Rating: 
Summary: AMAZING!!!!
Review: WOW! These have to be the best books I ever read, aside form Lord of the Rings. These books are way better than Harry Potter. They are much more origanl and will keep you on the edge of your seat with many questions. There are a lot of twists and turns as well. I know that I will read these books more than once. If you love Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, or if you are just a Fantasy/Science-Fiction fan (like me), or even if you just like a good book now and then, then these books will leave you more than satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic book
Review: I read all of these books as they came out and have recently reread them all.I have again marvelled at how good they really are!!Pullman has amazing width in the scope of these books, they all interconnect, yet stand alone beautifully. The books are an amazing set of adventures against evil,power and selfishness, some have even compared them to "Paradise Lost". Northern Lights follows the story of Lyra, she lives in a world not quite our own... the second follows a child in our own universe who uses a knife to cut into other dimensions, the last shows the two children nearing puberty and losing some of the power of childhood. Their loss in this book is handled well by Pullman and reminded me of that netherworld of teenagehood when you are not really anything and life is starting to become emotionally very scary... i have given this an overall rating of 5 but actually my favourite is "The Subtle Knife" as it is about our universe and the problems a young boy with a mentally ill parent encounters here, as well as his "magical" problems in the other worlds he travels to... this is a great adventure and will be read for generations by adults and children alike.... you should read it...or listen to the audio tapes released by the BBC, a radio play of the books.... and you should also look at the other books Pullman has written. (My other favourite is "Ruby in the Smoke"... very different than these but really cool about Victorian women)
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing - but Christian heresy
Review: The Golden Compass was absolutely scintillating. The guy's a great writer. However, in the Amber Spyglass, the truth comes out. Yahweh (Jehovah, God Almighty), is just one of a pantheon of sencient dark materials in a strictly material creation.I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy. But not one that assaults my Christianity. The comparisons to Tolkien and Lewis are not deserved. This is a childrens series? If I were an athiest, I'd undoubtedly love this series. However, I'm not, and the unfinished trilogy went out in today's garbage.
Rating: 
Summary: An Amazing Story
Review: I bought this series for my 10 year old son. I picked it up to glance over it and ended up getting sucked into the story. It is an absolutely amazing story. I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waver in the wrong direction!
Review: I read through the first book without a worry! It was a great book! And I was soo obssessed with it! I thought it was even better then Harry Potter. But then I started on the second book...And it began to talk about plots to kill God. In the end...Well...Lets say it didn't end preety. I say this is not a good book for christains,Jews, or anybody who follows a religon dealing with God. I also don't recomend this for people who are lost without a religon or un sure about it...This may just waver you in the wrong direction.
Rating:
Summary: A most relevant story
Review: There are two major results in modern Cosmology: First, we can only observe less tha 10% of the Universe. The rest is dark matter, still unaccounted for. Second, theories predict that, just as our Solar System is not the only one in our Galaxy, and our Galaxy is not the only one in the Universe, there can also be other Universes, inaccessible to us. Philip Pullman uses these results as the basis for his Trilogy "His Dark Materials". Starting in a parallel World, or Universe, in a parallel Oxford, Lyra Belaqua, an 11 year old girl gets into fantastic adventures. These are related to the existence of a certain Dust, which is dark matter, and which no one can see, except under very special circumstances. The "Church" of her world keeps the existence of Dust secret, and those who talk about it are considered heretics. This is the basis for a struggle, which deals not so much with good vs. evil, as in usual children's stories, but with wisdom and consciousness vs. ignorance and stupidity. The plot thickens throughout the three books, introducing a major character in the second book; Will Parry, slightly older than Lyra, who comes from our own world, and who will team up with Lyra in her future adventures, both of them looking for persons they have lost, and which they care about dearly. Along the story, several interesting characters are introduced; inhabitants from several different worlds. Some of them familiar in Western mythology, such as angels, witches and spectres, as well as new ones which come out of Pulman's imagination. In his plot, he explores daring ideas about organised religion, particularly Christianism and Catholisism, that he extends to question the very existence of God, and that religious people will find outright heretical. Specially the ending of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is to be replaced by the Republic of Heaven. However, organised religion should think twice before condemning the trilogy to bonfire, since that is precisely the kind of attitude that has lead Pullman to make his denunciation in the first place. A more rational approach to the story should be advised. Along each of the three books, we are introduced to three mysterious devices: a compass which can tell the truth and provide advice, a knife so strong than can cut through almost anything, including windows into different worlds, and a spyglass which humans can use to observe Dust. The story leaves compelling cliff hangers at the end of the first and second books, and becomes more interesting as it advances. I personally found the third book the best by all means. Its ending is absolutely heartbreaking, and it can take days to reflect on it and assimilate it. Although the reader is left with the feeling that a sequel is needed in order to fix things up, she (he) eventually realises that it is the best possible ending. Although profoundly sad and traumatic, it leaves an open window to optimism. Overall, Pullman shows great artistry in the command of the English Language, which by itself makes the Trilogy captivating. At some points, we are left with the impression that more work should have been devoted by the author, in the development of some of the episodes. Although it is clear that it is a fantasy story, there is a minimum credibility to be expected from fantasy. Also, there are a few but important loose ends, which could have been easily tied up by the author, with minor changes in some of the dialogues. Still, the story is extremely good, and the trilogy highly recommendable. A final word of caution should be cast: Although His Dark Materials has been classified as a children's book, it requires a minimum maturity to understand some of the issues it deals with, so "parental guidance" is strongly recommended. Furthermore, religious families may be offended by some of the concepts, which as I mentioned earlier, are outright heretical on the face of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. However, open minded religious people will recognise that many of the main ideas fostered by Pullman, such as loyalty, fidelity sense of duty and compassion, are in line with religious values. There is, of course, no compatibility with his doubt on the existence of God. In any case, it is just a story, not a manifesto. On the other hand, by the end, some readers may be left with the idea that what Pullman actually did is to rediscover the existence of God in the omnipresent Dust, although he will probably not recognise it.
