Rating: 
Summary: Not kiddy stuff but really kicks
Review: read it read it read it i tell you now. this triology is one of the best i have ever read. i'm an 8th grader and even though this is a book for young adults, you have to be more on the adult side to be able to read it and like it. While this book may have many controversial issues in it according to your religion, it never affected what i believe in. pullman has woven a web of a story so unique, that no ever spider will ever come close to this story. what more can i say?
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars All The Way
Review: It has been over a year since the last Harry Potter book, and disappointed fans are only reminded of this distressing fact by the recent media about the second Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. JK Rowling, the author, has made it clear that it will be at least another six months before we see Book 5 of the famous series. What is an impatient Potter aficionado to do? Don't worry folks, Philip Pullman's critically acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy contains more than enough magic and grandeur for the Harry Potter drought. Pullman is an amazing writer; the language is not childishly simple yet still describes each event in a breathtaking and lucid manner. Pullman richly deserves the Booker Prize he won recently (the first ever 'children's book' to win the main award) for the third book of the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass. The series as a whole cannot be labeled as 'children's books' because of their surface, for its allegorical nature lends itself to all generations.
The series starts with the book The Golden Compass, picks up momentum throughout the second installment The Subtle Knife, and comes to such a startling and exhilarating conclusion in The Amber Spyglass that the reader will be left breathless and aching for more. The Golden Compass begins with the introduction of the main character, 11-year-old orphan Lyra, eavesdropping on a meeting given by her uncle, Lord Asriel. He is giving a lecture to a group of scholars at Jordan College (Lyra's adopted home and part of Oxford) about a mystical entity known as "Dust." Though the substance is not completely understood, recent studies show that it gravitates towards adults and avoids children, almost as if it were conscious. Shortly after this odd meeting, children start disappearing all over the world. When Lyra's best friend Roger goes missing, Lyra resolves to find him. Sounds like a typical child adventure, right? Girl goes off, saves her friend, and they live happily ever after? Answer: You couldn't be farther from the truth. Part of the puzzle is that a rather odd friend accompanies Lyra on her journey. Her fuzzy friend, known as a daemon, is the physical embodiment of her soul. Everyone in Lyra's world has a daemon. They take the form of an animal, which can change when the owner is child, but will stay fixed as an adult. For example, a servant's may be a dog, as a sign of obedience. Lyra's world is a parallel universe, one strikingly similar but not identical to our own. Lyra has another "companion" with her on her quest: an alethiometer given to her by the president of Jordan College. This "golden compass" will answer any question asked of it through a series of symbols. For some puzzling reason, only Lyra can interpret the ancient device. And so Lyra embarks on this quest, unaware of the prophesy she is fulfilling, the worlds that rest on her shoulders, or the timeless battle she will help to fight. The characters she meets along the way advance the storyline. Pullman constantly adds new dimensions to these individuals, which keeps the reader's interest. There is the evil Mrs. Coulter, whose true character is never accurately understood until the trilogy's final chapters. The seemingly honest and open Uncle Asriel is developed further and leaves the reader intrigued until the end. Most importantly there is Will Parry, the 12-year-old boy introduced in The Subtle Knife whose fate is mysteriously intertwined with Lyra's. Even Lyra's friend Roger has a crucial part in this tale of heaven and earth, right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, and hope and despair. Though I would hate to shock the JK Rowling fans out there, this book is a must-read and in many respects greater even than the famous Harry Potter series. Don't think you'll agree? Read the His Dark Materials trilogy and see for yourself!
Rating:
Summary: Action Packed and Perfect for Young Adults
Review: Anyone could read these books and like them! They're action packed, exciting, and you fall in love with the characters. Lyra, half wild-child, lives at Jordan College, not knowing who her parents are. She's wild, she's free, and she does what she wants with an edge of authority. One day, she and her dæmon Pan go into a room that allows no females. Pan thinks it's a bad idea but Lyra is curious... then they get caught by Lord Asriel. Lyra finds out interesting things which starts her on her journey of finding out about mysterious Gobblers that take young children...
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing start to a series
Review: I've just read THE GOLDEN COMPASS, the first in this series of 3 books, and I am anxious to get my hands on the other two books. It was recommended to me by a woman in her 50s, and I enjoyed it as a woman in her 20s. I think most adults will like this book, as well as most adolescents. This book is darker than the Harry Potter books or others similar to those, so keep that in mind when buying this book for a younger child. Another reviewer mentioned this book in comparison to the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy; this first of the series seems much more interesting and fast-going than THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING however. Basically, this is just a great read. Lyra is brilliantly drawn by Pullman, and the story is vividly brought to life. You can almost taste the coldness of the northern air yourself. And the ending just leaves you impatient to read the next in the series!
