Published by Puffin, 2015.

I had many issues with this book, but I won’t list them all, because there are some essay-length reviews on Goodreads which discuss them better than I can. The two most pressing problems for me were the length (over 600 pages) and the confusing plot. I expect it all made sense in Philip Pullman’s mind, but I don’t think it translated into the book. I wasn’t sure what the whole point of the story was, except for the message that we must keep using our imaginations and telling stories to stay human. It seemed like an echo of The Amber Spyglass but with a lot of repetitious dialogue and no clear resolution. I found the book in the YA section in the library, but it was really an adult book. The characters are all adults, there is swearing, a lot of gruesome violence, and complicated ideas about the economy, capitalism, philosophy, etc. There are precisely two things I admired about the book. One is that there is a kingdom of gryphons. The other is that one of the characters is named after a victim of the Grenfell Tower fire.

In summary, I don’t recommend the Book of Dust trilogy at all, but at least I’ve completed it!

Published by Penguin and David Fickling, 2025.

The filming style is edgier and more creative, culminating in the ending where Harry is captured mid-broomstick flight, almost as if his face is squashed against the screen, which is a contrast to the sentimental panning out from the first and second films. On the subject of broomsticks, there is only one Quidditch match. Moving the mysterious gift of a new broom to the end of the story makes more sense in this context. Rewinding to the beginning, it’s silly that Harry is using his wand to light up his homework (and why does the light keep failing?) instead of a torch, because as we are soon reminded, magic is not allowed outside of school.

More than the previous films, this one is a simplified adaptation which leaves out a lot of background detail. It seemed to be more of an impression of the story, rather than a complete telling. Some things it does very well, such as the Knight Bus scene, where an added shrunken head brings extra craziness. The Aunt Marge scene is good, taking it further by having her float off into the sky. The Dementor scenes are very scary and having everything freeze was a great idea. The werewolf transformation was frightening although we don’t get much background on it. Buckbeak is also very well done (if you go on the WB Studio Tour, you can see the animatronic Buckbeak). The time travel effects were good too. I liked the casting of David Thewlis, Gary Oldman and Emma Thompson. The returning cast were as good as ever.

Sadly the role of Crookshanks, the fluffy ginger cat adopted by Hermione, is very much reduced. In the book, he is very intelligent and plays a significant part in the plot. I suppose it would have been difficult to train the cats enough.

In summary, given that the film was still 2 hours long despite changing the plot, it’s mostly a great adaptation, but the condensed story might possibly confuse anyone who hasn’t read the book.

Image credit https://x.com/rowlinglibrary/status/1798065540923265178/photo/1, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79642140

It’s a coming of age novel and also a metaphor for the struggle with and acceptance of the dark side of human nature. I felt that the ending was rather disappointing but I suppose it couldn’t have been any other way. I also felt that too much text was devoted to naming the many, many islands, and not enough was dialogue or interesting details. The magic spells were vague and even the time at wizarding school, which in any other book would have been the fun part, was quite gloomy. The male-centric society and wizards being more powerful than witches were also a little disappointing, as Le Guin is known as a feminist writer, but then this is an early work. I’m not going to read the rest of the series, but I don’t regret re-reading the first book.

Published by Puffin, 2016.

The characters in the book didn’t stand out to me, as much as the ideas. What I’ve always found mind-boggling, from the very first time I saw the map of the Edge which prefaces the start of each book, is the Edge itself. What is it an edge of? Is there something below it, or does the waterfall go on forever? The book kind of addresses the latter, although it was still a little mysterious. The story does wrap the plot up neatly, but is longer than it needs to be. The title refers to a group of adventurers and academics who explore below the Edge cliff, facing the peril in their quest to further their knowledge. I think the book is a good ending to the series, but not one of the best.

Published by Corgi, 2019.

The story is set in a kingdom where the humans and goblins co-exist uncomfortably. Princess Irene, a young girl who encounters the goblins, is saved by Curdie, a miner’s boy. He discovers the goblins are plotting against the humans. Meanwhile, the spirit of Irene’s great-great-grandmother helps Irene to rescue him.

The main points of the plot are included in the film, with some changes, particularly towards the end, where the goblins’ plans to flood the mine, take over the castle and kidnap Irene are converged into one campaign. The main difference is the portrayal of the goblins. In the book, they are the traditional kind, short and ugly but also vaguely human-looking. The theory in the book is that they are primordial beings, an evolutionary throwback. They speak in quite a sophisticated manner and are not particularly violent. The film turns them into cartoonish gargoyles with a variety of skin colours, a crude way of speaking and an aggressive nature. The culmination of this is the character of Prince Froglip (Harelip in the book), a green-skinned, lisping, scantily-clad goblin voiced enthusiastically by Rik Mayall, who plots viciously against the sun-people.

The film gives a feline companion to Irene, named Turnip. Perhaps this was inspired by the goblin-cat from the book, so that it has a normal cat for a rival. There’s a fun comedy moment when the two are fighting, and Princess Irene accidentally cuddles the goblin-cat, which looks terrified. The end credits of the film have a lovely line animation of Turnip playing about.

