Northern Lights (aka Golden Compass)
Publisher: Scholastic ChildrenPublication Date: 1998
Pages: 416
Source: Borrowed off a friend
Genre: Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy
Goodreads | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.com
The Northern Lights introduces us to Lyra, a girl living in Oxford in a parallel world not dissimilar to our own, and her dæmon Pantalaimon (dæmon's are a part of a human existing externally in the shape of an animal), as she goes on an adventure to rescue her missing friend Roger and her imprisoned father who has been conducting experiments with a substance known as Dust. Along the way she meets Gyptians and Witches, an armoured bear, and Lee Scoresby a skilled aeronaut. It is a exiting tale of high adventure.
I read the book after I had watched the movie so I knew quite a lot about what was going on beforehand but I didn't like the movie that much so I went into the book with an open mind. I really enjoyed the first book, Pullman weaves an incredible story in a realistic alternative world with enough action packed adventure to keep you turning the page.
The Subtle Knife
Publisher: Scholastic ChildrenPublication Date: 1998
Pages: 352
Source: Borrowed off a friend
Genre: Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy
Goodreads | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.com
The second book in the trilogy splits as we follow two characters; Lyra from the first book and Will Parry, a young boy who exists in our world who accidentally kills a man while protecting his mother and discovers a window that leads to Cittàgazze, a city in yet another world, in which to hide. However things here aren't quite what the seem as he discovers that only children remain. Lyra and Will meet up in this third world and find that their journeys are interlinked.
I found the story surrounding the knife and Cittàgazze absolutely fascinating and enjoyed the friendship that evolves between Lyra and Will. There are a lot of side stories within this novel but they are all fast paced and exiting, it was incredibly fun to try and unravel all the threads.
The Amber Spyglass
Publisher: PointPublication Date: 2001
Pages: 544
Source: Borrowed off a friend
Genre: Young Adult, Adventure, Fantasy
Goodreads | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | BookDepository.com
The third and final novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy follows Will, accompanied by two angels, as he searches for Lyra who has been kidnapped. The story is also entwined with a number of sub-plots as we follow Dr Mary Malone who we met in the second book as she explores yet another world full of diamond-shaped skeleton beings who ride on wheels and Lord Asriel in his fight against the Authority and Ms Coulter in...whatever she seems to be doing, and later Will and Lyra as they journey into the world of the dead.
I found the third book ran with an undertone of almost anti-religion and I was intrigued by that so I did a little research. And sure enough there has been some controversy surrounding this series and I can certainly understand why some may have boycotted the book however I also wasn't offended by anything in the books and so was happy to read them to their conclusion. For me I found that the underlying current was more anti-oppression than anti-God and although I found the religious context interesting the lack of direction in the final book meant that any definitive impact was lost. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the book was inspired by an epic poem Paradise Lost (John Milton) detailing the story of the Fall of Man.
I certainly didn't like the third and final book anywhere near as much as the first two. I felt that a lot of the adventure and pace of the first two books was lost in the final and as the story came to an end I found there were many areas of the story that just didn't sit right with me and I found myself with more questions that just couldn't be answered. I found myself thinking 'okay this happened but I can't work out why it happened'. This of course could simply come down to my interpretation of the story but there just seemed to be plot points that just didn't add up for me. I also hated what they did to Ms Coulter's character. She seemed to just keep doing 360s. Oh she's bad, no she's good, oh no she's bad, oh no wait she's good. It was almost like Pullman couldn't work out what to do with her and so just threw her in a different direction when it was convenient. And that gigantic battle that they were all preparing for over two books... anyone know how that ended up... no? Oh well guess we didn't need to know. And the whole subplot of Father Gomez? Yeah he was so pointless I've virtually forgotten him already.
So all in all I really enjoyed the series as a whole and would recommend it to those that like a bit of adventure and don't mind the odd bit of fantasy thrown in to the mix, but like me you may find yourself disappointed by the supposed conclusion.
His Dark Materials was read as part of my 100 book challenge of must read novels
(17 read. 83 to go!).
