I loved the character of Lara in book one and was ready to love the continuance of the story. The ambivalence of lord azreil was interesting and I thought Pullman sketched an interesting mother/woman in mrs coulter but didn't quite execute her as someone believable - she was too much the dangerous seducer of men and power. The boy, whose name I forget, developed into someone I could care about. Generally an escape story but it didn't live up to the potential of the first book.