Rating: 
Summary: A Great Adventure
Review: The amazing trilogy, His Dark Materials kicks off with The Golden Compass, where in a strange world with winged daemons as companions and the elusive Dust which has the power to unite universes, a girl named Lyra begins her quest to find her friend Roger. She travels far and wide to the snow ridden landscapes of the North. Lyra finds her twisted mother to be in charge of an experimental post on children in the North. The story unravels as Lyra, joined by Will in the Subtle Knife, tries to save the universe from her destructive mother and father.All three books grab your attention from start to finish, even if you don't like fantasy that much, the pure adventure will take you away. But, not suitable for anyone under ten years old due to the odd scary moment.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Stories
Review: Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials Triology is a masterfully written set of stories that should appeal to adults and older children (I would suggest 12+) alike. They extremely well written, and perfectly conjure up the images of the worlds and people that are the subjects of these books. While the messages are sometimes dark, and left me with an ongoing sense of unease throughout, I think that the "anti-Church" sentiment that some find in these books should actually be seen as a statement against corruption, for example the abuse of the position of power and trust that the Church holds in society. The stories are actually about the fact that innocence, love, friendship and faithfulness are what will save everything.
I would recommend these to everyone, they are stunningly well written (and should be read with an open mind). As for parallels with Harry Potter? ... forget it - these far outclass JK Rowling's books (which I also enjoyed), and are novels about childhood, not children's novels.
Rating:
Summary: Very amusing
Review: Not the book, you fantastic God Squad members - particularly the ones who think they are undercover by saying "I'm not very religious but...". Christiane Hendriksen displays her ignorance by refusing to believe the church would "cut off the genitals of children" (at least that was what she was trying to say): refuse to believe all you want - it's still true. I particularly like the line of that fine argument since it's probably the one the God Squad will use on an unbeliever like me. Stefanos Erini does a great impression of Gollum - unless of course it's the royal "we" he's talking about, my precious. Best of all though, are those who hate the book for it's lack of factual basis or evidence for Pullman's theory. As opposed to the Bible which, co-incidentally, is far more poorly written and full of plot holes. Those who are offended by this "anti-religious" (sic) propoganda betray their underlying insecurities in their own faiths - when was the last time you saw an atheist or agnostic scream and rant that the Bible was published? Hmm? That's because they can cope with those who have different beliefs. As for the book not being suitable for children until they reach the right age not to be sucked in by its "brain-washing" potential, I completely agree. But, while we're at it, I think we also need to ban them from reading the Bible in that case. Surely that's fair? Bottom line is, keep your reviews based on the creativeness of the story and the skill with which it is told. Whether you agree or disagree with the author's take on religion is totally irrelevant. Idiots.
Rating:
Summary: READ
Review: This series is really cool. I read it when I was 10-11 and I didn't quite get it. Maybe that was a good thing. I just read it, was like "Ok, that's cool." and went off doing my own thing. Now I just reread it and had no idea how much I was missing, and I'm no dummy. I still think that I don't understand it all still. I would recommend this to adults with an open mind.(...).
Rating:
Summary: Grabs you from the first page!
Review: Very rarely can I say that a book grabs my attention from the first page, but this trilogy had me from PAGE ONE!
Pullman's alternate universes collide in a story that has a simple yet not to simple ideal. The characters are memorable to say the least with depths and stories of their own that only add to the main plot.
If you enjoy fantasy, this has it all: adventure, magic, love, creatures from different worlds... it truly is a master work of art!!
Warning: I believe this trilogy is too advanced and violent for any child under the age of 12 or 13, and is also a WONDERFUL book for adults and fantasy lovers.
Rating:
Summary: a great read, but not for children
Review: I'd like to dispell the notion that many have in thinking that His Dark Materials are children books. They are not. If anyone under the age of 11 was to read them, not only would the themes be too dark and too anti-Christian, but they probably wouldn't understand much of what is happening.
That said, Philip Pullman has written a wonderful series that I have read three times now. Despite his "anti-Christian" messages, the story is beautifully and imaginatively written. The first book is the tamest of all three but that doesn't mean there is no controversy. Prepubescent children are in danger from the Church who wants to separate their daemons (physical forms of the people's souls) from their body so as to prevent Dust (a physical representation of Sin) from settling onto their bodies. Through the second book the Lyra's father, Lord Asriel, has started to gather an army to make war on God, or the Authority, and the Church's true side is shown as they try to murder Lyra for being prophesized as the new Eve.
Where in the beginning Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter were seen as the bad, God-hating, side that Lyra was supposed to defeat, she, and the reader, turns so that we are actually rooting for Lord Asriel's war.
The Christian religion is displayed very differently than how churches truly teach it. There isn't any Creator, that is a lie, there is only an angel that came first and named himself the Authority. He has become so old and decrepit that he can't rule for himself and the angel left in control, Metatron, is ready to send angels into everyday human affairs to root out the unfaithful. It would be an Inquisition.
