Rating: 
Summary: Northern Lights - I loved it! ^_^
Review: For Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalimon, a dream of going to the North sets in motion an incredible adventure in a fantasy world parallel to our own, yet vastly different. Her journey takes her in search of stolen children, the discovery of her real parents and encounters with strange creatures. Northern Lights is the first part of the trilogy "His Dark Materials" a wonderful series written by Phillip Pullman. The main characters are Lyra Belacqua and the physical manifestation of her soul, her dæmon, Pantalimon. They live in a world parallel to ours. When a series of child kidnappings, that include her best friend, Roger occur, by the feared "Gobblers", Lyra sets out on a quest to help rescue them. In the doing this, a greater task is revealed, although she does not yet realize it. Along the way she encounters, tragedy, loyalty, and friendship with many loveable and unlikable characters. All the while never knowing for certain who is good and who is evil. Despite Lyra's immature behaviour at times, she learns to makes wise decisions and ultimately begins grows up
With the help of her friends. Her friends are a little unusual: The armoured bear; Iorek Byrnison, The Witch Queen; Serafina Pekkala, The aeronaut; Lee Scorsby and her dæmon. Dæmons are the physical form of a person's soul. Every person has a dæmon; they reflect the emotions, feelings and personality, by form and actions of their host. They also act as our conscience. A Dæmon is able to take the shape of any animal. Even the people in our world have Dæmons (referred to in later books), though we cannot see ours. Northern Lights is not always a happy adventure, there are tragic and shocking events and even deaths. These tragedies and betrayals make the reader question their own beliefs, you're not sure as to whether a character is good or evil. The author encourages the idea that the world is not just black and white, but many shades of grey. Most people between the ages of ten and thirteen will enjoy this. I wrote this for an english assignment. I got an A- for it too. @^_^@ Though I'm not sure as to wether this is my final copy. ^_^; Any way I hope you enjoy what I have written. My spell check stopped working about halfway through doing it so I hope there's no errors. That's all. Cya. ^_^
Rating:
Summary: Nice book with unsatisfactory end
Review: Lyra Belacqua is a 12-year old girl living at Jordan College in Oxford and behaving like all other children: exploring, making mischief, wanting to be loved. The difference with most children is that she has never known her father and mother and that the grown ups around her know that she is destined to do something important. And then children start to disappear from Oxford: the rumour goes that they are abducted by Gobblers. After a spell with the seemingly nice but demanding Mrs Coulter, Lyra is intent to free the abducted children, a quest that takes her to the North Pole.
So far everything seems pretty normal, but Lyra's universe is only partially like ours: every human being has a daemon: an animal that stays near to you and represents your soul. Without such a daemon a person loses his personality and may ultimately die. And witches, armoured polar bears and ferocious Tartans inhabit Lyra's world. She also has an alethiometer, a kind of clock that can answer any question one has. With the help of the alethiometer, gyptians, witches, an exiled polar bear and a lot of inventiveness she is capable of freeing the children, but her quest takes her still further until she reaches the end of the world where she has to make a very difficult decision.
This book is the first of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, a series often compared to the Harry Potter books. There is a lot to enjoy: action, suspense and this book is less childish, but I like the Harry Potter books better as the events in the Harry Potter books are more archetypical: more black and white, good and evil, which for this type of books is good. Also the end of Northern Lights is so open that it practically forces the reader to buy the second book of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: it will draw you into their worlds
Review: In a world, not that different from ours, lives an 11-year-olf girl with the name of Lyra Belacqua. Like every human in that world she possesses a personal daemon that protects and guides her through life. As an orphan she was taken under the guidance of Lord Asriel, who did send her to Jordan College in Oxford for her education. But something is clearly amiss when she secretly witnesses a special gathering in which Lord Asriel plays a remarkable role. Although Lyra does not understand what they are talking about, she is overwhelmed by curiosity to find out more about the main topic of that meeting: the Dust. When later children start to disappear, Lyra starts to suspect that it might all be linked to the Dust.
Northern Lights is the first part of the His Dark Materials-trilogy and this becomes very obvious while reading the book. The story-line in itself is mainly the glue that holds together the introduction of the characters and the description of the remarkable universe they're living in. But in no way does this hinder the enjoyment of the book. Philip Pullman overwhelms the reader with such a fantastic narrative that it is hard to stop reading. It is a real treat to find yourself cut of from all daily troubles and to dive into the beautiful and unforgettable magic of Lyra Belacqua.
Not yet having read the second part of His Dark Materials, I am sure that in that part the story will get up to speed and the thrill of Lyra's quest will be even more enthralling. Needless to say that that book is already lying on my nightstand.
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