Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: I am a Harry Potter fan, and have been waiting for the fifth one for some time now. While I have been waiting, I have read lots of other fantasies. This one is the best, next to Harry Potter of course! I loved it, and begged my mom to order the next ones. I think it is one of the best fantasy novels you will get, because it introduces a whole new way of thinking, and gets your imagination going. It has wonderful action and excitement in it too. If you're looking for a great book, this is one of the best!
Rating: 
Summary: The Golden Compass
Review: Twelve year-old Lyra lives in our world, yet Pullman's version has magic that is as grand as the cosmos. He leads you along the almost Dickensian decrepit rooftops and dark underground passages of Oxford, only to take you far, far away to the north where snow and light melt into worlds that can only be dreamed of in Oxford. Lyra and every other human in her world have daemons, creatures that take the forms of animals and are locked into their humans' souls from birth. But what happens when they are ripped away is almost unbearable to think about. Lyra follows the trail of Oxford's missing children to the laboratory hidden in the snows of the northern wastelands where her estranged mother experiments with a "dust" whose vast powers she would control. Pullman has created a story of such depth and complexity that you are lead on and on, deeper into terrifying trouble, along with the bold Lyra.
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: I BOUGHT this book about three months ago and I only just finished it. Why did it take me so long? Because it ....! The first chapter alone took me two and a half weeks to read because it was so boring! Not only was I lenient and decided to choke my way through the rest, but I didn't hack it to bits either! (And believe me, it deserved it.) My friend told be it was a good slab of fantasy. . . Harry Potter is much better. If you want GOOD fantasy, try LotR or Harry Potter. But don't waste your time, life, or money, on this horrible, useless excuse for a novel. (Wait, did I say useless? It's a good prop for the uneven leg on your table. Or if you need something to feed your fire at Christmas. Or, you can also use it if you can't go to sleep at night. Worked for me!) Needless to say, this book will find its way into the firewood my dad is chopping at our cabin this summer. I can hardly wait.
Rating:
Summary: NOT for Children!
Review: I would give this book the BEST rating there ever is, no doubt. And why oh why is it considered a CHILDREN'S book???!?!?!?!!?!? I will never understand...this book is deeper in terms of writing style, philosophical and moral issues that it raises than some of the so-called "inspiring" books meant for adults. No children will be able to appreciate this book in all its complexity. The magic, the characters, the plot and everything cannot be taken at surface value! Even though I adore Harry Potter :) I have to agree it surpasses JK Rowlings. I definitely recommend this book!! It's a masterpiece. None of the fantasy books I've read (and I've read a lot) can measure up to this series.
Rating:
Summary: Among the best
Review: "The Golden Compass" is the first of three books of the "His Dark Materials" combo. Pullman's first installment ranks with the best of them, and if you happen to have caught the Harry Potter bug (no matter your age) and want to explore a new series of masterfully written original bliss- this is your starting point.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific
Review: "The Golden Compass" is a definite five-star effort, and for any adult it should be well worth taking a trip to the children's section of your bookstore or library, where this masterpiece is often incorrectly located, to find a copy. The area where this book really stands out is imagination. No yawn-inducing clichés, no predictable plotting, no tired language. Instead we get armored polar bears who will fight honorably for the right price (or at least they're supposed to), animal daemons who represent a person's inner soul, and parallel universes that offer the possibility of world-changing discoveries. There are two things that are amazing about the story arc in this book. First is the enormous amount of material, including plotting, description, and characterization, that Pullman fits into just four hundred pages. Second is the way that the novel keeps morphing into a new form while still remaining a coherent piece of literature. It starts out as a mystery about the disappearance of groups of children from various cities in England. It then shifts to an adventure story as the girl named Lyra joins a rescue mission to the far North. Near the end it seems more like a philosophical novel, but don't worry, there's still an action-packed climax waiting in the final pages. Of course, no review of "The Golden Compass" could be complete without some mention of the subject matter. Pullman's stroke of genius is to take abstract concepts that the major western religions have always been centered around, such as the soul and sin, and give them physical form, and then portray how religious institutions might react to that. His book analysis of religion and philosophy from this angle is never dumbed-down, and he doesn't shy away from the implications of the events and concepts that he's created. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Pullman's worldview, you have to grant that he makes you think about these questions in a new light, which is more than can be said for most fantasy authors in either the 'children' or the 'adult' sections.
Rating:
Summary: There are no words.......
