Rating: 
Summary: Awkward start of a great series.
Review: Having finished the entire Dark Materials series, I would argue that is the weakest book. All of the fascinating pieces are there: daemons, parrallel universes, Lyra, Dust, malevolent church, etc. But the writing is awkward and the plot twists are too contrived. The next two books are much better. The last scene with Ms. Coulter and Lord Asriel is particularly laughable. Yet even after three books I still don't understand Ms. Coulter and Lord Asriel. Their love-hate relationship, quasi-mystic powers, and motivations aren't really explained.
Rating: 
Summary: New generation of fantasy comparable to Tolkien, L'Engle!
Review: It is a rare thing to come across fantasy which is anything close to that written by Tolkien, L'Engle, and The Chronicles of Narnia. This book and series does not quite make the cut, language-wise, but the fantasy (and actually there is a mix of sci-fi in here) gets increasingly interesting as the book goes on. The last half of the book by Pullman was not only captivating but the ideas which permeate the story are intriguing in and of themselves. Like many of the authors and books I mentioned, I get the feeling this book may have started out as a book for young readers. Somewhere along the line of writing it, I think by necessity it is actually more suitable for adults. I remember Tolkien's stories having wars and deaths, but this book (like most other media today) has a lot of violence in it, and I would recommend it only to very mature and stable adolescents. Not only that but to a Christian, some of the story's interpretations of the Bible and the discussion of what seems to be an organized Church gone bad may be a bit too much for parents of children and adolescents. So even though I plan to recommend this to my 16 year old to read, because I feel she will not only find it interesting but because of her maturity, I don't think I would automatically recommend it to all youth that I teach (hearing or deaf). This is not to say this isn't the beginning of a great series and a great author of fantasy. Some of the book was actually quite shocking...but I found the thought of every human having a companion/daemon who changed shapes according to the emotional needs of its human really a great and unique concept. As a lonely deaf child, I would have absolutely loved to have that type of companion and so it is really interesting that another person obviously thought that up too. I pretended for many years that I had a missing twin who was deaf like me somewhere...it is amazing the things children will invent to survive. Pullman is a good writer of the English language. This is important. I've rarely come across fiction, fantasy, science fiction that is written as well as more serious work...and Pullman and The Gold Compass comes closer then most current works of any type. It is with great interest that I look forward to reading the other books of this series. Karen SAdler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: He did a wonderful job. Gave him 4 stars cuz at the end he kinda rushed so it didn't make whole lotta sense.
Rating:
Summary: Just a note of warning -- but an important one.
Review: Ok, with 500+ reviews for this books the odds are against anyone reading this one, and I know Amazon likes to put the most glowing ones on top; still, this is important. I am 19. I read this book an enjoyed it. It's brilliantly written. However, The Golden Compass is marketed as a children's book, and THIS IS A MISTAKE. Sure, a kid could read this, I'm not questioning that. But if you buy this for your 10 year old, they will want to read the two sequels, and they get progressively darker and less appropriate for children. Watch out! Children should be challenged, sure, but this isn't a question of being too _hard_. This series is dark, and there are very scary ideas in it. It disturbed me, and it disturbed my 29 year old sister, and we are not known to be wimps. So, like I said -- just be warned.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely astounding.
