Rating: 
Summary: Waiting for Harry Potter? Want something great to read?
Review: You get hooked on this series like you get hooked on Harry Potter. It is just as good or better!
Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic
Review: This review inevitably contains spoilers, although I've tried to avoid giving too much away. Please don't read this review, or any other for that matter, if you wish to enjoy The Golden Compass (TGC) to the full. In particular, there is a summary in the Booklist entry in the Editorial Reviews section of Amazon's US site which shamefully and without warning betrays a vital plot element. Amazon - please remove or edit this entry. It's not fair to your readers.TGC is not the first volume of a trilogy; it's the first published part of a three-volume novel, His Dark Materials (HDM). As such it can stand alone, but it leaves the reader so suspended at the end that it's hard to imagine him or her not wanting to move straight on to The Subtle Knife. I did, and with all three parts now available there's really no reason not to do so. Treated as a stand-alone book, though, TGC would have benefited from a less sharply cut-off ending. It's not at all uncommon for storytellers to fall for their lead characters and there's no doubt that Philip Pullman (PP) has fallen for Lyra Belacqua, his 12-year-old heroine. PP follows the traditional structure of fantasy fiction by starting with the small-scale and domestic and gradually widening the scope to take in the wider world. This allows him lovingly to sketch Lyra's Oxford and the academic world of Jordan College, as well as the brave, thoughtless, mendacious tomboy herself. World-building - and character-building - takes time and some readers may find the first 50 pages of TGC a bit slow. However, once this vital groundwork has been done, the action takes off and continues pell-mell right through to the splendid climax on Svalbard. The story remains tightly focussed on Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon pretty much all the way though, which is one reason why many readers prefer TGC to the other parts of HDM. The wider story that develops in the rest of HDM is only hinted at here. PP is a grand storyteller, but perhaps not quite so good a plotter. Once or twice the hand of the omnipotent author intervenes to move the story along. Despite this the plot is generally well managed, especially with respect to the spoiled point I mentioned at the beginning of this review. The point of a successful dénouement is that it should surprise the reader - who should then realise its rightness and inevitability. Perhaps I don't pay enough attention when I read, but when I discovered exactly what it was that the General Oblation Board were doing in Bolvangar I was shocked and revolted - a considerable achievement when you consider that their crime is an invention of the author's - but also delighted by the way that his craft had led the story to that point. Much has been made of comparisons with, and PP's dislike of, the Narnian Chronicles of CS Lewis. I'll just remark that PP gleefully fillets elements of the Narnian stories (and the Interplanetary Trilogy) throughout HDM. Sometimes this happens because HDM and the Narnian Chronicles share common origins; sometimes it's just for fun. Unlike Lewis, who borrowed ideas from HG Wells only to satirise him in a very personal and snobbish manner in That Hideous Strength, PP confines his criticism to the work, not the author. In summary, then, The Golden Compass is a genuine modern classic - a thoughtful, exciting adventure, brilliantly imagined and beautifully written, that works on many levels. How could I not give it five stars?
Rating: 
Summary: imagery is delightful, world is strong, POV is scattered
Review: That pretty much covers it. I really enjoyed this book, and the depth of detail of this very different world was incredibly wonderful. But the way he jumped from one point of view to another, sometimes even in the middle of an event and often without clear demarcations, was frustrating & sometimes a little confusing.
Rating:
Summary: I love this series!
Review: I read this book a few months ago, and I am finally going to read the 3rd (final) one in the series! I think that The Golden Compass is the best one so far. It does a great job of introducing the main character, and it also has a good plot. I think that this book has no (or very few) bad parts in it, and I would recommend it to anyone! If you do read it, don't expect it to be a very realistic book because right in the first chapter, you read about Lyra and her Daemon; so obviously, it is a fantasy story.
Rating: 
Summary: The Golden Compass
Review: I know that most people like the book "The Golden Compass" but I hated it. If you like fantacy it's great, but if you dont it is a nightmare. Just to let you know!
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind read
Review: This book takes place in a world like ours, but different. At first I was thrown off a bit by the differences, but as I read more it came together beautifully. Lyra is an interesting character and though I didn't like her at first she really grew on me. This is deffinately a great book which works on many different levels. Of course if you read this book you MUST read the next two, both of which are better then the one before! This series is truely a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Phillip Pullman strikes Gold
Review: This is children's and young adult's literature at its best. Phillip Pullman is spectacular, and it shows in the Golden Compass. The story Follows young Lyra, who has come into possesion of a mysterious artifact nown as an aielthometer. With it, she can answer any question, and it helps her on her jouney to find the Mysterious Dust. This story is spectacular, leading Lyra from one escapade to another. Wheter it be with the Waterway-dwelling Gytians, the armored bears of Bolavangar, or the Witch tribe. No child should go without reading this.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Fabulous!
Review: I think that Pullman has by far outstreched his other creations (such as Ruby in the Smoke) in creativity and magical mystery. This story follows an adventurous young girl named Lyra on a journey to the north. As she learns about her past and as she struggles to understand everything that is going on around her, a plot unfolds in which she is not only included, but essential. At the end she must make a decision on which the fate of the world rests......
Rating:
Summary: THE GOLDEN COMPASS....EXCELLENT
Review: I loved this book! I loved this book! I loved this book! I loved it! I loved it! I loved it! I loved it! I loved it! READ IT READ IT READ IT READ IT READ IT READ IT READ IT. NEED I SAY MORE?
Rating: 
Summary: An OK book
Review: I read this book for my AP english class as a freshman. I was rushed to read it, but I really enjoyed it. If you are into science fiction an like intriging books, then no doubt this is the book to indulge yourself in this summer. It is the story of a girl in another world and her struggles to search for the truth as well as her past.
| 
