The Golden Compass

I watched Golden Compass long ago and remembered loving the movie. It ended in way that there would be a sequel so I searched it up. And turned out the movie was a flop—how sad I was when I learned this. And it was based on a book series. One thing that made me loved the movie so much was the bond between human and their daemon. There was just something about their deep connection that touched something inside me. 

But for some reason I've been putting off reading the series because I was afraid I'd end up disliking them. LOL how wrong I was.

But honestly, it took times for me to get used to the writing style, but the second half of the book grabbed my attention just like that. And Lyra dear! She made me fell in love with this book! She is so witty and smart! Lord Asriel surprised me the most. I didn't expect him to be like THAT. Asshole. Oh, and Iorek Byrnison! My  polar bear! I love him and lyra. 

I know the trilogy was a critic towards religion, but I can't say much about it cause I don't really understand it fully. 

I just finished this wonderful book that was heavily recommended to me. I enjoyed it very much and following the journey of Lyra, Pantalaimon and Iorek never left me bored nor outpaced: the rhythm is excellent.
I would recommend for both kids and adults as it's one of those story that has several degrees of reading. By fear of spoiling anyone, I will only say that the underlying theme treated here is omniprevalent in our society.
I can't wait to see how this story is going to evolve, as it's time for me to start the second book of this trilogy, “The Subtle Knife”.

Another one that I lowered my expectations as far as I could. This one is much larger then Narnia though.

I started with the TV series, got to a few minutes into the third episode. It took 4 hours into the book to reach that same point. It was dreadful repetitive, but I kept hoping after that It would payoff. It didn't.

The story is just too boring, the characters too plain, the world building doesn't inspire me. All is too.. juvenile, which is after all the book's target audience.

Read 4:33/10:33 ~43%

I decided to read the book after watching the first episode of His Darkest Materials and instantly falling in love with the story and world created by Phipllip Pullman. Althought often refered to as a kids book, there are some subtleties and deeper meanings here that make this a much deeper book then what might be anticipated. This was an incredibly easy ready, with amazing writing and good progression.

After hearing about the religious controversy surrounding this series, I was interested. After the Catholic League described it as “Atheism for kids”, I added it to my list. The movie (which is OK, aside from rewriting the ending, and removing all mentions of religion) didn't do it justice though. If the thought of children going off to kill god in parallel universes sounds interesting, check these out.

I'm really torn on where I land with this book. Lyra is such a fun character, the bears are awesome, and the overall world is really neat. On the other hand the main character has a device that can answer any question you could imagine and she NEVER uses it.

Overall I think if you're looking for a fun and unique fantasy read it's a safe bet you'll enjoy it. It was a great book club pick and gave us a lot to talk about!

This world is absolutely amazing, and I love Lyra and Pan with all my heart. The descriptions of the land, the characters, and emotions are incredibly vivid and powerful.

Barely related personal note: I started reading this years ago and couldn't remember where I stopped. I have a bind up of all three novels and had seen the movie, so that made it even more difficult. After finishing the book, I still have no idea how far I originally read, but I can say it's a definite possibility I had actually finished it. If I did, that means I got to do one thing people always say they wish they could do: I read it for the first time again!

Incredible. It was described to me by a co-worker, Laurence Campling, as something to read when you're ready to grow up from Harry Potter. He was underselling it.

His Dark Materials is an incredible exercise in physics, fantasy, philosophy, and above all, storytelling.

The alternate worlds are breathtaking in their specificity as if Mr. Pullman has been there. The thoughts and motivations of the characters are deep and real. The situations and decisions faced are never easy and never simple. There are no “happy endings” but not all endings are bad either, rather they are the real mix of good, sad and real that we experience in our lives, however still writ large enough and fantastical enough to be much more interesting to read than our own mundane daily diaries might be.

I highly recommend this series as a thought-provoking challenging and entertaining way to wile away the hours.

The world and the premise in this one has so much potential, but I just felt like the pacing was a bit too slow, and I found things really draggy by the middle. It also felt like an adult's story strongly dressed up as a children's book, because it dealt with very, very heavy topics and had some pretty violent scenes involving (anthropomorphic) animals fighting each other to the death. But yet the author used the guise of a children's book so he could do expositions and info dumps that would be excusable for children's stories but inexcusable for adults. Honestly a shame because I really liked the premise and the world and want to know more about the concepts introduced in this book, but I'm still on the fence whether I want to read the rest of the series.

As an educator, I've always been ashamed to have missed this one. Finally catching up with it, now I can't imagine it being lumped in with “children's books.” It is for very mature, thoughtful children if you must keep it in that category. Other than having a child protagonist, I found this a very adult read. Of course it has all the intriguing theological themes I'd heard about, but it's also an extremely well paced fantastical adventure. A book I'd definitely want my children to read, though not one I could see reading aloud to my class.

