Amber Spyglass

Earlier in the year I started reading Patrick O'Brians book Master and Commander the first of the Aubrey/Maturin Novels. Then after a few other reading I purchased ten of the series on E-Bay and started the series again. A long the line I picked up several reference books that explain many of the archaic verbiage used, plus maps and illustrations. The series is 21 books long and from time to time something described just didn't seem to agree with my experience sailing. Now my experience as a sailor is that of a novice but how could it be correct to disagree with Sir Francis Chichester statement "The best sea-story I have ever read." So to confirm my understanding of the series I was constantly looking up words and places. Then I discovered an anachronism and found another blogger who also commented on the usage but was afraid to challenge it because of O'Brian position. Then I discovered a article in Sailing Magazine where Tom Perkins stated that after taking Patrick O'Brian on his ship he doubted O'Brian sailing experience. Then I read two biographies about O'Brian that explained his lack of sailing experience and that he was some what of a fraud to say the least. He wasn't even Irish. In the serendipity of Googling I discovered Philip Pullman and bought his trilogy on E-bay for next to nothing. No matter how hard I tried to switch from reading about the British Navy to Gyptian who sailed the sea I could not get started with it. Then while cruising the aisle of Target I spotted the DVD of Golden Compass and took it home and watched it. After viewing the film, which is as close to the book Hollywood gets as movies go I attempted to read HIS DARK MATERIALS again: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. No need to check this author as it is a fantasy with time travel, string theory, ghosts, witches, snow bears, animals that cruise using a wheel made from a seed pod. During their adventures many worlds are travels by Lyra, Pantalaimon and Will and using my camera in hand Saturday I tried to captured the desert of the Snow Bears and the view seen through a amber spyglass. If I catch any witches in my view finder or hail an Gyptian at sea I will be sure add that to my blog also.