Irene’s father, or ‘papa-king’ as in the book, is away for much of the story. He is given a voiceover at the start and end of the film, just as in the book, the author’s voice – which sounds like a genial storytelling uncle – talks directly to the reader.

One more thing I’m going to mention is the use of music. In both the book and film, singing at the goblins is one way to fight them (the other is to stamp on their feet – although in the book, Curdie actually kills one with a blade). Curdie is particularly renowned for making up rhyming songs on the spot and some songs are more effective than others. In the film, instead of making things up, he sings the one song over and over, ‘There’s a Spark Inside Us’. It’s a good song and has a suitably Christian tone which I’m sure that George MacDonald, a minister, would have approved of.

The film has rather an international background; the production companies were Hungarian, Japanese and Welsh. Strangely I always thought it was set in Wales, perhaps because of the mining theme. It was first released in Hungary in 1991 as A hercegnő és a kobold, then the English version in 1992 in the UK, and finally the US in 1994.

Image by IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55826137

The premise of the book is that top headliners at the music hall (which is run by HAL the computer) are being exploded on stage. Private detective Cameron Bell, whom everyone likens to Mr Pickwick but is more like Sherlock Holmes, sets about solving the crimes. Other characters include Colonel Katterfelto, a veteran down on his luck who aims to build the robot, and Darwin, his educated monkey-butler; and the lovely Alice who has a troupe of acrobatic kiwi birds. She is apparently the original Alice, whose trips to Wonderland were a result of magic mushroom-infused soap. The book includes historical characters and deliberate anachronisms, plus ray gun fights, magic, terrible music hall songs and a thrilling carriage chase through central London. It’s a very odd story indeed and makes little sense – ‘a load of old toot’ to quote a phrase frequently used in Rankin’s books – but there were some fun moments. If you like steampunk or alternative histories and wacky humour, give it a go.

Published by Gollancz, 2011.

The picture book, which has monochrome illustrations, tells us about siblings Judy and Peter, who play a board game they found in the park. When they land on various hazards in the game, such a lion, monsoon or monkeys, these become real. They must finish the game, causing everything to return to normal. Their parents, returning home, are none the wiser.

The film builds up a feature-length story, following the game through the years as a drum-beat draws children into unearthing it. A major feature of the story is that two children, Alan and Sarah, play the game, but Alan gets trapped in its world. Fast forward a few decades, when Peter and Judy, moving into the house which Alan used to live in, find the game there and that’s when Alan is freed, having become an adult. They then have to track down Sarah and continue play. Alan, played by the brilliant Robin Williams, is the main character (instead of Peter and Judy), with a background story exploring his conflict with his father, who owns a shoe factory.

One of the many changes is that the story is not confined to the house – a big problem when the monkeys escape and steal a police car! However, the worst creature to emerge from the game is a colonial-style hunter, Van Pelt (possibly inspired by the hapless guide from the book, who pores over a map). Alan, Sarah, Judy and Peter not only have to play the game and survive the hazards, they have to foil the hunter. I like how neatly the story is wrapped up, time travelling back to Alan’s childhood. The special effects are very good too.

The only detail from the book which I think should have been in the film, was that ‘Jumanji’ is a golden city that the players are aiming for.

Image credit: http://www.impawards.com/1995/jumanji_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=899077

One scene which didn’t live up to my expectations was when Dobby the house-elf magics the pudding afloat while the Dursleys are having a dinner party. In the book, the dropped pudding explodes everywhere, not only horrifying everyone, but an owl drops a letter on Mrs Mason, who screams because she’s afraid of birds. In the film it’s more restrained, the pudding falling only on Mrs Mason, who sits there covered in pudding, not making a sound. Perhaps she was too shocked. However I thought the scene could have been funnier. Something I have to mention is that Uncle Vernon uses the word ‘bloody’ in these films, where it’s ‘ruddy’ in the book. For a children’s film, ‘ruddy’ – or something similarly inoffensive – should be kept. Other small quibbles are that Dobby and the Basilisk were not as I pictured them, plus I think that Gilderoy Lockhart – the vain and useless Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, played by Kenneth Branagh – could have been even funnier. Another I have to mention is the giant spiders in the forest. This is a hideous-looking scene and very well-done, but in the book, it was even more frightening, with Harry and Ron lifted up by the spiders and carried to the leader. A fun fact about the slugs which Ron coughs up, when his wand backfires while cursing Malfoy, is that the slugs tasted nice – I think they were made of jelly. I remember reading that somewhere.

The ending of the film, during the feast, is too sentimental. Hermione, now cured, chooses this moment to run in and hug Harry, with everyone watching. When Hagrid appears, let out of prison (where he has been for a short time), Harry starts to clap enthusiastically, which is taken up by the whole school, suggesting that Hagrid is the hero. I’ve never quite understood why the film ended this way. The only thing that Hagrid did to help end the dreadful events, was saying to follow the spiders. I suppose it’s not worth getting annoyed over. It’s just a cheesy way to end the story.

As always, the film is very entertaining, but I prefer the book.

Image credit: https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2018-08/22/16/asset/buzzfeed-prod-web-06/sub-buzz-24234-1534969658-5.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1137281