Wow, this one is so good. It is split up into 3 parts and I couldn't stop reading until I was finished. At first the world building and the general idea of how this story works and is described took me aback, I think I wasn't ready for it, but after the first part I was totally into it. I loved the story and the fact that it is action driven. This adventure is great, and Lyra is such and interesting character, the way she grows throughout the book is amazing and I love how even though she is manipulated (by her parents even) she still acts according to her heart. The only thing that didn't really resonate with me was the writing, I think that it was simplistic.

I liked a lot of the over-arching themes of this, but I gotta say that seeing it from Lyra's POV was great in that it sounded like her, and horrible in that I wanted more knowledge in the way this world worked.

And I listened to it via audiobook, so I may have missed it, but I never did find out about the Master's attempted poison of the dad. I mean, I get it by the end, but it was a thing that stuck in my mind the entire book, and never really got talked about again. I'm guessing the master was trying to poison him because of his intention to kill a child. I wanted more, I guess, is what I'm saying.

I remember all of the hype around the movie and I started to read this book years ago but never got through it. Now with a little more time and understanding I can appreciate it better.

Lyra is a well written character. It's too bad I can't say the same about her uncle (Lord Asriel). You think he's an honorable guy, but really he turns out to be a jerk with his own agenda. Mrs. Coulter shows some vulnerability towards the end but it is clear where her alliances lie.

I do like the witches and the gyptians. They help keep the flow of the story gong and make some of the scenes more exciting. I think Pullman mught have used the witches a bit better towards the end of the book because they started to become the ones to swoop in and save Lyra when she got in trouble.

The ending is not going to be satisfying, only because it was clearly written to be a series. There are plenty of questions left for the reader, including the nature of Dust and why everyone is so afraid of it. Actually in writing this I now have a guess about Lord Asriel's motivations. I will see if I am right in the future books.

Its a good read, hopefully the next books are just as good.

I first read this book in 7th grade and stayed up most of the night to finish it in one day–I could not put it down. The trilogy is timeless, dealing with subjects that all ages can relate to. Both Lyra and Will are great characters to follow as they have to face very real, deep issues and what it means to grow up and find your truth in a sea of different ideologies. The world Pullman created is amazing and I revisit it every few years.

I had previous watched the HBO Series His Dark Materials and did enjoy it the TV show and now I have started this series as a whole starting with the golden compass

This world has the feel of a steem fantasy set in a alternate earth universe where everyone has a animal companions referred to as daemons which for me at least is a unique take on alternative earth.

The world that we find our main character Lyra in, is controlled by a religious orgnization known as the maigsterium aka the catholic church which is reference in a few different ways and seems to, like the tv show to be heading into a conflict between religious dogma and scientific advancement, which I think is the point of these books to begin with.

One could argue I think that this is a young adult series, between the young protagonist and the animal companions in a way it has a kind of cozy feeling of growing up while taking on that call to adventure, like harry potter, Lyra is very young when she gets her call to adventure and I am certainly enjoying this book series so far.

I found the writing style to be simple and easy to read, while still doing a great job and world building and character development. The anthropomorephized bears with their armor are prob some of my fav aspects of this world, as well as the unique take on wtiches which unlike other fantasy, are not the typically dark, ugly forest women who prey on unsupecting victims lol

all around fun read and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

This review is also featured at Behind the Pages: The Golden Compass

In the world of The Golden Compass, every human has a daemon. They are an extension of a person's soul. Whatever a daemon feels, their human feels as well. Lyra and her daemon Pan spend their days wandering around Oxford college, listening to the Scholars when they choose and wandering the streets to play with other children. Always ready for another adventure, Lyra is excited to learn she will be traveling North with Mrs. Coulter. Until she learns the horrible truth of what happens in the North. Her journey becomes a race to save her friends and family. Along the way, she will learn the bitter truth about betrayal and dark ambitions.

The Golden Compass is one of those books that stays with you. I first read this ten years ago, and I have never forgotten the elegant writing style or the gripping story of Lyra as she tries to save those she cares about. Lyra is a girl with a rabid imagination, able to spin a tale at the drop of a hat and entrance whatever audience she has, including the reader. Phillip Pullman has woven together a vivid display of cultures and philosophical theories into one enchanting tale.

I know there are people who refer to this book as religious, or political. Being someone who doesn't necessarily follow organized religion, or politics, the details that some readers pick up on that revolve on religion or politics simply are beyond me. To me, this was an intricate fantasy tale that I found entertaining from start to finish. Yes, when Iorek and the bears are introduced it mentions Christianity, but I just took it as another piece of world-building. I have never read beyond the first book, so perhaps I will pick up more on these themes as I continue to read.