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Summary: Erica's Golden Compass Boook Review
Review: The Golden Compass, written by Phillip Pullman, was a very interesting read.It starts out taking place in England, but further on in the book,the main character Lyra travels North. This book also takes place in the future. The 6 main characters in this book were: Lyra, Pantalaimon, Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter, Farder Coram, and Iorek, the armored bear. In my opinion, Iorek was the best and most valued character in The Golden Compass. Iorek is strong and full of courage. Also, Iorek acts like a father to Lyra, and protects her.Here is my summary of the story:Lyra is a girl who lives in a collage. That is until a woman named Mrs.Coulter takes her away. But before Lyra leaves, the Master of the collage gives her a magical objcet called an alethometer. Although Lyra does not know it, she is destined to bring the end of destiny. Lyra travels north with a pack of gyptians, for she is determind to bring the alethometer to a very special person. I gave The Golden Compass 4 stars, 5 being the highest. I absolutly loved everything about this story, but would make one small change if I was the author. If I was the author, I would have made the book shorter by about 75 pages. In my point of veiw, 75 pages or less of the book was information that wasn't that important to the story, and that readers could have done without. Overall, The Golden Compass was a very good book, and I would recomend it to anyone who likes a mix of fantasy and science fiction.
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Summary: A must read fantasy!
Review: This book was well written, i could not put it down! The main character's life is such an adventure. Once you finish this book you will want to read the rest of Philip Pullman's trilogy. Philip Pullman did a fantastic job creating the events that take place. Once you finish reading one chapter you will automaticly want to read the next to find what Lyra will do next. If you don't like the way the book starts out keep on reading because it get's better each page of the way!
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Summary: The Tomboy's Daemon
Review: Lyra is a little girl who lives at Jordan College in the Oxford of another world like ours but different. Lyra receives routine visits by her "uncle" and during one such visit, overhears a conversation about "Dust." This seemingly unimportang event is the base of the book. The author could do a better job explaining what dust is. The girl herself has a wild spirit as a tomboy. Her daemon will fascinate you once you finally figure out what it is. It is also nice to read about the etiquette of this world and how you treat someone else's daemon. The resemblance of Lyra's world to ours is quite thought-provoking. It is also touching to read about Lyra's past. The plot is so exciting, the reader skips a lot of pages to find out what happens next instead of reading a lengthy description about the quite normal surroundings. You would need to have the next book in the trilogy instead of waiting because it stops right in the middle of the most exciting part. I would recomend this book to someone who has a lot of patience and someone who can draw picture's in their mind with given description.
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Summary: What a wonderful treat!
Review: I found Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy sort of by chance through Amazon, and ordered all three books in one go. What a treat it was to start with the Golden Compass, and know that I still had 2 books to go! (Paradoxically, that is why I've only given the trilogy 4 stars.... reading them all in one go may have been a trifle too much at one time. At the end I was slightly weary, and the world of the dead (The Amber Spyglass) was so frightening and heart-wrenching, and I found myself actually wishing that I'd had to wait a year or two between each book - well maybe not that long, but a little while.)I'm not much of a fantasy fan - my favorite stories for big and small children are the Narnia books and The Lord of the Rings. But this really measured up to those two series. I've also read and enjoyed Harry Potter, but I must say I thought Pullman was even better! An additional experience for me, apart from just enjoying a thrilling, excellent, fantastical read, was the way he described the windows into parallel worlds. Having just sadly and tragically lost my son, his parallel worlds helped me understand my feeling of slipping in and out of these two very distinct worlds - the world of utter sadness, and the world of "life goes on". And the escape into Pullman's fantasy world was extremely therapeutic! Read all three books, but maybe you should take a break in between....
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Summary: A great fantasy-adventure story
Review: I would rate this as the best and most accessible of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy. The author has the great gift of being able to create a coherent and believable world inhabited by rounded and fascinating characters. The plot moves fast and the suspense is maintained throughout. Pullman plants the reader straight in Lyra's world which seems very similar to ours, but is disconcertingly different. The effect is slightly disorienting at first, but as the action moves ahead, the reader is swept along by the sheer force of the author's imagination. The book is rich in detail and the author has clearly drawn on his own wide reading and experience to create the settings and characters. The narrative is sometimes hard to follow, but the book is well worth the effort because of its depth and richness. Of the three novels in the trilogy I liked this one the best as the author becomes more ambitious and philosophical in the later books and I don't think he is quite successful in keeping the action and the ideas together. In the last book (The Amber Spyglass) especially, he seems to be drawing more self-consciously on literary models such as Milton's Paradise Lost and in doing so I think he complicates things somewhat, although older readers with more reading experience might enjoy thinking about the ideas presented.
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Summary: A Daring New Trilogy
Review: Many people had suggested the Golden Compass to me, but due to my terrible habit of judging books by their cover, I never got around to it. After I while, I gave in and was surprised. This is an interesting book, fresh new idea with an incredibly spunky heroine. As she treks across a world much like ours, yet different, we encounter a large assortment of magical creatures: armoured bears, witches, etc. Flipping through the pages just makes you wonder what exactly is going to happen to Lyra next. But sometimes, I felt that Philip Pullman went a little overboard with the descriptions. The storyline is so interesting, you might find yourself skipping a couple of pages, wanting to find out what happens next, not a description of a sunset. All in all, this book isn't the best in the trilogy, but you should read it for no book from His Dark Materials stands alone.
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Summary: The real problem is the plot.
Review: A good hero gets into some trouble, then takes action to get out of trouble, solve the mystery, win the day. The "hero" of this book has all her problems solved by others. She overhears a conversation about "Dust" and is dragged off to live with a mysterious woman, where she overhears a conversation about missing children. She's rescued by others who tell her more information, and so on, ad nauseum. If you don't mind a passive hero who has all the "twist and turns" handed to her on a silver platter, and you don't mind suffering through dialect that substitutes for character development (all the lower class people say "en't" instead of "ain't" -- en't that clever), then you'll love this book. For truly captivating storytelling, re-read Harry Potter.
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Summary: Fun and well-written, but caveat to Christian parents
Review: Pullman writes a page-turner, and like the best of its genre, it can be read by teens or adults. The world of "Golden Compass" is vividly imagined, and Pullman's devices (daemons, anbaric energy, zeppelins, etc.) all work to firmly place the reader in a specific setting. The plotting and diction are tight everywhere, and the second part of the trilogy has even better pacing. Pullman is obsessed with a Manichaean/gnostic view of the world and of spirit, and with every successive book in the series, he advocates it more firmly and explicitly. In fact, his obsession distinctly weakens his craftsmanship in the third book.
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Summary: A must read! Destined to become a classic!
Review: I picked up this book at a book store, pulled by the bear on the cover (i'm an official bear freak). I bought it, and read it. By the third page I was hooked. It was a wonderful experiance, and I felt as if I was with Lyra, Pan, and Iorek Byrnison fighting in Bolvanger and Svalbard, and flying in a balloon. Any book lover (kid or adult) should read this book.Read the second and third one as well!
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Summary: Right Up There With Rowling and Tolkien, Truly Amazing!
Review: I have just finished the Golden Compass, and I want to tell you all to read it right now! This is an astounding book. I loved every part of it. It's a challenge for young readers, and the fantasy is just right. If you're 11-14 and are just a mediocre reader, the Golden Compass will inspire you to read and read! You literally can't stop reading this book, and if you do, you'll want to get back as soon as possible! Come on, please try it! This book is totally deserving of all the attention it is getting! ;)
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