Rating: 
Summary: I recommend it without a second thought!
Review: I am reviewing this book after I've read all 3 of His Dark Materials trilogy so I can assure you that I've got the whole picture.I can not judge this book alone, separately from the other two.The sure thing is that if you like the 1st you will love the rest.The story flows easily and pleasantly, after 20 pages or so, you feel that Lyra (the main character of the book)is your best friend.Breathtaking adventures lead you to the end of the book rapidly and my advise is to buy the second volume before finishing the Golden Compass.
At first, eventhough I enjoyed the book very much, I thought that the most suitable readers would be children, but as the plot develops I realized that Philip Pullman deals with the most important values in our life: Love,God,to know ourselves,our need to do something worthwhile in our short lives and leave our stamp after we die.
You can enjoy the book without searching profound meanings but if you do, they are there.I strongly recommend the Golden Compass, as well as the other two.I am sure you won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: Anti-Christian yes, Sophomoric No
Review: I can write, without a doubt, that _His Dark Materials_ is the most audacious, sophisticated, and provocative children's fantasy series--with the possible exception of the _Earthsea Trilogy--ever written. THe message of _His Dark Materials_ is, indeed, opposed to Christianity and all otherworldly religions. It is, as Pulmman has made clear, the anti-C.S. Lewis of the genre. I would urge people who have not read the series to stop reading this review now, and to be careful about reading other reviews recently posted here. Much of the power of the books come from the expansion of Pullman's universe as the series progresses: if you know all of what's going on, it spoils the stunningness of Pullman's project.An earlier reviewer characterizes Pullman's vision as a simplistic "pantheism," a message of the finality of death that he or she finds unappealing. I think that is a misreading of what Pullman is doing; Pullman's message has more in common with the existentialism of Sartre or Camus than with panthesitic throught. True, "dust" is conscious, but that is a conceit of a fantasy universe. Pullman's real message is that life needs to be lived here, and knolwedge of this fact is precisely what makes life meaningful. _The Farthest Shore_ makes a similar point, as do many other fantasy novels, but one cannot confront the sweep of Pullman's program without a feeling of awe. It is a call, in his words, for a "Republic of Heaven" liberated from the tyranny of sacraficing oneself for the sake of a hypothesized eternal reword. In this respect, it is not so much "anti-Christian" as secularized Christianity, but I will not pursue that here. The genius of the books, besides the lyrical quality of the prose, in which they are written, is twofold. First, Pullman weaves together theology, philosophy, physics, and history into a thoroughly persuasive cosmology. This is a book rich in its allusions to literature and history without being pretensious about it. In consequence, there are many, many layers through which one can enjoy the book. For example, You don't _need_ to know about Luther's doctrine of the "Two Kingdoms" to appreciate an early conversation at Oxford--but if you do, it will surely make you smile to learn that it renders a belief in multiple universes heretical in Lyra's world. The second is Pullman's ability to maintain a strong moral focus, yet have a cast of characters who are often deeply flawed even if they fight on the side of right, and deeply principled even if they fight on the side of wrong. Both the forces of good and evil are capable of tremendous selfishness or self-sacrafice. This is a lesson that, unfortunately, is highly salient to our present age.
Rating:
Summary: Ann's Review
Review: At first I wasn't interested in reading this book at all. My friend had been nagging me to for about a year. I'm ashamed to say that i finnaly picked it up because I was home sick and there was nothing else to do. At once I was hooked. The book took life in my mind it was like a movie. The characters were made so clearly i could feel what they felt. The plot thought at times hard to understand is so genius i was amazed. It really made me question things but i never would say it was bad. In fact, it, and the entire series are the best books i've ever read. Thank you Lin, for making me read it.