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Summary: The Golden Compass-The Science Of Magic
Review: The Golden Compass by Phillup Pullman, is an exciting novel that combines the truest of all human emotion with fantasy beyond Earth's wildest dreams. The result is a piece of literary gold that trancends age and tastes. A book written for young adults that is equally if not more so appreciated by adults, is a work of fantasy that can be enjoyed even by those who are scientifically minded. The protagonist, free-spirited and capable Lyra, is drawn into a battle that she alone must win or lose, and she must fight the truth of her own destiney. This award-winning and utterly captivating story will have you hanging on every word until its gripping conclusion, and leave you clamoring for the more.
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Summary: Compass to Paradise Regained
Review: The Golden Compass is the first book in an epic trilogy that is closer in tone to Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_than the _Harry Potter_ books, but religion and philosophy take center stage. It's still a battle of Good versus Evil, where Pullman updates Milton and Blake by questioning a LOT of assumptions. With the Catholic Church scandal revealing painful new developments every day, Pullman's work becomes even more timely. Are institutions created to teach morality capable of staying moral? Can moral authorities resist authoritarianism? Which is more important, the integrity of the institution or protecting our most vulnerable citizens? All these issues will come to fore in the trilogy. Written as a fantasy-adventure featuring pre-teen Lyra, this first volume features an alternate Oxford (UK) where everyone has a animal-daemon who stays close at hand. Children's daemons change animal form, adults stay settled as one animal, revealing a bit of its human's personality. Armored and intelligent polar bears figure, along with corrupt church adminisrators who kidnap and experiment on children. The Oxford where Lyra lives is also engaging in these dangerous experiments, and ties to the Church are closer than in our world. (Which Church is never specified; while the organization and omnipotence suggests the Roman Catholics, it could as easily be the Church of England in a world where religion is enmeshed with government.) Pullman clearly detests the evil done in the name of religion, which is why the Good and Evil discussion gets intricate. He is not necessarily anti-Catholic or anti-Christian but anti-authoritarian. Anyone who has studied European history will recognize the characterization of a corrupt and overly powerful Church. Lyra represents the The Enlightenment in a world as politically forward as pre-Reformation Europe, and must defeat powerful forces who have no interest in power-sharing. The book works both as a springboard to the Big Questions and as an allegory for growing up and finding one's own way. Literate, informed, evocative, and conceptually brilliant, this supposed Young Adult release will captivate adults as well.
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Summary: Fantastic Fantasmagoria!
Review: This trilogy was a great read. I'm glad I bought them all at once, because once you finish the first one, you can't wait to move on to the second and third. Pullman creates an alternate reality, parallel with our own world (sort of like Narnia, but in the second and third books, it is obvious that Pullman is creating an alternate view of god and the afterlife, not the direct parallel that exists in Narnia between Aslan and god), where people have spirit shadows, or daemons, that are attached to them at all times. The first book introduces our heroine, Lyra, and her daemon. We first find her sneaking about in the university where she lives (she's a custodial ward of the university). Things turn pretty black pretty quickly for our young heroine, but I'm not telling you any more, because you should definately read this series!
Rating:
Summary: Read It!!
Review: This Book is a must read! If you enjoy fantsy books, you will love this book no matter what age you are.
Rating:
Summary: Youv'e got to read this!
Review: Im only 12. This is one of the best books i have ever read. I have also read the subtle knife and is equally good. I havent read the amber spyglass yet but cant wait to read it. Lyra is a young girl unaware of the dangerous and perlerious journey ahead of her. She and her dæmon (animals that are part of a person and have the ability to change shape when the person is a child) set out on a quest to rescue roger, lyras friend. Before she leaves the master of Jordan College gave her an instrument the aletiometer that can tell the truth if you can read it right. Lyra is confused all about "dust" a special type of particle the chruch authorities wish to destroy. While on her journey to the north she discovers and expierences the perlerious journey and also learning the truth. this is a must read book. You would understand it better if you read it . I soo cant wait till they make the trilogy into a movie. sooon after the lord of the rings the last of the movies shows on the big screen theyll start shooting the golden compass in 2004.
Rating:
Summary: more than a kid's book
Review: I bought this series for my grandaughter last Christmas and she loved it. Being desperate for a good diversion, of which there are few, I picked this 1st book up a couple days ago and have been amazed at how much fun this "old" kid has had sharing the adventure with Lyra, how developed the characters have been, how fantastic her world. It's great adventure on many levels, and no more only for children than is Tolkien.
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