Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Read!!
Review: I LOVED this book. It was full of everything,adventure,danger,friendship,and sorrow. The people and creatures in it are great and the end of the book is the beginning of the next (The Subtle Knife). It is one of my favorite book series.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful and captivating, with an unsatisfactory ending
Review: I don't like fantasies. They usually have a smug, Robin-Williams-esque undertone which keeps saying "the real world sucks, but if somebody had given me the opportunity to show everyone how to do it RIGHT, then here's how it would be". So this book must have been great, because I loved it!The heroine is Lyra, a young girl of indeterminate age (she's apparently about 13 or 14). The centerpiece of Pullman's vision is the "daemon" - an intimate companion in animal form with which every human in Pullman's world comes equipped. Each person's daemon is bound to him or her with a love and intimacy stronger than anything experienced between two people, and if the human dies then so does the daemon. The existence of daemons is bound up with both theological and scientific mysteries, and the attempts to unravel those mysteries has created a titanic struggle among the people who are interested in solving them. Pullman never explains the full solution to the mysteries (an omission which is obviously deliberate), but there are those who are willing to inflict great damage and cruelty on their fellow beings while trying to discover all the secrets of the universe for their own benefit. Two of these people are Lyra's own father and mother, although she doesn't know them to be her parents until well into the story. Lyra has a special destiny to save the world from the ravages of this desperate race to unlock the secrets. While following her quest, she comes in contact with gypsies, armored bears, and semi-immortal witches, some of them good and some bad. Pullman has a sparkling imagination and is a solid writer, so the book kept me happily and gently within its grasp for as long as I was reading it. However, the ending was disappointing. It is almost as if Pullman came to page 396, realized he had to end it by page 400, and thought, "Well let's see I've got to end this thing and leave the reader hanging so he'll want to read the other two volumes in the planned trilogy...." and so he wraps things up with an ending which contradicts almost the entire story up to that point. No explanation is given for the sudden change in viewpoint, other than a quick and muddled conversation between Lyra and her daemon. The two of them then resolve to follow a path almost completely unrelated to what they have been doing for the previous 400 pages. In addition, Pullman informs us at that point that they (Lyra and her daemon) will follow this new quest without any of the characters we have grown to know and love during this first book. Nor does he tell us what happens to all of those friends who helped Lyra on her way. Of course, I haven't read any of the second book in the trilogy (The Subtle Knife), and I don't know whether the third volume has even been published yet. But it seems that the second volume of the "trilogy" is likely to have very little to do with the first. As lousy as the ending is (and I really think it stinks), I can't deduct more than one star for that. The other 396 pages are just too entertaining and imaginative to be that negative about the entire book.
Rating:
Summary: Please stop calling them children's books!
Review: I hate that this series falls under that title of "kid's books". I adore this series, but the only other people I've talked to that have read them are between the ages of 11 and 13. The kids think I'm crazy for reading "kid's books" and the parents of these kids think I'm even crazier. I agree that some age and experience enhances this series. So all of you out there with age and experience, start reading! PS I want to see my daemon!!
Rating:
Summary: (......)
Review: In case you were wondering, i am at a lack of words.. this is one of the best books I have read in my entire life, as short as it may be at 17. I read a LOT of books, and I don't think any books have shown me such an involving and MOVING story as this book did. I know it sounds hackneyed and oversaid, but I have read the first two, and am currently finishing the third, I have to say the biggest (and quite possibly the ONLY) problem with this book is the fact that books can only be so long, and they do, eventually, end. the end of these books is like losing a loved pet or friend, you really enjoyed their presence, and they brought you joy and happiness when they were around, but now they are gone, and it's over. oh well, I'll just read it again :)
Rating:
Summary: THIS ONE ROCKS! :)
Review: Why the 5 stars? Because I can't see how Philip Pullman or anyone else for that matter, could improve on a story that is this well written. To me it's got everything that a GOOD story should have: great plot, characters that are bigger than life, lots of action and I never get the feeling that I should be doing something else instead while reading because it has me by the throat from the opening scene to the grand finale. If your looking for one of those rare sties that are really well worth reading then be sure to pick up this one, you'll be gratefull you did afterwards!
Rating: 
Summary: ABSOLUTELY not for children 10 or 11 years old
Review: We saw the "10 and older" on the cover of these books and thought it sounded perfect for our ten year old son. It was, until children started having their psychic/spiritual animal "daemon" CUT from them from the "bad guys". My son burst into tears and vowed never to read another book by Pullman. A bit extreme, yes, but I can't believe these books are listed as ok for kids this young. They are too dark and frightening. My son doesn't need to know about castration yet (the next book also includes a mention of sexual organs of children being cut off in some countries.) I read this one and the next and enjoyed them myself (age 52) but I was really angry that the publishers consider this appropriate for a 10 year old.
Rating:
Summary: Great start to trilogy
Review: This story is very original and written beautifully. It is a great story that begins an even better trilogy. But be warned! It is marketed under "Children's Books", but really only YA or adult readers should read this trilogy. Like a reviewer said before me, "If you buy this for your 10 year old, they will want to read the two sequels, and they get progressively darker and less appropriate for children." The books bring up some ideas that might scare children, for even I was a little shocked and scared, and books NEVER scare me. But if you liked this book, and are mature enough for some of the matters brought up in later books, read the other two books. The third is the best by far. --Ruby
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read
Review: I saw that the average rating for this book was 4 and a half stars and I had to write a review. This is the best trilogly I have ever read. The plot and story are wonderfully complex. Phillip Pullman is a wonderful author and has written this trilogy magnificantly. I must say that the beginnings are a little slow and dull but hang in there, it's worth it. It also might seem a bit confusing for some but it all comes together. I absolutly love this trilogy. It is hard to put in words my joy when reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone, young or old, which I have. The story only gets better and better with each book. I am just in awe to how Phillip Pullman thought up and wrote this intricate tale. It is filled with so many wonderful surprises and twists it is impossible not to love. Take my advice and read this trilogy, you definitely won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for Kids
Review: I read the entire series. I bought the first book but would not have paid to read the rest. Instead, I found them at the library. The series describes two main characters who come together to save the world. Mr. Pullman surely must be an atheist or at the very least, a humanist. The book is full of allusions which are not very easily understood. This is the kind of series where characters DO die and not come back. There is not always a happy ending as you would expect for kids' books. The last book of the series has a professor renouncing her Roman Catholic religion because of its oppression of the pleasures of the flesh. We eventually see "god" being overthrown with man being left to rule his own world. Not recommended for children and barely recommended for adults.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite books!!
Review: I love this series! Do NOT let the name (His Dark Materials) fool you! This book is for anyone who loves adventure. I don't recommend this book to anyone under ten, and only if you read a lot at ten. I have read many, many books. These books and the Harry Potter books are my favorites. This book, however, DOES have a little bit more violence then some other series. That's OK, because Lyra Belaqua (a.k.a Lyra Silvertounge) makes that up. This book shows you the wonders of a similair world to ours, gyptians, armored bears, the North, and makes you really, really, REALLY want a daemon. There is one bad thing about this book. Finishing it!!
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