Rating: 
Summary: Excelent pleasure reading!
Review: Philip Pulman's style of writing is absolutly gripping! It is hard to put these books down, and once you finish them, its hard not to pick them back up and read them again! (Believe me, I had to go through a 12 step program. No, I'm joking!) I usually read a lot heavier material, but this is great stuff if you want material just to keep you enthralled, asking "What will happen next?!" You definatly have to read all three, or you will not get the full experience. If you like mystery, action, adventure, questions, answers, supernatural events, and intricate, well woven plots, then you will not regret buying these three books!
Rating: 
Summary: This trilogy [ is bad]!!!!!! The WORST fantasy ever read!!!
Review: I am so sorry i had to give one star to this book. I dont think it deserves it.To begin with we wouldn't have a problem with his atheistic perspective, if it was nicely set, and the philosophical questions expressed in the book were not so completely naive. But the book is a failure, badly written, his author seems immature and so obviously low talented. He simply cannot write. Some of the ideas were pretty good, but poorly developed. The third book, above all, where one would normally expect the stories to come in a nice conclusion, is unacceptable. His ideas remain unfinished, or badly finished, which is almost worse. The beginning was not so bad, but it could be better and we thought it would turn interesting at the end. Lyra was a lovely trump, but she became irritating and indifferent. The author seemed to love her so much, and he thought equally natural that everyone of his heroes would share his feelings. But the devotion of the Texan pilot, or Iorek, or even her mother's at the end, is unjustified. Inexplicable. God, the-bad-guy in the book, is such an idiot. Everybody is preparing to fight the last and greatest war of all, but it's so f***ing easy at the end, the way God, this elderly pathetic man, comes to fall right at Lyra's and Will's feet, so that they can destroy him just like that! A thing that they won't do (they won't do even that!!!) since he seems to die out of age! Metatron is a loser, he falls for Mrs Coulter, believes all her lies, he is betrayed, he is deceived and killed at the end because of Marisa's and Asriel's conspiracy, which he is so blind to detect! Surely an angel of his age and powers should know better than that! Not falling into the abyss, while he could fly, for example! The chapters about the world of the dead were ridiculous. Lyra changed the rules, convincing the Harpies to cooperate with the idiotic alternatives she proposes. The battle was so brief. The Subtle knife, whith which we were promised God would be killed, was used only to open windows, create gosts and peel potatoes. The Aletheometer, a authentically inspired instrument, is not asked as often as it should. We didn't quite understood why Lyra, as Eve, after sleåping with Will, stopped the Dust of slipping away of the Worlds. Mary as the snake was also poorly justified. We cannot understand why this is a children's book, and why it became so successful. It was an adult book, and really bad literature. The author -lector in English Literature- should be better in writing, avoiding all those gaps in the plot (especially in the end, where everything should come together to a logical explanation and conclusion). Pullman lingers here and there, giving us insignificant and useless and boring details, while in other cases where details are absolutely needed, none is given. At last, we are just happy we borrowed it, because if we had also spend money in buying we would feel extremely stupid.
Now I am just sorry I lost my time.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Adventure
Review: This book takes you on a wonderful journey through worlds so rich and fantastical that you will wish they really existed. The characters are very developed and they will become your instant friends. There are awesome twists and turns that will keep you up all night reading. I highly and thoroughly recommend these books to anyone with a pulse!
Rating:
Summary: Completely disappointing
Review: I read the opening chapter of the first book in a book stall and on the basis of that, bought the book. I have never seen such a waste of ideas as evidenced in this work. It starts well, but goes downhill and becomes lurid, bigoted and completely forgettable. The characters are not detailed at all, the potential of an alternate world is never realised and the final ranting completely leaves me cold. I am a pagan, I have issues with organised religion, but the authour's views were hammered home with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. I have seen the reviews praising this work and am completely surprised, yes it's dark, yes it has adult themes, but it isn't well written and the authours self proclaimed hatred of fantasy fiction is evident. He had a wonderful opening, that I agree with, but he ruined it by using the book as a platform for his views. Lyra who I was intriqued with in the beginning, became irritating and I rapidly did not care about her. The revelation and introduction of Will, was rushed and incomprehensible and I blanked most of the supporting characters. They were not memorable, likeable or even interesting. The plot bounced around with no real direction except to ram home Pullman's prejudice and it rapidly got boring. I had high hopes for this book, but I was very disappointed. I don't care about his views, only that he did not deliver the read that I was anticipating.
Rating:
Summary: A new classic that will only get better with time
Review: These books will be burned into my mind for many years to come. When a friend of mine first recomended the book to me it sounded like a great pleasure read, but after i finished the first one i was adicted. the story leaves you guessing what in the worlds (indide book joke if you have read it) will happen next. i would HIGHLY! recomend this book to anyone. i reead the first one last year as a Freshman in high school and just finished the last one as a sophomore. this book would be great for teens, but it is not a kiddy book. adults will love it too. I hope the author writes a 4th book but i'm not holding my breath. but if you read this Phillip you should no how many lives you would make happy with a 4th book to wrap everything up or to start a new adventure betwwen Will and Lyra if the worlds are able to.
