The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1)

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Summary: Wow!
Review: I like to read, but I'm not all that crazy about it. When this book was recommended to me, it took me a while to actually sit down and start reading it. But after that first page, I was literally hooked. I couldn't put it down...I read it so much, in fact, that I finished it around 10:30 that same night-it took me only one day to finish it. Now, that's because it was good, not thin. This is not a little kiddie book. The Golden Compass has become my favorite novel and is likely to stay that way for quite some time. Pullman is a great storyteller, and I can't wait for the third book in the trilogy. (The Subtle Knife, Book II was good also.) Give this book a chance, and you'll like it.

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Summary: UNBEATABLE...MAGNIFICENT..Pullman is a master of literature.
Review: I read this book a short time ago and I didn't believed I would ever see a book that reach me the way The Golden Compass did until I read the sequel The Subtle Knife. They're the only books that have ever made me cry. Now I want my own daemon. This book should be ten stars instead of the five stars allowed.

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Summary: This book is a stunning, suspensful, fantasy.
Review: The Golden Compass, is a book to keep readers hooked for hours. This fantasy has so many twists and turns, you want to keep on reading!

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Summary: I loved this book!!!!!!!
Review: I read this book, and I naturally loved it. I read the second and loved it even more. I read the third...wait, no I didn't. There's no third book! Since I read the last chapter of The Subtle Knife (bk.2), I've experienced severe mental anguish because the third book hasn't come out yet!!!!! They were both so perfect, but incomplete. I NEED to find the third book.

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Summary: The Golden Compass is a complex book for thoughtful people.
Review: This book was absorbing, and difficult to put down. Lyra is a well-conceived, believable character. I enjoyed this first book more than the second in the series, 'The Subtle Knife.' The whole idea of daemons was quite interesting, since we still don't know exactly what they are. I am inclined to think that they are a part of a person's soul. In summary, this was one of those books that you remember for a long time after you have finished reading it, and can come back to again, each time finding something new to think about, rather like the Narnia Chronicles, and George MacDonald's, Ursula LeGuin's and Madeleine L'Engle's fiction. The Golden Compass (or Northern Lights, its original title, used in Australia and the UK) is not just for children, but is an 'anybody' book. It deservedly won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Fiction Prize.

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Summary: Absolutely great!!!
Review: I really enjoyed the book. It was very action-packed and I couldn't put it down once I started reading it again. The characters are great and the different characteristics of each character fit the story like a glove.

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Summary: One of the Greatest Books I Have Ever Read
Review: This book is perfect- the most perfect mixture of all of the story-telling elements. I never wanted to put it down!

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Summary: Completly wonderful. . . couldn't put it down!
Review: The book was very interesting. It is one of those books that once you start reading you can not put down. You can read it over and over again and notice something new each time. I am a frequent fantasy reader and I know what to look for. This book has it all! Fantasy rich in detail, mystery of the sort that keeps tugging at your mind; urging you to continue reading. Intrigue, betrayel, friendship, love, magic, and a setting that keeps changing with every turn of the page. A good book doesn't need any pictures because the words themselves can form the pictures in your mind, this book does that with an intesity that most books do not have. I would recomend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and books that open your mind to amazing possibilities and whole new worlds.

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Summary: Partnership for a Pullman-Free America
Review: To all of you people out there: just say no. Certainly, Pullman's books are perfectly splendiferous, but they are not worth it. I started with The Ruby in the Smoke. "Sure," I thought, "I can stop any time." But I couldn't. No one can. Before I knew it, I had moved up to the hard stuff: His Dark Materials. I check amazon.com every day now to see if the third book is out yet. It is agony. I beseech you: heed this sad tale. Don't start.

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Summary: Even if you don't like adventure books you will like this
Review: The Golden Compass by:Philip Pullman This book is very unique. I have never read anything like. I have never read any of his other books, but I can tell just from this one what style he uses. I could guess that all of his books are adventurous, because this sure is. This auther has a very good imagination, I can tell. The reason I say this is because I could never in a million years come up with something like this. The Golden Compass is about a young girl named Lyra who lived in a college called Oxford because he mother and father died. Her "uncle" Lord Asriel was very rich and supported her and paid the scholars to teach her everything she needed to know. One day while she was wandering around, she went into the retiring room (where she wasn't supposed to go). The retiring room is where only the master, his pecial guests, Lord Asriel, and anyone else of any importance could go, and especially women. She heard footsteps so she hid in the wardrobe. While she was in there she heard about a magic dust in thye Artic. Then children started disapearing, including her best friend Roger. Where could they be? The next day she leaves the college to go live with a tutor, and when she leaves, the master gives her a present. He tells her to keep it secret from everyone. This starts her off on an exciting andventure north in search of her "uncle", the mysterious, dust, the missing children, and Roger. Some strengths are the way the auther tells you things that happened and the things Lyre does and gets; you don't understand them and don't know what they mean. Then in one chapter the auther tells you what everything means and everything suddenly fits together. Another thing that I liked is that the auther describes the characters and when he metioned each one, he automaticly mentioned their daemon and the kind of animal the daemon is. A daemon is an animal that is part of you and can't go a very long distance away from you. A daemon is always the opposite sex of the human. The book also has its weaknesses even though there are not many. One of them is, in the beginning it is kind of dull, but as the book goes on it's anything but that. I really liked this book because it was almost any thing but ordinary. It was a really good but because once you pick it up, it's hard to put down. This book is a real page turner.