His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) | Philip Pullman | WONDERFUL!!

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His Dark Materials...

	His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) Philip Pullman Laurel Leaf, 2003 average customer review:based on 1079 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

great

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (His Dark Materials)

WONDERFUL!!

This is an amazing collection, I originaly purchased these books after watching the movie "The Golden Compass" which is the first book in this collection. The way the movie was written is leaves you up in the air at the end of the movie wanting more so when I found out the movie was based on a book and there was a series I purchased them immediatly.
I am a new mother and I do not read much but of coarse if I want my daughter to read I need to show her it is fun so I was looking for a fun and easy to read story and this is it.
These books keep me turning the page, I would compair the type of story to "The lord of the rings" the writer has a great imagination. I feel like I really know the characters.
The story begins in a world similar to ours but different, the largest difference is that the characters spirit or soul is not inside their body but it portraid as an animal that talks and travels with them, adults "demon" (which is what they are called in the book) stay the same but childrens demon change based upon how they feel or the circumstances. This demon like a spirit or a soul determins your personality, and if the demon hurts the person hurts.
I am trying to be very careful not to tell you too much but my parents told me about the story and that is what made me so interisted.
The first book is basicaly about an experiment where the seperate the demon from the child in order to maintain control of their adult behavior. I will stop there because I can go on all day.
I would recomend this series to anyone adult or child with an imagination, it is easy reading and is a wonderful story, bravo to the writer he has made me LOVE reading again.

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Enjoyable fantasy

No point in reviewing the individual books because they don't make sense alone - they are three episodes of a single story. Read "Northern Lights" (or, as I did first, see the approximately corresponding film "The Golden Compass") alone, and one is confronted with an odd children's adventure yarn, admittedly rather darker and more sinister in the book than in the watered-down film. However, one (this one anyway) was still tempted to paraphrase Randy Newman:

O, who would think a girl and bear
Could be well accepted everywhere?
It's just amazing how fair
People can be!

"Northern Lights" is actually a bit of a bore, and one is tempted to scream "GET ON WITH IT!" every few pages. However, it is an essential set-up for what follows. "The Subtle Knife" is a marvellous bit of compulsive page-turning writing as three parallel worlds come into collision and the anti-religious overtones of the trilogy, at which "Northern Lights" only vaguely hints, come more sharply into focus. The character of Will, the boy from our world, with destiny thrust upon him, is especially appealing.

"The Amber Spyglass", fattest of the three, starts off slowly, but stick with it, because it becomes ever more interesting and fascinating. One (this one anyway) is lost in admiration of Mr. Pullman's prodigious imagination in weaving together all the various and varied elements of this amazing tale. In some cases, the imagination is, to me, just too prodigious, with the creation of wheeled creatures, appealing though they are. However, you will enjoy the ride. The bittersweet ending is especially effective.

And the anti-religious message that seems to have upset some people? "The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all," states one of Mr. Pullman's heroines. And devout Christians will undoubtedly bridle at his picture of "The Authority" and indeed his whole take on theology, on which he has partially based his fantasy, with many Biblical ideas (the Garden of Eden) and figures (Enoch) playing a part. However, as I understand it, this God bears little or no resemblance to the God of the Bible, whom Christians worship, and if He does, they should be very worried indeed. And, hey, Christianity has been around for 2000 years now. It should be grown up and able to stand up for itself - and be both ready and able to take a bit of honest examination. Has the faith for which many were prepared to perish in the arenas of Rome with such courage come to the point where a kids' book is a threat? If it has, it's not much of a faith. As for its potential for subverting children, it seems to me to be about as subversive as Harry Potter - and does it not represent a golden opportunity for Christian parents to expound the difference?

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a different reading

A book with a different point of view than what I read before, but altogether I enjoyed it. The ending was perhaps a little short and not very impressive, so a few points are lost there. Overall a book worth reading.

mass market paperbacks - not trade paperbacks

I ordered this under the impression that these were trade paperbacks, not mass market paperbacks. (In the list of similar items, this set is listed separately from the specific "mass market paperback boxset".)

I guess I didn't pay close enough attention, because indeed these are mass market paperbacks. (If you take the time to look over the full listings for His Dark Materials, you can see that the covers are the same as the individual mass market volumes.)

It's a fairly nice set, for mass market, and a good value -- just not what I was expecting. If you want to buy the series as separate volumes and on the cheap, it's a good choice.

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