The simple fact that Lyra is an accomplished liar does not prove the story has bad themes, it shows her creativity and her imagination. In fact it saves her life many times, and gets her in trouble at one point that she understands the negative side to lying too much. The books are often compared to Harry Potter and as someone who has read both series there are nearly no similiarities I can see other than the main characters being around the same ages and the themes are fantasy. His Dark Materials have much darker themes and shouldn't be read by the same age group of 9-12, as many sites state the reading age is.
This is a series that I plan to keep for my children should they wish to read it, and I will have no qualms about it
Rating:
Summary: Very addictive excellent books!
Review: I didn't think there was another fantasy series that could compare with ones like Narnia or Harry Potter, but I was very impressed with these books and couldn't put them down. They're great because the fantasy world is convincing and you fall in love with the characters. Lyra is one of the strongest little-girl characters I've ever heard of, which is reason enough for little girls to read it, I suppose. (and everyone else!)
The Golden Compass is my favourite of the trilogy, but thank goodness there was more to read! The Amber Spyglass wraps up the trilogy in a moving way.
I would reccomend picking up the first book and seeing if you get hooked!
Rating:
Summary: Wholesome AND Challenging
Review: This is a really enjoyable story that is mostrously engaging to read. At the end of the day, that is what puts Pullman's series into the top echelon of kid/adult books. It is also a complex book that can be misunderstood. I think it is very misleading to say Dark Materials is a new Harry Potter. What makes the Harry Potter series so engaging is that it really gets to the heart of kid-ness. Dark Materials has Potter's bullies, buddies, magic, friendship, and monsters, but it also captures the staggering mismatch between how we want the world to be and the compromises that adulthood and "civilization" seemed to necessitate. Dark Materials is imaginative like Potter, but it is not about adolescence. It is about humanity. In my opinion, it is the humanists answer to Narnia. In fact, it is really a story about storytelling, the type of storytelling that is at the core of civilization and who we are. For Lyra (the protagonist) Will, the Gyptians, witches, bears, etc., relationships with each other are simultaneously rigid - one is a bear or is not a bear, and fluid - can one be a person without a daemon? Their identities are revealed as a set of shared stories that define how their individual societies are organized and how they interact. The "tribalism" for lack of a better word, creates an extremely rich tapestry to explore issues about how we justify our actions. It also allows Pullman to explore the nature of authority, ritual, commitment, and personal choice across many dimensions (literally and figuratively). We get the opportunity to look at marriage, kiship, family, race, and, as you probably have noticed from other postings, religion. It unfortunately easy to overlook the creative genius behind these stories by over-focusing on the issue of religion. It is, however, worth it. I would encourage the reader to see this as a tremendously creative story about how the greatest fears, and the greatest motivators, are the stories that we use to define who we really are. It is a brilliant arc that illuminates the inconsistencies in our worldview, our insecurities, and our flaws. It also exposes how our stories ennoble us and enable us to survive. Read His Dark Materials. Revel in the creativity, the tone, and the story. Excuse the minor glitches in the ending. This is not Harry Potter, with its warm embrace of clear moral direction and clean endings. This is a book that revels in our complexity and reveals the massive creativity that underlies our conscious existence. It tells stories about how much existence relies on stories. It is also a great way to spend a few weeks worth of evenings!
Rating:
Summary: WOW - couldn't put it down.
Review: Mr. pullman has created a believable world where young and old can escape. I am so glad that I bought the entire set so that I did not have to wait to go from one book to the next. The rich characters in this book are still very vivid in my mind even though months have gone by since I read the trilogy. This is a series that I will read many times. I find myself imagining what my daemon would have been.
Rating: 
Summary: Very opinionated themes
Review: First the good news: these books are imaginative. And the first two are well written. Not so the third.
The rest is bad news: these books are not for children. The author even says in interviews he is not writing for a particular audience. Yet, these books are marketed as books for children. Most parents would be surprised at some of the content of these books. I don't have the space here to give all of the many examples but the fact that the heroine's main talent is that she is an accomplished liar is a start. And then there are the themes! You could say that this is "The Da Vinci Code" for kids. I doubt that Christian parents would want their children to read these books. There are themes here that are anti-God, anti-church, and anti-Christianity in particular. In a 2000 interview by Dave Weich, Philip Pullman had the following to saw about the books of C.S. Lewis: "I thought they were loathsome, full of bullying and sneering, propaganda, basically, on behalf of a religion whose main creed seemed to be to despise and hate people unlike yourself." In a 2000 speech after the publication of the last book in his series he said, "We're used to the kingdom of heaven; but you can tell from the general thrust of the book that I'm of the devil's party, like Milton. And I think it's time we thought about a republic of heaven instead of the kingdom of heaven. The king is dead. That's to say I believe that the king is dead. I'm an atheist." His views are certainly reflected in the trilogy's themes. Even if you don't mind this content being in your child's reading material, I think the trilogy fails because of the poor writing in the third book. An overall disappointment.
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