Rating: 
Summary: Golden!
Review: Phillip Pullman had truly created a fantasy worth the read! You'll travel to a world where armored bears guard mighty palaces and witches dot the night sky. Enter the world of Lyra and her deamon, Pan. In a world not quite unlike our own, Lyra is given a golden alethiometer - an intrument that answers any question you have - by the master of Jorden college. It all started in the retiring room of Jorden. As Lyra watches hidden, she learned of the microscpopic Dust. What is it? How does it effect humans? Soon the alethiometer leads Lyra to an adventure of a lifetime - to the cold artic regions. Bolvanger, Svalbard, the Artic, and Jordan College awaits in this wonderful tale of fantastic fantasy... So get up off the swivel chair and head for a world where the impossible becomes a reality!
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Excellent
Review: It seems like only yesterday that I picked this book off the shelves of my local bookstore and already I have become captivated in the series. This book, "The Golden Compass" is one of my most favorite books of all time, its interesting and entrancing storyline pull the reader through its many twists and turns of the story. Perhaps, my only disappointment was that it was too short. The story starts with the mischievous Lyra, a girl who is more of a tomcat than the polite little lady people expect her to be. Her adventures eventually lead her into a plot of proportions beyond her imagination. An assassination attempt, strange mystical substances, severed heads, and disappearing children are all examples of what she finds in her little escapades, and guess what? That's only the beginning of the book! As her escapades unfold, one after another, she meets strange new people, witches, and beings unlike anything you've ever thought of. This is a story almost to good to tell you about, for fear that everything will be ruined, but it is nonetheless to good to not talk about. In the mystical world of Lyra's, each human being has a daemon, an animal which represents his or her soul, in a way. The human reacts to it as a sort of playmate and friend which bond is so great that the daemon feels and acts out the emotion of its human counterpart. In this book, an evil force, nicknamed the "Gobblers", collects children and uses them on experiments relating to separating the bond between daemon and human. Lyra, intent on getting her childhood playmate, Roger back from the "Gobblers" goes through thick and thin and meets many characters through out the book. Her actions eventually get her associated with a giant, and lethal armored bear who becomes her companion and eventually, her friend. Throughout the story, she consults with a "golden compass" or an alethiometer, or a truth teller. The author, Philip Pullman crafts his story very excellently, incorporating many characters into Lyra's story. His choice use of descriptive words and vocabulary make the reader imagine the scene in their mind, and with great detail also. He creates environments with painstaking detail and has the characters interacting within the whole story. This book is the first and possibly best of the three book trilogy from Philip Pullman. Another great quality of it is that you can read it over and over again and it won't lose that great story, you will always be enraptured in the story, never wanting to put it down. I recommend this book immensely, not only because of the great story but also by the way it is presented. Again I repeat, this has been one of my favorite books of all time , and will continue to be. You will not be disappointed by it, and would be a great buy for all ages. This is why I give it five stars, for Philip Pullman's superb work in presenting the story in such a great way.
Rating:
Summary: I Apologize
Review: Please excuse my previous four-star review, I went and read the last two in the trilogy, and they really tie up the concepts started in this book. Go and read them all!
Rating:
Summary: way better than Harry Potter, but more scary too
Review: This book is much too frightening for anyone before their middle teens, so don't go giving it to the Harry Potter crowd. It's a great read, though. I am not into science fiction fantasy or Tolkein, but I couldn't put it down and read into the wee hours (a mistake -- I got scared witless in the dark house!).
Rating: 
Summary: 1st-class fantasy
Review: Although the plot lacks in depth in some areas, this book has exciting parts, such as the armored bear fight. The book also is promisingly intruiging with such things as the mystical "Dust" and the Church. However, these references are left in insufficient detail which I hope will be explained in the two sequels.
Rating:
Summary: The first a fantastic trilogy.
Review: I have read this book twice now and it just keeps getting better! Some amazing images with the north and the snow, I was surprised to find that Svalbard actually exists! I dont know why they changed the name from Northern Lights to The Golden Compass in a America though? strange.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: I seirously debated giving this one 5 stars. Some may say that it has a slow start, but I have to diasgree. The start is probably the best part (the first time through) because it leaves you in suspense, it makes you turn the pages faster and faster until you learn what you are looking for. This book is so imaginative too, it's one of the only books I've read that has a strong, female lead character. I also loved the concept of daemons, that they are essentially your personailty type in an animal that is bonded to you (ex. a person who was a leader and strong in spirit would have a powerful animal as a daemon-like a lepoard). Dust was also a very intirguing concept. The ending is somewhat unsatisfying simply because it sets the stage for the sequal and leaves many loose ends (the end of the 2nd book does this too but all questions you may have are eventaully answered). The series is great, and this is the best one in it. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: It was great!
Review: This book is one of the greatist works there ever was. The only problem is that the second sequel is...okay, and the third one suuuucks. but this one is great. The only problem is that you need the sequels to make the story complete.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written...
Review: Ok, so one day I was at the book store looking through the fantasy section. I just happened to see The Golden Compass. It looked interesting, so I bought it and brought it home. I began reading it at about 6pm. I had finished it the next day at about 7 pm. I never left the couch. It is by far one of the best books I have ever read. Philip Pullman is a very gifted author with a very complex imagination. I recommend this book for anyone. Lyra has lived in Jordan College her whole life, unsupervised, free to tear around the streets whenever she wanted. But one day, she sneaks into the Retiring Room and her entire life changes. Before she knows what is happening, her best friend Roger is kidnapped and she is living with Mrs. Coulter, a nice woman who promises to take her north. From there, Lyra is hurtled into a race against time to save hundreds of children from an unspeakable fate. Included in this book are armored bears, demon flies, and a bunch of other cool stuff. READ IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Simply did not like
Review: This is a book that I read all the way through hoping that eventually it would get better. The writing is so poor that it was almost painful to read. Pullman, an adult male, has a very poor grasp on Lyra, his girl heroine. The Daemon concept is never fully articulated, and if I hadn't read the jacket I would have never understood it. In my mind, this is the quality of a first draft that needs a major overhaul. Great concept, dismal follow through.
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