Rating:
Summary: The golden compass
Review: I am a 12-year-old kid. My mom read me this book when I was oh, 8 or 9, somewhere in that neighborhood. I still remember every word. It was that good. Hell, I remember that story better than I remember when I went to China in 1997. You Have Got To Read This Book! This is a reiview coming from a kid with an A average in every class (specials like art included); in Honors math, english, and reading ( that's the best you can do in seventh grade); and reading at an 11th grade level. THIS THING IS THE BOMB!
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid this series
Review: His Dark Materials is a trilogy: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. It is engaging, witty and imaginative, and features some very likeable characters. Unfortunately, the world-view is sophomoric and blatantly anti-Christian. In The Golden Compass we follow Lyra Belacqua in her seemingly orphaned romps around Oxford. It doesn't take long to realize that this Oxford is not our Oxford - not that I've ever been there in any event - meaning that Lyra's Oxford is in another world, where some things are the same and some are very different. The most striking difference in Lyra's world is that everyone has a daemon, which is a kind of Id/familiar/pet. Until a child is grown, the daemon can change shape at will - a mouse one moment, a tiger the next - but it takes a definite form somewhere around adolescence, and the fixed form of the daemon is some kind of reflection of the inner self of the ... what, host? Owner? .... Whatever. I was disappointed that these creatures were called "daemons." Why mar a perfectly good book - for so I regarded it at first - with this unnecessary association? I should have trusted my instincts. The author's anti-Christian biases pick up steam throughout The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. We learn pretty soon that he doesn't like the church, but since "the church" of Lyra's world is not our church (in fact, Calvin had won the 16th century contest of ideologies in Lyra's world), I was willing to look past most of that. There were some strange metaphysics thrown into the story, but hey, this is fantasy, you gotta expect that. Mid-way through The Amber Spyglass Mr. Pullman shows his true colors. He doesn't only hate the church. He hates God - or "The Authority" as he prefers to call him. In Pullman's universe, matter decided to become self-aware about 30,000 years ago (we're never told how such silliness could happen), and The Authority was merely the first conscious being. He then decided to try to deceive all the other creatures into believing that he was the creator and force them to do his bidding. (Satan and his lot are cast as freedom-loving rebels, sorta like Han, Luke and Obi-Wan.) The heroes of the story are those who decide to cast off The Authority's yoke and make war upon him, finally ridding the universe - that is, all the multiple worlds of the series - of this heavenly tyrant. The "good guys" are nuns who broke their vows, little girls who lie incessantly and fallen angels. Mr. Pullman portrays all of this as very healthy and reasonable because "The Authority" is a dreadful fellow. It goes without saying that his church makes life miserable for everyone, but even his promises of pie in the sky are hollow. The dead, both the just and the unjust, are doomed to a miserable half existence, bereft of hope, tormented by harpies - who were put there by The Authority for precisely that purpose. (Those familiar with early Christian heresies might recall the Gnostics and their Demiurge - the evil, spiteful pretender to the divine throne.) Pullman's "Authority," which he links to the God of Christianity, is a demented, vindictive angelic being that the universe is certainly better without. But such calumny isn't good enough for Pullman. In the end he portrays God as a decrepit, doddering, senile old Bubble Boy who has to be carted around in a crystal cage and protected from the slightest puff of breeze. In place of God, Pullman has Dust. In George Lucas' world it might be "the force." This childish, simple-minded pantheism is supposed to liberate everyone from the horrible mistake of Christianity. (One of his hero characters says, "I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all.") So how does Pullman's pantheism fix things? Well, for example, the comforting solution for those miserable souls in The Authority's underworld is to dissipate out into the cosmos once again and become one with everything. Gee, that's just what I always wanted. Pullman seems upset that Christianity teaches that we're sinners. I don't know what Pullman's religious beliefs are, but from the babble in these books we might suspect some form of ala carte Buddism. If so, his complaint against the Christian doctrine of sin seems out of place because the eastern religions teach a far more distressing view of human nature. We're not real individuals with a problem, they say. Rather, everything that we think of as "ourselves" is just an illusion that has to be "overcome" by "enlightenment," which is sorta like that dissolving into the cosmos thing the dead are supposed to be oh-so-glad of. For myself, I'd rather be a real person with a sin nature, thank you very much, then a nothing that is deceived into believing it is a something. If Pullman's ideas were presented systematically in a philosophy class you'd laugh and move on to the next chapter. The danger of fantasy (as with science fiction) is that you have to suspend some of your critical faculties to enjoy the story, and then, while your guard is down, Pullman strikes his low blow. I'm not going to tell you more about the book because, as I said, it is an engaging, interesting story, and I don't want you to read it. So don't be deceived by positive reviews. (I regret to say that I gave The Golden Compass a thumb's up.) Avoid this series altogether. It's a sophomoric anti-Christian diatribe, but dangerous precisely because it is packaged as a fun series of books for young adults.