Review: Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass (Knopf, 1995) There's a (relatively) new series of so-called children's novels that's been knocking adults off their feet. It's won just about every kidlit award there is to be won, and has appeared on best-of lists around the globe. Despite being aimed at children, it's the kind of thing that gets better as the reader gets older; there's far more here than meets the eye and, like all great children's novels, reading them from an adult perspective will show you far more than you'll grasp as a kid. But enough about Harry Potter. At least, that's the hype that's been surrounding the HP books since HP and the Philosopher's Stone was published. Maybe I was just responding to the hype, but when I read it, I found it amusing enough, but wondered why J. K. Rowling was being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread. I have to admit, when words about Philip Pullman crossed my path, I approached with some trepidation, expecting another Potteresque expression of wonderment at how the marketing community impresses little minds. How wrong I was. Philip Pullman's series has garnered only a fraction of the mainstream hullaballoo as has the little wizardlings and their school, but these three novels, collectively known as His Dark Materials (from a line in _Paradise Lost_), could easily fill the Shaq-sized sneakers Potter has garnered, and then some. The series starts off with The Golden Compass, which transcends the usual fantasy-series first-book blues (setup, setup, setup-- action's coming later, wot?) by throwing us into the thick of things from the get-go. Our heroine, Lyra Belacqua, has spent a carefree childhood growing up amongst (and annoying) the staff and scholars of Jordan College, a branch of Oxford dedicated to experimental theology one will only find in a parallel universe. In this particular parallel universe, every human being is equipped with a personal daemon (roughly equivalent to a guardian animal spirit, but with a lot more close personal contact). The antics begin when Lyra and her daemon go into one of those places where they're not supposed to be, hear things they're not supposed to hear, and (considering the whole thing a lark) decide to act on what they find. While there's obviously a good amount of setup therein, Pullman masks a good deal of it by weaving it into the adventures of the first book. The pace never slackens-- in fact, in some places, Pullman's ability to quicken the pace seems almost supernatural. By the time you're finished, Pullman has created an utterly believable parallel universe, generally sympathetic characters (with the exception of Lyra herself, who's a brat from beginning to end), and most importantly (for the author, anyway), an intense desire to continue on to book 2. *****
Rating: 
Summary: bbbbbbboooooooorrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiinnnnnnnnggggggggg
Review: this is just a boring book. I'm sorry, but after reading epics such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS, this is a big let down. Not packed with enough adventure, and poorly written is how i describe this book. If you like story's about wierd people who abduct kids in england, and travel to the north pole with a polar bear, than this is the book for you, but if you enjoy action packed, or well written novels that are not boring, then DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. I don't know why several people like this book, but because i've read almost every good fantasy/adventure book out there, i can say fairly that this is a bad book
Rating:
Summary: bbboooorrrrrrrriiiiinnnngggggg
Review: this book is really boring. it's about some weirdo's who kidnap kids in england, and about a girl and a polar bear in the north pole, where somehow, aurora borealis (i didn't spell that right) just transformed in to an alter dimension thingy. This book has about 30 pages of action, and is really to long. This was such a let down, because after reading THE LORD OF THE RINGS, which i strongly suggest buying, this book was a joke. Poor writting, combined with a boring story.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy as it was meant to be written
Review: Part one of the Dark Materials Trilogy. A delightful story for both the young and old alike (shades of T.H. White). As far as young people's books that appeal to adults go, this is the next best thing to the Harry Potter series and written on a slightly more mature level. The refreshingly optimistic fantasy starts in the world of a 19th Century-like England where each person's soul resides in a separate familiar or avatar in the form of an animal. A quest to the snowy North in pursuit of the power to open a gateway between the worlds. Loosely this series is a retelling of Milton's Paradise Lost. It is clear which characters are good and which evil, and the trilogy will progress to dealing with some of the great issues of philosophy before it is through. This is a book you are guaranteed to enjoy and you won't be able to resist reading all three.
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Summary: northern lights _ book review
Review: this book is excellent. ive read the english version which i think has no comparison to the american. this book is good for readers who like adventurous books where many pieces of the puzzle will have to be worked out by you, the reader. it is very engrossing in that it is always making you keep an active mind, great 'proper reading' and the whole trilogy is the best material i have read since david almond and jacqueline wilson. hope you enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: "Destined to become a classic."- The Detroit Free Press
Review: I read all three His Dark Materials books and I can say my feelings about them in three words: I loved them! They were awesome, exciting, suspensful, thrilling, sad, romantic, action-packed, and so much more! A main reason why I'm in love with this trilogy is because Pullman made a the hero of the story a girl. He describle Lyra Belequa so well. I loved how she never gave up without a fight and she was just- brilliant! I really think that there should be a movie of all three books. It was an awesome trilogy and I think that if they get a good director and fantastic actors and actresses it could be an even better movie. I've really never read anything like His Dark Materials, also I've never read anything by Phillip Pullman before this. He's just a great writer, he's creative and he wrote a wonderful book that I and all my friends just adored. So I guess I've said enough good things about this book, and there are no bad things except at sometimes the story is a bit difficult to follow, but I think Phillip Pullman did that purposely. Anyway, this book was inspiring and without a doubt fantastic! This is a must read trilogy- The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass.
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