Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I haven't had too much experience with Science Fiction/Fantasy books, but let me tell you, this book has made me want to read more. From the beginning, I was stuck on the book. The Golden Compass is such a good book, I take my time reading it, so I can read it longer! Some may get lost in all of the characters, but if you don't spend all your time trying to understand them, they're fine. I immediately started to like Lyra, the main character, because she's brave and not a priss, like some other male authors make females characters out to be. This is a book about adventure and it's the old-fashioned quest kind of story, but it's good and I would reccomend this book to any one who asks.
Rating:
Summary: Nobel Prize for Pullman? Do they do that?!
Review: I doubt it. But I wouldn't be surprised. As I read this book, I began to see that Pullman's so far beyond me in terms of depth and the understanding of his characters that I don't really have much business reviewing The Golden Compass. Suffice to say, it's easy for the reader to see they're in the hands of a master. All I'll say about this book is that Pullman has an expertly hidden backstory in here. The story unfolds without the least bit of strain, however, and the reader never feels lost. That's because Lyra devotes the focus of her action to righting wrongs that are related to the backstory, and yet don't require you to know what that is, right off. The reader is lulled into a sort of fairy wonder and then is blown away by the complexity of the story to come when certain revelations come at the end. This book is the first of three: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and during the year 2000, The Amber Spyglass. Pullman really does rank with Guy Gavriel Kay, Madeleine L'Engle, Poul Anderson and Alan Garner as one of the best fantasy writers since Tolkien.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: If the rating could up to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, that's what I would rate this book. The whole idea of daemons was very intriguing to me. Also, the mystery involved in Lyra's parents' identities was a good twist. What I especially liked about this book was that it was written in a way that made me want to keep reading it-- kind of like The Broken Bridge, also by Philip Pullman, which, by the way, is a great read. This book was really wonderful. Anyway who likes Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and all the greats should read this. (If you didn't like them, read it anyway.)
Rating:
Summary: Complex yet fulfilling fantasy
Review: The quality of writing in this book brings to mind certain revered old fantasy series- e.g. LOTR, Narnia, the EarthSea series... its deep and thoughtful at times, yet certainly not lacking in events. The book is a sensuous rush of events that carries along the reader effortlessly to the final pages. At no point do we retreat back into the tired old fantasy norms, or have to struggle through pages of filler- you definitely get the feeling that not a word was wasted. Its all fresh, and all interesting.The plot itself is more than enough to carry the book, but when the main protagonist is a very interesting and courageous young girl, you have the makings of a classic. The story is about Lyra, the afore-mentioned young girl, who finds herself, through various events, on a journey North, where she's always wanted to go. The original reason for her going is to rescue some missing children, but eventually more and more is revealed until we a very complex fantasy setting on our hands, and the book's plot never lets down for a moment, rushing from breathtaking scene to scene until the ending. The ending is sad, yet theres an overwhelming sense of wonder and grandeur that promises an epic ahead. My only complaint is that Pulmman uses deux ex machina a bit too much for my taste. But its nothing major. The book leads into one of the (if not the) best fantasy works I have ever read, and suffice to say that the books ahead are even better than this one, both in terms of emotional complexity and in sheer awe-inspiring quality. Any fantasy fan will want to pick this book up, and I suspect many non-fantasy readers will enjoy it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Intriguing
Review: I'll be honest: I wanted a subsitute for Harry Potter...Did I ever get it! Golden Compass is almost better than Harry Potter. I am into the second book of this series right now and it's incredible. The imagination Pullman has is magic. Harry Potter and this series are wonderful books for fantasy lovers. The beginning will be a little confusing, of course but by the second/third chapter you will know *exactly* what's going on and will be able to go on the adventure with Lyra. I hear the third book (Amber Spyglass) is even better than the first two books in the series..and I'm really looking forward to buy it! The series is incredible. You really should have a go at it.
Rating: 
Summary: verbose and unoriginal
Review: I read The Golden Compass on the recommendation of the New York Times. It has received much attention because the latest 2 books take a stance against religion and the church - my interest was piqued. Unfortunately, it was not piqued for long. The Golden Compass is insipid and poorly written. Pullman sets the story in a bizarre land which is some contorted fusion of reality and imagination. It's the industrial age in the thriving metropolis of London, England; scientific research is obsessed with subatomic particles; and (here's where it gets weird) every person has a physical manifestation of their soul, a daemon, which takes the form of an animal; magic abounds; and polar bears talk. this fusion wouldn't be so bad if it were pulled off correctly. but everything about it seemed to offend me instead of excite me. for one, pullman fills his pages with paragraph after paragraph of mangled speech in his attempts to convey the accents of speakers. more importantly, his 'original' idea of representing souls as animal-friends is infused with stereotype and manipulation. this is supposed to be a fantasy novel, and yet every 'type' of person has a predictable 'type' of animal. smart people have cats as their souls. stupid people have chickens. goofy people have goofy animals. it's inane. and it's also cheap and manipulative. pullman spends the first 3/4 of the book setting up the importance of the human-daemon bond. and the horror! the shock! of the last 1/4 is that evil people are trying to disturb that bond! if pullman's establishment of the human-daemon bond were at all convincing, the plot might have some resonance. but it doesn't. when it comes down to it, most fantasy books establish their own world, characters, and some sort of crisis or motivation for the plot. since a fantasy is, well, a fantasy, its value ultimately rests in how much it entertains its readers, as opposed to how much it educates them. in this case pullman fails to create interesting characters, sticking instead with stereotypes; he contrives the 'novelty' of the human-daemon bond to give his story originality and motivation, but he does it in a heavy-handed and transparent way. reading the book is simply an exercis in page turning - it is not exciting. this is coming from a veteran fantasy reader - favorites of mine are david eddings and david gemmell. pullman does not have the touch. if he spent less time simulating accents and more on the story, this book might be worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Amazon.com Scores!