Rating:
Summary: Mainstream PTA NY Liberal Fodder
Review: I learned that Pullman was inspired by David Lindsay so I thought I'd try the first book in this series. However after seeing the trumpeting cliches, vapid analogies, didactic moralizing and insipid political interpretations from every reprehensible source on earth from the Parents Choice to the NYT and Newsweek's invoking the loathsome Harry Potter I decided to skip it. Any book so systematically placating to such "moral" trend setters lacks subtlety and is worthless. There can be NO possible resemblance to Lindsay, Tolkien, or Lewis. The NYT reviewer is as obvious and crass as a barfly tapping green beer from NY's louder distilleries on St. Patties day. The visions imparted here are probably no less artificial. Also it's continuous feminist jabbing in the ribs is irritating.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: 'The Golden Compass' is a wonderful, action packed story with beautifully created characters, settings, and prose. Drawn in from the first page, I read it in about a day and a half. I promptly drove out to the bookstore and got The Subtle Knife (which I finished in 2 days) before going out and getting 'The Amber Spyglass'. I just couldn't put 'em down! I was quite disappointed to see the last page, and I miss it dearly. Perhaps a word to the wise- this isn't your average journeying-wizard-and-warrior type fantasy. This is fantasy at it's best, reminiscent of Narnia (though on the opposite spectrum), that offers a new view on the power of the written word. Some may argue that the series is blasphemous, but I say don't look at it for that- look at it for the wonderfully crafted story that it truly is. READ IT!
Rating:
Summary: A stunning story...
Review: A truely stunning story! The first I ever read was The Amber Spyglass though, and it is still my favorite of the trilogy. However, The Golden Compass is full of adventure and suspense. Philip Pullman can never fail you surprise me with his stories. But at one part--and I'm sure the author knows this--they quote from the "Bible." "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast take: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return...." And when I read this, I thought I understood the real life meaning of it. Since I was curious, I took out out bible, which was translated from Old English. And here's what it said: "All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from dust, and to the dust you will return." Which I took to say that since they were made of dust, they shall return to the dust. And that meant they would die, when they could've lived on forever in peace. I hope you found my review helpful--it took quite a long time! †The Shadow Master†
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Let the Marketing Fool You!
Review: No matter what the marketing for this book looks like, on the cover or from the pedantic little reviewer quotes strategically placed by marketing teams, this is NOT children's, or even young adult's fiction. Few children I know are familiar with Milton's Paradise Lost or with the poems of William Blake. Pullman has created a work of magnificent literature exploring concepts of innocence and sin using material from Milton and Blake as spinal support for a story that is intense, dramatic, and extremely thoughful. It troubles me that just because several of the main characters are children that this book would get categorized as 'Young Adult,' especially when the majority of the ideas it presents are well over the head of the typical 'Young Adult.' The main characters are children because a story exploring INNOCENCE necessitates an innocent protagonist. Anyhow, read the book, the plot is as interesting as the philosophy. Sympathy for the devil hasn't been this exciting since Milton.
Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: Genius! The best book of any genre I've read in years. I'm an adult. Adventurous teens will love it as well. Book two is just as enjoyable.
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