Rating: 
Summary: For certain types
Review: These books were great for someone like me. Id recomend these to people who like to think and sove puzzles, and sit down with a good book. I highly recomend these, but i also dont. Once you read these you will wish there was more. There are a few more books, but i havent gotten any of them yet. I just finished the book TAS a few hours ago. (I am 13, but i cant get the other thing up).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Trilogy
Review: I think that this trilogy of books is one of the best series I have ever read. I enjoy some fantasy, but I am often dismayed by the way fantasy books tend to rely on clichés, making the books less engaging for me. These are not that kind of books!!Although the books are supposedly for children, they deal with philosophical themes that kids might not understand, although the story is engaging enough. I would definitely recommend it to adults who are willing to look at traditional religious stories from a new perspective.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest books you'll ever read!
Review: Oh my gosh, there arent enough words to describe how electrifying, thrilling, heart-wrenching, and wonderful these books are. I began reading them when I was 12, and now at 16, it still brings fresh tears to my eyes when I read it. (And believe me, that is a RARE occasion!) I was a bit thrown off at first by "The Golden Compass"(Book I) because there were so many new things being put into my mind, so it may require a second read for some folks, but PLEASE don't let this stop you early in the book! I know too many people who have said they "didn't get it", and put it back on the shelf. The series has a gripping and breathtaking plot, but also many deeper meanings. And its only fantasy either. As I have gotten older, I have come across more and more facts that he refers to and basis his story off of. For example, I took an astronomy class, and found out that scientists don't know what a huge bunch of outer space matter is.(They have only discovered around 10% if I am correct.) They even refer to it as "Dark Matter"! The books are also very involved with the conflict between science and christianity. Some people may be disturbed or biased against the series for this reason, but I personally loved the way it gave me new veiws and thoughts on my beliefs on creation and God. All of these things I had never found exciting before suddenly came alive with the magic of Phillip Pullmans's writing. I HIGHLY HIGHLY reccomend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, andventure and romance. When the much-anticipated "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix" FINALLY came out, I found it was really quite dull compared to "His Dark Materials" Trilogy. (But I still loved it anyways!!!) So Please, I'm really begging you, TRY THIS BOOK! You won't regret it! I wish everyone I knew would listen to me when I tell them to go read it. Its sure to captivate you! Enjoy the books and I hope I helped you guys out in deciding what new book to buy!
Rating: 
Summary: Grizoffi's Reviews
Review: Enjoyed this series. Wasn't as easy for me to read as some other books, but the stories are great.
Rating:
Summary: Superb - I wish there was a rating of ten stars, or more.
Review: I was given Northern Lights when I was eleven or so, during a half term, to keep me entertained. And I was instantly enchanted! The writing was of the highest quality, the plot was captivating and neatly done, and the characters were real, three-dimensional, and believable.
Five years later, having read all the books, all I can say is that the following two are equal to, if not surpassing, the first. The development of the plot is carefully done, elegant, compulsive, and a sheer good read. My mother preordered The Amber Spyglass for me (she adores the books as well) and I devoured it in a day or so. The ending was so sad, but so right! it couldn't have been been other way without losing some of the excellence of the trilogy. I actually cried - I'll admit it!
Philip Pullman is an astounding writer, and I make him my compliments. Every aspect of the book is perfect, fascinating, and all the way it is eminently readable and pleasing: so many good books lose themselves in detail, or plot twists. Philip Pullman does not: he does everything with clarity and emotion.
Curiously enough, I'm not particularly fond of his other books: for me, His Dark Materials stand out as a supreme masterpiece. I love them, I admire them, I learn from them, and they inspire me, quite frankly. I reread them often, and they never lose their charm, their wisdom, and their ability to delight.
If anyone is thinking about buying these books, my advice is quite simply: do so. You will not regret the purchase. His Dark Materials, while containing content a maturer mind will appreciate, is also a cracking good read for any age.
Bravo, Philip Pullman!
Rating:
Summary: Better than Harry Potter!
Review: This trilogy is literature at its best. Never before I have been so deeply into books like this. I have read a wide variety of children's book, and this surpasses all of them. The plot and characters draw you in like a starving man to food. It is much superior to Harry Potter in many, many ways.
Those who dislike this book because of the anti-religious view on life are truly missing the point and an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Better than LotR!
Review: This is perhaps THE best fantasy ever written! It manages to be completely original, while nonetheless following the standard heroic archetypes of its genre!
'Lord of the Rings', which has been called 'the best book of the 20th century', pales in comparison to this.
I like the concept of daemons- everyone is born with a daemon, a physical representation of the soul, and the daemon is, most of the time, of the opposite gender of the person whose daemon it is. And if human and daemon are seperated, the human will resemble the living dead!
Pretty cool, huh?
If you enjoy that concept, you will love these books.
The first book, the golden compass, is so suspenseful and enchanting that I read it twice!
Right now, I'm reading it out loud to my family and they love it!
But I'll stop with my insane ranting for just a minute to explain the plot:
When Lyra sees the master of Jordan College slip poison into a glass of tokay that was poured for her uncle, the enigmatic and powerful Lord Asriel Belacqua, she warns him. He spills the wine, makes it look like an accident, and THAT is where the story begins.
I can say no more of substance, so I shall continue with my insane ranting:
I hear there's a movie scheduled for 2005 based on 'Golden Compass'. I hope those people at new line cinema write the script soon, and pray they do a good job of it!
WARNING: This book contains references to blood and gore and underage smoking. If you are sensitive about what your child is exposed to, this is not your kind of book.
Rating: 
Summary: Insane and violent
Review: This three books aren't worthy being called children books.
This is the worst critic I can give a so called kids fanatsy trilogy.
It's disturbing reading such lies Pullman produces in the whole story. Being critical with the churches issues is allright, but lying for the kids is abject. And lying is just what Pullman did.
I`m not a very religious person, but I think an author of children books has got a lot of responsibility. Pullman seems to have forgotten about that.
It's horrible to read about men who are eaten up while they are still alive. It's insane to proclaim the church cutted the genitals of kids off. I could write a long list about Pullman's senseless brutality.
The books aren't bad, they are ill-natured.
Rating:
Summary: the best
Review: These are beautiful, original stories. Some people were put off by the athiest message, but that's part of what I found so refreshing about it. (Nobody complained about the stifling religion in madeline l'engle's work) If you would have paid attention, however, you would have seen that the message was a powerful and positive one: Live life to its upmost and love it. That the most important place is where you are. That ordinary human beings (Lyra was meant to be ordinary- she is an anyone Girl) have the capability of doing great things.
Live life so that you'll have a great story to tell once you meet "the after-death harpies", as it is. The other part I found refreshing and lovely about the dark material books is just the story in itself. The daemons, the pansebjorns- it was all just wonderful. And for a time I was really there. Not to even be compared with harry potter. These far surpass those stories in literary merit. These are beautiful books, Pullman!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent series.
Review: I bought this series because it was recommended for Harry Potter fans and I was having trouble finding books that I really enjoyed after rereading Harry Potter so often. I really didn't want to read another "children's" book. This series I really got into and found it hard to put down. I was a little disappointed in the last book. It was still a great book but the story line in the first two was much stronger.
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