Rating:
Summary: His Dark Materials
Review: His Dark Materials is the best series of books I have read. I'm a huge fan of young adult fantasy literature, and this is the best out there. This book is not sugar-coated like Harry Potter or C.S. Lewis, and it's not full of 20-page long poetry like Tolkien. Granted, I like those books a lot, but His Dark Materials, it just, seems real, and alive. Another series with this quality is the Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen sequence (highly recommended). Don't listen to the negative reviews based on moral content and religion. I'll admit, Pullman's ideas are very present and very obvious in the story. Whether you agree or disagree, don't let that detract from your enjoyment of an incredible story. These books are amazing literature, and an incredible read. The concepts and depth of the worlds that Pullman creates are incredible. Throughout the three books, I've seen characters change and grow so much that I feel like I know them. It's amazing how moving and interesting these books are. I highly recommend them. other recommended authors: Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce, Tolkien (the silmarillion especially), and Madeline L'Engle
Rating:
Summary: The Books Are Brilliant
Review: My books made the rounds among my friends so many times that they're starting to fall apart. So far, there hasn't been a single dissenter. Maybe I'll breakdown and buy the set for my own rereading use (I bought all of mine individually). What I find a bit odd about the books is the seeming lack of criticism from some of the religious community. Don't think it deserves it, but given all the Harry Potter bru-ha-ha, I do find it surprising. The His Dark Materials trilogy is dark, very dark. And very questioning of the church and state. It's lack of pandering to the young adult crowd is refreshing. The characters are well drawn out. Lyra, as the main protagonist is, to my mind, a rather unpleasant girl. Which is the beauty of the book. Gradations. Not everyone is snuggly. People who believe they're right are wrong. Major moral balancing acts run riot. All three books in the series are brilliant, though I think The Amber Spyglass (the third) is probably the best, though also the most brutal. It is the book that causes people to curse me for having them read it. While not all sturm und drang, there are scenes that will rip your heart out. I'm really glad that Mr. Pullman officially and completely put the trilogy to bed after book III. It ends where it's supposed to end. He's not milking the Lyra kitty. I appreciate that. Many people compare these books to the Harry Potter series. I guess, sort of, kind of, in a broad brush stroke way that's true. Largly young protagonists, fantasy, fighting evil. That's about where the similarity ends. These are much more grown up fare. These are also, to my mind, far superior to the Potter books.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic premise that gets out of control
Review: There are many books in the world which are profoundly disrespectful of other people's dearly held points of view, but that doesn't make them any less valuable or worthwhile - even parts of the Bible come into this category. The complaint here seems to be the conscious direction of this "subversive" material at impressionable teenaged minds. Well, a liberal education will tell you that Christian teaching might be seen in certain quarters as similarly subversive (for example, to people who aren't Christian), but you don't hear too many people calling for PG ratings to be slapped on the Good Book. The point is that this is clearly a work of fantasy fiction: sure, it borrows from Christian fable, but by the same token it heavily modifies it. Several of the events upon which Pullman invites the reader's ethical judgment do not (to my knowledge) appear anywhere in actual Christian legend. Pullman made them up, so as slings and arrows against the real religion (which I don't believe Pullman intends them to be), they have no force at all. To the extent this trilogy counsels young adults to question the world view they get from organised religion - this is, I suspect, what really sticks in the craw - it seems to me to be a wholly worthwhile enterprise. I gather Pullman is not religious, but His Dark Materials is obviously informed by Blake and Milton, and fondly so, and I didn't find this an especially anti-Christian read (then again, I read as someone who is culturally but not intellectually Christian, so am probably less inclined than some to take offence) As for the content of the story, I think comparisons with Harry Potter are unfair; it's much better than that: His Dark Materials deserves to be held up against CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien; the best JK Rowling can say is that, with The Goblet of Fire and The Order Of The Phoenix, she's catching up - but as yet she has a lot of development as a writer to do. What's so nice about His Dark Materials is how imaginative it all is. Whereas Harry Potter, from Hogwarts down, is wholly derivative, Pullman treats us to new ideas: the daemon is a classic example. And his characterisations are rich indeed: Lyra is a delightfully sketched snotty-nosed urchin; Mrs Coulter is no ham-fisted villain, but a sophisticated, deceitful, agenda-pursuing adversary. I think the story gets the better of Pullman as he goes on: Northern Lights is a fairly tightly constructed tale; the Subtle Knife introduces more characters (and ditches one or two) and becomes a bit more of a yarn; by the time The Amber Spyglass is into full swing you're into a fullblown shaggy-dog story with so many different plot strands it's difficult to keep up with who's doing what to whom and why, especially as many of the characters are quite duplicitous anyway. As a result, it is impossible to cleanly tie all the plot lines up and, in the same way that Tolkien was, Pullman is obliged to provide a number of false summits before we reach the final conclusion, and when it arrives it is a little bit of a let down. The baroqueness of the plot is a flaw, but there's no denying that this is a really classy, challenging, provocative tale even for us adults.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best fantasy series
Review: I was recommended this series by a teacher of mine. I was hesitant to read it beucuase the summary on the back was misleading but i decided that i would give it a try and im glad i did.
Telling an excellent fantasy through the eyes of two teenagers is great when a teenager wants to read it.
Phillip pullman has in his books new kinds of fantasy like for example their animal companions. He tells it in such a good way that no one will ever be able to copy it.
All im trying to say is that if you need a new book to read (and i know i say this on most of my reviews) then pick this up!
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy like it should be
Review: Phenomenal. These books grab you and will not let you go. Pullman's characters are believable and moving, with a fantastic plot line. I am a big fan of The Lord of the Rings, but His Dark Materials honestly surpasses Tolkien's epic. I won't ruin the plot for you, but this is one trilogy that you must read! Another terrific fantasy, but definitely one for older readers, is King and Straub's The Talisman.
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