2. Will And Lyra Are Separated (The Amber Spyglass)
The Amber Spyglass is the third instalment in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, preceded by The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. The series is filled with witches, angels and talking polar bears, plus a knife that cuts holes between parallel worlds. There's also a truth-telling compass alongside destruction and decay, controversy and corruption, great love and great loss. Also, somewhere in there, there is a cohesive plot that would take far more than a few paragraphs to even try to explain. It's all right however, the entire series is not comprised of devastating moments. Rather, the devastation comes in one fell swoop to 11-year old Lyra and 12-year old Will in the final pages of the final book. Children of two worlds, Lyra and Will fall in love over the course of their universe-saving adventures. Then, to their horror, they learn that the doors between all of the worlds - including each of theirs - must be sealed forever, and for a person of one world to try to live in another would lead to death within a decade. As a final act of love, Lyra takes Will to a bench in the University of Oxford Botanic Garden that exists in both of their worlds. "Maybe just once a year," says Lyra, "if we could come here at the same time, just for an hour or something, then we could pretend we were close again - because we would be close, if you sat here and I sat just here in my world..." They vow to return to the bench for an hour every year at midday on Midsummer Day for the rest of their lives, no matter what. Then, the final window closes, and they part ways forever. Okay, yes it sounds a bit silly, but this is honestly an excruciatingly heartbreaking plot-twist, and it shows both the innocence and maturity of the two characters as they willingly bid their farewells to one another. Also? It totally doesn't matter if you don't understand the rest of the book. The emotions are there.Fun fact: Lyra's bench actually does exist in the real Oxford Botanic Garden, and the words "Lyra + Will" have been carved into the wood.
Fiction buff and writer. If it's on Netflix, it's probably in my queue. I've bought DVDs for the special features and usually claim that the book is better than the movie or show (and can provide examples). I've never met a TV show that I won't marathon. Follow on Twitter @lah9891 .
