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The Ruby in the Smoke (Point)
 
 

The Ruby in the Smoke (Point) (Paperback)

by Philip Pullman (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Scholastic Point; Revised edition edition (19 Mar 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0439010772
  • ISBN-13: 978-0439010771
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 248,519 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #85 in  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators > P > Pullman, Philip

Product Description

Review
Set in 19th-century London, an echo of Collins' Moonstone - an orphaned 16-year-old unravels the mystery of her heritage and tracks down a fabulous Indian ruby, which has left murder and mayhem in its wake. Sally Lockhart is a competent, self-reliant heroine. She walks out on the oppressive relative who's been housing her, gets her lawyer to rearrange her investments to raise her meager income by 20 percent, and finds a new home and job with an attractive, talented, but unbusinesslike young photographer and his sister, using her precocious business acumen to rescue their floundering finances. Meanwhile, trying to decipher messages from her father, recently lost at sea in the Far East, she encounters mysterious Mr. Marchbanks, who gives her a long document, which is stolen before she can read it, and also various unsavory denizens of the East End, including villainous Mrs. Holland, who has trapped Matthew Bedwell, messenger from Lock, hart, by his addiction to opium. A whiff of opium smoke induces a vivid repetition of Sally's recurring nightmare, convincing her that it is actually memory; later, she deliberately breathes opium fumes in order to retrieve further pieces of the puzzle. After kidnappings and escapes, several murders, the finding and losing of the ruby and finding of a more moderate but useful inheritance hidden by Lockhart, everything is sorted out with surprisingly few loose ends, given the plot's many threads. An entertaining yarn, enlivened by humor and vivid characters, with the added historical interest of early photography and the evils of the opium trade. Sure to please readers of historical romances. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Sally Lockhart's father was an unconventional man. When he dies suddenly on a voyage to the Far East, Sally receives a mysterious letter containing a strange warning. Soon Sally finds herself at the heart of a deep and dangerous mystery, one she is determined to solve at all costs.

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Customer Reviews

41 Reviews
5 star:
 (29)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (41 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Clearly Pullman's back catalogue is worth reading too, 12 Oct 2001
By Andy Dingley "andy_dingley" (Bristol, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Like many readers, I first encountered Philip Pullman through the Dark Materials trilogy. Enjoying those, I went on to read some of his older books too - and I wasn't disappointed!

The Ruby In The Smoke is set in the word of Victorian penny-dreadfuls, Sax Rohmer's world of opium dens and the evil Dr Fu Manchu. Heroes are square-jawed and clean-living, villians are evil twisted crones. Everything is as it should be, and the sun never sets on the British Empire.

It's not a complex book - simple virtues of honesty and loyalty to one's friends are rewarded. In the end, good triumphs over evil - but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the evil An Lin...

4 1/2 stars, because it's not in the superlative category of The Subtle Knife, but it's still a rollicking good read.

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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An atmospheric page turner, 1 Sep 2002
The Sally Lockhart books may not be quite as 'literary' as the His Dark Materials trilogy, but they are cracking good reads! If, like me, you are a sucker for the seamier side of Victorian London, you will love the menacing atmosphere of gaslit Bloomsbury and dark and dangerous docklands. The plot is complex and gripping - I would have preferred to read this at one sitting, but being an honest sort, I took it to work and read snatches in my breaks, rather than taking a sickie. What I really love about Pullman is that he is not afraid to place his child characters in 'unsuitable' situations; they fall in love, see drug use, kill in self defence, and generally behave like real people instead of conforming to the saccharine stereotype which used to enrage me as a child.
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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Could it get any better., 5 Sep 2002
By Mikal (Stafford, England) - See all my reviews
I read this on the back of reading the Dark Materials trilogy and after them I thought there could be no better, especially not the ruby in the smoke. Yet from the first page to the last I was completely wrong.
The new cast of characters are interesting, the fact that it is rather more realistic (apart from Will's world) than the his dark materials trilogy makes it all the better.The plot always makes a twist which you don't expect, many are unhappy but that what makes the book what it is. Its those qualities which means you cant put it down and that your constantly on the edge of your seat.
It's by far the best Pullman book I've read (i've yet to read the other three Sally Lockhart books) and it provides a good introduction to all the characters. Move over Harry Potter, Sally Lockhart's in town.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Her name was Sally Lockhart; and within fifteen minutes, she was going to kill a man
In The Ruby in the Smoke, Phillip Pullman combines three of my favorite things: young adult fiction, a good mystery and a Victorian era setting. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Ruth King

5.0 out of 5 stars A first class book
I was bought this book as a child by my parents yet, at 31yrs old, it is still one of my favorite books! Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2006 by Ms. H. M. Pratt

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, Thrilling and Slightly Chilling!
There is something about the way this book is written that sucks you into the story. You become Sally Lockheart and you cannot put it down! Read more
Published on 8 May 2006 by R. Day

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Surprise!
The story is about Sally Lockhart, a 16-year-old girl, whose father is killed, leaving Sally with no parents. Read more
Published on by Livvy H

2.0 out of 5 stars Overrated
Philip Pullman has some good features, his books do grab you and his characters are believable, but he seems to have a problem with plot; so many of his stories have a weak finish... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2006 by K. A. Engel

4.0 out of 5 stars Sally Lockhart
Sally is a girl living in victorain London and her father dies while investiagte trouble with his shipping routes to the USA. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2005 by M. G. Hatfield

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than "His Dark Materials"
Philip Pullman is great. I read his dark materials trilogy and enjoyed it. But not that much. This book had that last bit in it to turn it from 4 to 5 stars. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2005 by The Reviewer...

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Matter's little brother
Philip Pullman has done it again. First the Dark Matter series and now this. The Ruby in the Smoke should appeal to most of the fans of this series, though this time the story... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2005 by chibizidane

5.0 out of 5 stars Utter genius.
The first book of the Sally Lockhart quadrilogy. This sequence is often (and I believe wrongly) overshadowed by Philip Pullman's more famous set "His Dark Materials". Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2005 by Mr. James A. Coleman

3.0 out of 5 stars Just the beginning.....
well hello folks and thanks for reading my review coming all the way from the computer room on the fourth floor of the arts block in Trinity college dublin. Read more
Published on 20 May 2005 by jimbobjay

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