Customer Reviews

Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials

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I was skeptical before reading this, but it ended up being great and really enhanced my appreciation for the novels. After a slow start, it picks up and is really good by the end. The book also has short plot summaries of the novels, which were very helpful as I read them 2 years ago now. However, it also has an interview with Gregory Maguire which I thought was pointless. I was also unsure of the authors' "agenda" - are they Christian? Regardless, their views were well-thought-out and riveting. I would recommend buying all 4 books and reading this after the trilogy.

Freitas and King have created, what I consider to be, the best theological engagement with Pullman's His Dark Materials to date. Whilst the appeal to Liberation theology and feminist theology may not be everyone's cup of tea, the theological analysis is none the less consistent and thorough. This is an insightful analysis of the way in which God has been communicated and envisioned throughout history, culminating in the desire to move beyond restrictive, ancient images of a tyrannical God, as has been accepted from the Middle Ages onwards. Instead, they propose that Liberation and Feminist theology, just like Pullman's text, is challenging these notion of the very way in which we perceive God and communicate our understanding of God to others. They support the idea that Pullman's 'death of the Authority/God' should not be feared or shunned or condemned, but embraced as an opportunity for a new understanding and a new progression forward in contemporary Christianity.