Rating: 
Summary: I just didn't get it.
Review: The be perfectly honest, this book gave me a headache. There were seemignly endless pages waiting for the story to begin, and rapid fire introduction of new characters that my sleep deprived brain couldn't handle. I didn't like the main charecter, I couln't relate to her, and a lot of the time I wanted to smack her around. Nothing happened in the first three chapters of the book the get things rolling in a coherent fashion. You don't spend enough time with alot of the charecters to get to like them. The only reason that I read the book at all is because a friend pestered me into it. Now of course the other two are sitting on her shelf waiting for me. I'm not looking forward to it.
Rating:
Summary: Pullman doesn't like women very much
Review: I was struck with the misogyny throughout the entire book. If anyone heard a loud explosion in the New York city area last week, it was the sound of this feminist's heart breaking.It pained me because it's a very good book otherwise. First of all, Lyra is just a boy in a skirt. Why did Pullman feel the need to do this? I understand being a tomboy -- but even the most beloved literary tomboys were still believable girls. Lyra is not a believable girl. There's very little girlish about her. When she is asked to choose a toy in the later parts of the book, she chooses a doll grudgingly. I think Pullman did this to get away with his treatment of women throughout the book. There's a little girl at an all-male college (nothing wrong there) -- and this is never fully explained. However, the few female professors there are considered "dowdyish" and uninteresting and not given any time. It's this little girl around all these men. Then comes the only other female lead in the story -- and of course she's Lyra's mother and of course she's evil. When a scholar asks Lyra if she would like some other little girls to play with, she wrinkles her nose and says, "No." When stuck in the camp, she seems especially dismayed that she's stuck in the all-girls dorm. This would be fine, if she were to come to some later realization that girls are not only useful but great -- but this realization never comes. Girls and women are always on the periphery of this book. There's a witch -- who just happens to send her male daemon to speak for her for most of the time. So, once again -- another male voice. The witches are immortal. In one breath, a witch says, "Flying is the most important thing to witches" and also, "I would have given anything to follow him to his world where I could cook and clean for him and have his babies." Gag me. Normally, I wouldn't give a hoot if an author hated women or not, but this is marketed as a children's book. It's not unlike having an adventure story where the black guy always gets killed in the second act. Let's get with the 21st century.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginning To Fantastic Trilogy
Review: Lyra was an ordinary girl, living at Jordan College. She's always running wild with the kitchen boy, Roger. But when children- including Roger - begin disappearing due to a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers, Lyra sets out to find out what's going on. On her journey, Lyra discovers that the association is doing horrible things to the children and all because they feared the substance called Dust. This book is full of science fiction/ fantasy wonder. As you're lead through Lyra's eyes, you find yourself drawn into her magical world. All of the characters, major and minor, are dynamic and richly written which leaves you thirsting for more. This book is the first in His Dark Materials, which is a trilogy about Lyra and her quest for the meaning of Dust.
Rating:
Summary: Lyra is the best story character ever created!
Review: I enjoyed reading The Golden Compass very very very much.
First, like the Harry Potter series, it is very interesting to read about a world different from us, with creatures like armoured bears and witches.
Secondly, this book explore on some great themes, like love, growing up and also religion. Some people think that His Dark Materials Series are much too "dark", because it rejects the ideas of the Church, and they think that this is not suitable for children. I don't agree, because I think we should read about different ideas of others, and seeing things and religion in different angles will help us to develop our own ideas.
But what I like most about this book is Lyra!!!!!!! I think she is so reckless, brave, passionate, quick-witted and is a good leader! I just love it when she used her wits to trick Iofer the bear king, and how she rescued the children in Bolvangar etc. She is a hero!!! I really wish that she is real, because it is so interesting to have a friend like her. I think that she is the best story character ever created, because she has good qualities and bad qualities, and she does unexpected things that make this book so nice to read. And Philip Pullman describes her feelings and emotions realistically.
Rating:
Summary: best in its class!
Review: can't say more than all the thousand plus reviewers have already
said....but as an adult, let me tell you this book is amongst the very best ive ever read. a more compelling story for me than even the great trilogy, LOTR. the only stories which come close to the stories of Lyra Belaqua are perhaps the Wrinkle in Time stories. the best part is they do not feel like children's stories at all.
the tale moves the reader emotionally and intellectually and has many layers to ponder as the stories move forward. i hope there are teachers for whom this is required reading in their classes. read them and enjoy, read them and think, read them and feel yourself transported to new worlds that have much to teach us about our own.
Rating:
Summary: A "Must Read"
Review: I gave the book The Golden Compass five stars. This book is a science fantasy about a young girl named Lyra who lives amongst the scholars at Jordan College and plays in the streets for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she overheard the hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. This particle could unite whole universes. But those who feared the particle would do anything to destroy it. Find out how Lyra will save the world while many don't even know she is doing it.