Review: A personalized Amazon.com recommendation pays off! Golden Compass is a soaring and scary book, a captivating many-layered tale of a classic Great Quest (aside from momentary stumbles into simplicity). Yet the tale is modern in tone because the ultimate goal is not made clear, and is only incompletely revealed in small steps in this first book of a trilogy. Even the scintillating conclusion here is only a sunlit precipice edging on a vague promise. The clever authorial misdirection parallels the growth in experience of the determined heroine, Lyra, as she passes through increasingly grand and chilling events beyond her youthful ken, or ours. The fantasy and magic here is far more in Pullman's imagining and skillful writing than in the grittily mundane, yet alien and strangely distorted, Victorian mechanical age from which the story is built. This pb edition is very nicely composed and printed, but its paper may not survive to the heirloom status it deserves. The trilogy might take its place in the firmament of classics for the young at heart like My Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, or A Wrinkle in Time. Another English series, Harry Potter, is more contemporary and droll, and explicitly magicked, than this. I wouldn't want to be without either.
Rating:
Summary: Superb, Sophisticated
Review: This book is the first of three excellent, brilliantly written books -- they are, however, more sophisticated than the Harry Potter books, so they are less suitable for the average 10-year-old. I enjoyed them tremendously, but they are not exactly easy to read. The characters and plots are far more complex and ambiguous than the somewhat black-and-white characters and plots of the Potter books. (Malfoy and Voldemort are so blatantly and flatly bad, for instance, that I find them boring.) The Golden Compass, for contrast, has one character trying to poison another, and you can't figure out for quite a long time which one is the "good" guy and which the "bad" -- and ultimately, neither is one is flatly one way or the other, but each a genuine and complex person. And it's not frustrating try to figure out who to root for, it's just a good read! The fantasy elements are so beautifully blended in that they feel quite real in a matter of pages or even sentences. It seems simply right that people have a part of themselves that appears separate and in animal form(called a daemon), and simply right that children's daemons can change form and adult daemons can't. As another reviewer remarked, even though you've never encountered the concept of "intercision" before reading these books, the mere thought of it is frightening and revolting. And it was fascinating to find some fantasy books that actually address real issues of religion. Deeply religious readers, who don't like religion being examined or questioned, however, beware. Pullman is basically acting out the rather unusual and difficult theology of William Blake(an English poet/artist/engraver/ philospher of the late 18th century) -- which is a pretty amazing feat, if you know anything about Blake! If you are devoutly Catholic, you should probably stay away from these books, as, per Blake, they are quite down on organized Christianity and perceive Catholicism in particular to be one long regime of oppression and cruelty. I'm quite religious, myself, but I could take these books as an exploration of some interesting ideas without feeling personally offended.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it a lot!~
Review: I thought that this was a VERY good book. Even though I am not an adult I understand somewhat why some people would not give it to their kids to read. I do NOT think that it was violent at all. You just have to realize that the reader must be mature enough to take it in and understand the deamons, and witches, and unreal objects and not think that they are real. They must be able to realize that it is a book. And as for the story-line I couldnt put it down! It was suspensful and that is JUST what I like! ;)
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Summary: Review of audio cassette version
Review: After reading all the Harry Potter books we started in on those audio tapes (our boys are 4 and 7, so a reminder course in the events helps them retain the story). On a chance we picked up the audio version of The Golden Compass as a follow-up. It is the single best audio book we've ever played. Acted as much as read (a cast of a dozen+ actors), it vividly brings Lyra's adventures to life. I've got adults in my office listening to it now, so I can safely say it spans all ages from 4 to at least 40+. (Completely unabridged.) Great if you're a reader who wants to share the book with the family, excellent way to kick-start an older child into reading books 2 and 3, and much more interesting than the usual kid recordings. (Frankly, a better book than the Potter series, overall, but the recording is truly head and shoulders above even most adult audio fare). And just because you've done the audio, doesn't mean the book won't work as a follow-up read-aloud--for younger kids the familiarity after the recording makes it possible for them to follow the complex story, at the slow, chapter-a-night pace of family read-aloud.
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