, unlike its predecessor, some of the elements from Pullman's later works (military-industrial society and its implications, &c.) are brought in, and he handles them as deftly here as in his later works.

A bit older and a bit wiser, Sally, Fred and the gang show more get tangled up in a convoluted mystery involving a strange and nebulous company and its vicious owner, a whiny and elusive Scottish magician, a psychic or two, and a lord's daughter. Things get more violent and more emotional in this one, so be ready for that.

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22-year-old Sally Lockhart has established herself as a financial consultant. When one of her clients loses her life's savings on a failed shipping company Sally advised her to invest in, Sally is determined to recover her client's money from the person she suspects of having deliberately destroyed the firm. Jim Taylor, moonlighting backstage at a music hall, finds himself helping a conjurer escape from several thugs who are threatening his life. Photographer/sleuth Fred Garland is investigating a medium at the request of a client who fears losing his job after hearing the medium's revelations at a séance. The three friends soon realize that their cases are somehow related, and they work together to foil an evil plot.

Once I started show more reading this book, it was difficult to put down. Although it is called a mystery, I would probably classify it as an adventure novel because of the amount of action in the book and the level of danger confronting the protagonists. show less

For some strange reason, I picked up the second book in the series thinking it was the first! Duh!I really wanted to like this one. A woman protagonist who is independent, unconventional and a detective in Victorian England - all the ingredients seemed to be there for me to go ga-ga over it. Unfortunately, I just didn't like it. It started off fine – all the characters are likeable and strong and complex enough and hook you right in. The mystery itself, though, was not very convincing. The metaphysical levels, greed & commerce and the politics don't mesh well enough for me. And the romance seems a little too mature for a young adult book. And the sad parts are a little too tragic. Nuh-uh, didn't like. Going to give the other Sally show more Lockheart books in the trilogy a miss until a time when I have too much time on my hands and will read anything and everything, even if I don't like it. Sigh! show less

The middle book in the trilogy. This is another excellent tale by Philip Pullman, a bit more steampunk than the previous one in the series. However, he does trot out yet another of his megalomaniacal villains, easily defeated by the cluelessness their megalomania induces.

The spiritualism, music halls, and so forth lend an enjoyable atmosphere. Philip Pullman does try to make statements about social issues, and sometimes these are a bit heavy handed.

The fact that the ending of the previous book was a lot like real life, with no happily ever after, but enough good luck and planning to continue to pursue the various goals of the various characters gave this book the more interest.

Arthur Conan Doyle created a problem for himself when he show more married Mary Morstan and Watson off at the end of "The Sign of Four", but Philip Pullman avoided that mistake. show less

Summary: This book opens six years after the end of The Ruby in the Smoke, and Sally has set up shop as a financial consultant. One of her clients has lost all of her money due to the collapse of a shipping line. Meanwhile, Jim Taylor is helping a magician named McKinnon escape from the henchmen of one Mr. Axel Bellman, and Frederick Garland is investigating potential actual psychic powers possessed by a local spiritualist. All three of these separate threads eventually tie back together to Mr. Bellman, his shady business dealings, and a new invention that may threaten the basis of human society.

Review: While I had some issues with the plot pacing and structure of The Ruby in the Smoke, at least it was enough to hold my interest. This show more book, unfortunately, was not. Foreign rubies and murder and pirates and opium dens are exciting. Financial records and patents and insurance fraud? Not so much, or at least not in this case. The writing itself was good; Pullman doesn't shy away from the grim realities of life, which I appreciate. However, I was intensely bored by the plot, to the point where I very nearly gave it up several times. I hung in there, however, and there was no impressive turn-around, no pay-off to make it ultimately worth my while. The plot and motivation and various threads of mystery hang together well enough, but that on its own is not enough to carry a book.

Recommendation: Well-written but disappointingly dull and not worth your while unless you really, really loved the characters from the first book. show less

Full of drama and intrigue, if not quite as immediately compelling as the first book -- probably because the story begins as a complicated business investigation rather than with the deeply personal mystery of Sally's past. Still, the stakes are high and the personalities strong, aside from a couple of supporting characters who are so incredibly and annoyingly passive and even whiny at times that I wanted to slap them. I guess that's a tribute to Pullman's ability to create such a strong, brave and smart female protagonist that anything at the other end of the spectrum seems off-putting.

A significant improvement over the faux-feminist charade that was The Ruby in the Smoke. Sally actually DOES stuff and takes stances in this installment of the Sally Lockhart series, and while I may not always agree with the positions she argues, especially when it comes to romance, I have to respect her for standing up for what she believes in. Besides for that, however, I still did not achieve a sort of emotional connection with any of the characters to be much shaken over the shocking event that takes place. I also have a few qualms about how it's Sally's "feminine wiles" that eventually enable her to end her case. Isn't that a bit sending the wrong message, Pullman?

The issues I have with the characters aside, I was much more show more impressed and interested in the mystery in this novel. The layers of psychopathic deceit and manipulation involved were quite chilling! I will probably read the remaining Sally Lockhart-related books since I am this far along now. They are fair enough reads, but nothing in particular about them is going to stick with me, and I probably won't be going around singing the praises of these books to anyone anytime soon. show less