Rating:
Summary: A very important work of modern literature
Review: There is so much to say about this trilogy. It is a story with many philosophical elements in it, including man's search for the divine, the awakening consciousness and the maturation of each person, the impulses and secret cravings of the soul, the definition of good and evil.
Children's literature? No. This book can be read in many levels, and children's book would be the merest and most simplified of them.
Pullman's trilogy reads like fine poetry, and the plot is that of a true epic. Dark, exciting, mysterious, touching.
Each book is special, and when it comes to fantasy, whether Pullman aspires to allegory or simple adventure for the plot, the creations of his imagination are remarkable.
However, I was irritated when I heard people accusing the books of being "religiously offensive" and "explicit"!
About the religious elements, read Pullman's interviews. He explains that some things that have been done in the name of God, have been brutal and terrifying.
So, the author is being hypothetical. (if they can do things like that in His name, then...)
"Explicit"? Elements that might prod such accusations, are strictly symbolic and are used to show that nothing can be defined as solely good or evil etc.
The plot is fantastic, and the reader gets the chance to observe the change that takes place in each character's soul.
Read it, you won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: get drewn into a new world. adults and children alike
Review: this is the wonderful story of the adventures of a girl called lyra. what starts as aquest to find her best freind roger become her way of discovering herself and the world she lives in, and further more, other worlds and other people. she meets a lot of colorful interesting charecters during her travels, an armored bear, witches, scientists and freinds and a step by step the whole world and other worlds turned to see how lyra's quest will effect them. on one level this is one of the greatest adventure stories i've ever read, you just can't put this down, the story advence from one action scene to the other in a frantic pase and you just can't read fast enough to satisfy your ceriosity. but on another level this is a wonderful philosofical book, not only it explains some of the more complex modern physics theories such as quantum physics in a very simple way, it also combine them in a very natural and inovative manner with magic, religion and phsycology. i think every fanatsy lover should read this book, no metter what your age is...
Rating: 
Summary: What went wrong in book 3? Disappointing
Review: First a disclaimer. I am 28 years old and only read the series as the first two books happened to already be in my apartment in Japan and I was bored. I had to buy the third book in Tokyo. The first book in the series was great, no questions. The idea of people with daemons is a fascinating one and it got my imagination fired up. As some people have mentioned, Lyra is not exactly the most interesting heroine, but the book moves at a strong clip and her world is a familiar yet unique place. Book two introduces Will and Dr Mary Malone and things start to slow down. Not necessarily a bad thing as sub-plots come to the forefront. Dark clouds looming for book three though. I was 'lucky' enough to find book 3 in Shinjuku, Tokyo (English books not being exactly popular in Japan) and I still have about 20 pages to go. The thing is; I just don't care. I just want the book to end so I can put it away. Definitely not a good feeling. There are just too many sub-plots and the characters are dull as dish-water with some completely out of character events and dialogue (based on the first two books). Also, while not being particularly religious myself, Pullman's ideologies are rammed into your face page after page. There is no subtlety to it. God is dead, Christianity is for stupid people, wisdom comes from . . . well who knows? Obviously he is a very bitter man but if I want to read some crackpot religious treatise I will go to the Religion section in the bookstore. The whole book is a shambles, boring characters, inconsistent dialogue/action (not in character), long winded chapters where nothing happens and constant nagging about Christianity. It was just not enjoyable for me. I don't know what to say, the first book is amazing, the second is so-so and the final book was just a chore. I would say read it, but there is much better junior fiction (or adult fiction if you are around 12 or so) to be had than this.
Rating:
Summary: In love with "His Dark Materials"
Review: I absolutely love this book and I would recommend it to everyone and anyone. I partially write this review in order to vent because this trilogy offers such fantastic plot, character, and imagery that I am stunned. I read these three books a couple of years ago and I have held them in highest honor on my bookshelf. I've reread all three many times. However, after reading Stephen King's review of JK Rowling's "The Order of the Pheonix", in which he states that he believes Harry Potter to be better than His Dark Materials, I am offended. The books are different and I love both of them. I am enthralled with Will and Lyra (though Will is closest to my heart). Their journey through the worlds, their peril, their love and what they show about all the universal things (religion, love, good and evil...)brought tears to my eyes. Some people will differ in their opinion about His Dark Materials as litterature, but I know that Philip Pullman weaves a great story.
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