I loved the characters. His writing style made them seem so realistic and easy to relate to. I wasn't so interested in the beginning, but one quarter of the way through it I couldn't put it down. I learned to be more imaginative and to be in charge of my own destiny through this book. This author has also written many other mystery trilogies.
Rating: 
Summary: *What I Think* ClArK
Review: This book has a great plot with many cliffhangers. The story just makes you want to continue reading. There are so many fun things to read about that happen to Lyra. She is a risk-taker and does dangerous things with her friends, daemon, the "Gobblers", and her uncle. Phillip Pulman has an adventurous imagination, and thinks up of many interesting events that take place. Similar to most books, there were some parts that didnt appeal to me. Lyra and her friend went down into the wine cellar, broke bottles, and got drunk; it didnt seem to fit with the rest of the book and the stories plot. I enjoyed reading this book and hopefully I will be able to read the rest of Pulman's series.
Rating:
Summary: Armored Bears, alethiometers, daemons...
Review: This series is my favorite out of all the other books that I have ever read, and they number quite a few. The world(s) that Pullman has created is amazing - daemons, panserbjorne, alethiometers, the Silver Guillotine, Specters. I can't believe that all of this came out of one brilliant mind, and I truly adore the novels. The characters - Lyra, Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter, and Pantalaimon for now, and Mary Malone, Will Pary, Serafina Pekkala, and Lee Scoresby a little later - stay with you after the end of the last book. I plan on getting the companion book on the 29th, and I hope that Pullman fans will also to support the author.
Rating:
Summary: 1,000 Reviewers Can't Be Wrong
Review: According to Amazon, I will be the 1,009th person to review this book. This review applies to the entire series, but since you have to start somewhere, I'll post it here. Also, I'm reviewing the Audio series, read by the author with a full cast. It was *very* well done. I'm a fan of radio drama and books on tape. For centuries storytelling has been verbal, and this series is a sterling example of why. Hearing this story told in this way, narrated with a full cast of actors for the roles really brings it to life. And what a beautiful story to bring to life. This story is elegant, compelling, and wow does it cover some ground. This book is intimately intertwined with the Judeo-Christian Mythology and the Church, and borders on heretical. I was telling my friends when I was reading this that I was surprised this book was advertised in the teen's section because it really shakes some fundamental beliefs many people have about God and the Church. This is something parents should take into account when allowing their children to read this series. I read once that plot is caring about the characters enough to turn the page. Well these characters... From a talking Bear King to a Texan Aeronaut (he operates a hot air balloon), who become the closest of friends... these are characters you will come to love. And Lyra, the main character... As that Texan Aeronaut said, I love her as if she was my own daughter. The world these characters inhabit is one of the most imaginative I've seen in a long time. It's as imaginative as Oz, or Wonderland, and at the same time, more believeable, and traverses the landscape from Heaven to Hell. In many trilogies, you get a sense that in the 3rd book that the author is tying up as many loose ends as possible, and yes I did occasionally get that feeling, but by and large, each book took you in a direction that was completely unexpected, and often left me in awe of it's scope and imaginativeness. There are some truly heart wrenching moments, and moments of sheer ecstacy. As others have said, you will love this series. I personally gaurantee it. And if you're at all interested in storytelling as an art for the ears and not just the eyes, pick up the audio version.
Rating:
Summary: Action-Packed
Review: "The Golden Compass" is a great reading experience because of the marvelous action that sweeps you up and doesn't plunk you down until the last page. The main character Lyra Belacqua is an amazing young lady, especially considering how completely nuts her parents are! Her father, Lord Asriel, is hardly fatherly; and her mother, Mrs. Coulter, is power-hungry. Neither parent offers the affection children crave; and yet Lyra is such a well-balanced practical little sprite that we easily forgive social maladjustments like lying, which actually proves an asset and earns her the nickname "Lyra Silvertongue." Philip Pullman did expand my vocabulary a bit. "Oblation" is a religious term for a sacrifice; and here we have a church-sponsored agency that surgically alters children and adults into zombie-like automatons. "Alethic" means "Of or relating to truth"; and here Pullman creates the "alethiometer" than can actually read truth in a crystal-ball "golden compass" manner. Iorek Byrnison and the culture of the bears is an amazing fictional culture. The idea of having a bear who wears armor as if it were his soul seems completely normal in this world. The battle for Bolvangar and Iorek's fight seem to climax and turn the tide. I found the book a bit hard to take with the cruelty toward children that this evil world seems to inflict. But Gyptians Farder Coram, John Faa and the Costas ground the book with a sense of emotional loving reality. The daemons are charming with their animal forms and human attachment. The other culture of the witches is also tremendously interesting with the daemon goose of Serafina Pekkala freeing the little daemons who've been surgically separated. Lee Scoresby as the balloonist is a wonderful mercenary character. The book does have a dark tinge to it, as do the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings books. But Pullman does a great job of wrapping you up in the action and carrying you along, while the deeper philosophical meanings lay smoldering beneath surface. It's a great ride! Enjoy!
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