Review: This trilogy, His Dark Materials, is...there are no words. Surrealistic. The questions it poses and the questions it answers are beyond words. I cannot describe. Lyra, a girl growing up in Oxford, in a parallel world to our own, overhears a conversation while hiding in a wardrobe. Because of this thing, her life spirals out of her control, sending her to the north amongst armoured bears and into other worlds. In a world where a human is reflected in animal form, where children are stolen from their homes, where Dust rains from the sky, Lyra must make a choice. And the fates of thousands of worlds depend on that choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, a little uncomfortable though
Review: When I first read this book, I liked it a lot. So a lot of you may like it too. The book tells of a girl named Lyra and her daemon, her animal companion who shares adventures with her in the Arctic. However, Some parts of it made me feel uncomfortable, because I am a Christian. The book seems to hint that the Church is evil, and it re-words the Bible. It also has stuff about witches and ghosts. Otherwise it seems fine. However, I don't recomend that you read it. Although it seems okay, it leaves you wondering what happens and wanting to read the next book. And I was majorly disapointed with the Subtle Knife. It trashes God and says he is evil, and it encourages rebellion. It says that God can be destroyed with a knife. If you are a Christian, or any other person for that matter, I would say stay away of the other books. This one isn't so bad, but be on your guard.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Wow! I must admitt, this is probably the best book I've ever read in my entire life. Philip Pullman isn't afraid to make this book completely not sappy. It is dificult to read and he makes it seem like the characters are alive. This book is origional or how ever you spell that. Sorry I'm pretty young so I don't spell things too well. The Golden Compass and the rest of the triliogy is probably 9th grade level. This book leads you to the shocking end conclusion that will leave you hanging for the rest of your life. So please just for me, read this triliogy, you wont regret you did. This book is probably a close tie with the Harry Potter books and all who like the Genre of Adventure or Fantacy must read this. I loved it and I belive I could go on and on about it so please get reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Not that great...
Review: I fully expect to be hanged, drawn, quartered for this, and possibly stoned too, but nevertheless, I'm going to grit my teeth and say it- I didn't care very much for this book. Yep, I can see it now, the legions of devoted Pullman fans racing down to tar and feather me. But please, before you begin, hear me out. This was not a bad book. It certainly was not the worst I have ever read, but it was by no means the best. I have read worse fantasy, but I have also read much, much better books from the same genre. What didn't I like? Well, first off, the alternate universe thing confused me. Lyra, the heroine, lives in this weird sort of other universe, which is very similar to our own, except that everyone in it has a daemon, a sort of "visible soul." The result of this is that Oxford, London, and zeppelins will be mentioned almost in the same sentence as daemons and anbaric lights. This creates a strange, surreal universe, that contains no depth, reality, or believability. There is no sense of an actual living, breathing world, with the result that the characters cease to be real, concrete people, and their adventures become silly and improbable. Now granted, this is fantasy we're talking about here, so the events in the story are not going to be typical things that could happen to anybody anytime. But compare this world with the wonderful Middle Earth of Tolkien's books. Middle Earth is real, it is concrete. It is replete with different cultures, each with their own language, history, mythology, and customs. It is belivable, so that its characters and their adventures are also belivable. When reading Tolkien, I have no problem beliving that the hobbit Frodo is being pursued by evil black horsemen to the house of wise and beautiful elves. When reading Pullman, I cannot bring myself to believe that Lyra is floating in a hot air balloon above a country full of talking bears. It doesn't ring true. Another thing I didn't like was the characters. Lyra started out all right, as a fun loving, spunky tomboy. But she quickly lost her sparkle and faded to an unremarkable character. I ceased to care that much about what happened to her. That was the problem I had with most of the characters. They all had some defining traits, yes, but were not nearly as varied and diverse as in other books. And as for Lord Asriel- he's consistently portrayed as being noble and honorable, with pure and academic motives. yet he conceives a child with a married woman he never weds, murders her husband, conducts hideous experiments on children, betrays his daughter, and kidnaps her friend. What's wrong with this picture? This book was all right. The beginning was very good, and it did hold my interest enough so that I finished it. But even then, by the time I got to the end I was starting to grow bored with the whole thing, read the last pages hurriedly. It gave me a little enjoyment, but I don't feel any pressing need, or really any need at all, to read the sequels. The flatness and unreality of the world and its characters don't encourage me to continue reading this series. My advice to prospective readers? It's all right, but you're much better off with the far superior "Lord of the Rings."
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