The Golden Compass

After seeing the new trailer for the HBO series I wanted to read the book before seeing the adaptation. Years ago I watched the movie and I have heard the controversy surrounding the series. So I felt now was the time to read or in this case listen to the book and get my own perspective. My raw feeling after finishing this book was positive I found the story enjoyable and exciting. I would also categorize this book as grim dark and I do see the similarities between the book and the Catholic Church and I can see where the criticism comes from but I also feel this is just like many other fantasy or maybe better yet historical fiction. So from a readers perspective I don't see how this story is that much different that a book where the civil war or WWII have different out comes similar to Amazon's Man in the High Castle. From a Catholics perspective I take offense with the authors beliefs but I will continue to read the rest of the series as just a fantasy novel and try not to linger on the politics or read too much into the authors intent. Finally, one criticism I do have and it may be related to listening to the audio book instead of actually reading the book was that feeling that the story time jumped or changed directions a lot maybe that was the authors intent so story was told without have long sections to tell the full journey.