The Golden Compass

Executive Summary: Started off pretty good, but I lost momentum as the book went on. Still, there is enough here for me to continue on with the next book.

Audiobook: I initially really loved the audio, but by the end I was starting to get tired of it a bit. The book itself is narrated by the author (I believe) and he does a great job of it.

The dialogue is done by a rather large cast of readers/voice actors. It's more like an audio drama than an an audio book.

Unfortunately, I found Lyra's voice was starting to grate a little after awhile. I'll still continue on with the series in audio though, as my enjoyment was probably more put off by the story than the audio.

Full Review
This one has been on my list for awhile, and I got the book on sale earlier this year. A few friends decided to do a reread along with me on my first go of it.

I started our really into the story. I loved learning about the world, and in particular how people and their demons interact. I think the demon aspect is what interested me most.

In some ways this is a fantastical alternative history story. It feels like early 1900's in England as far as locations and technology go, but where everyone has a demon and their are talking bears and air ships.

I'm certainly not the target audience here, but that's never stopped me with other well written books aimed at younger audiences. I like Lyra right away from the start, but as the book went on, I liked her less. She's a kid, and she acts like one, but that wasn't my issue I don't think. In particular it's that's she seems to lie almost constantly in order to get ahead, and it always works. Or so it felt like to me.

I wasn't particularly excited by the bears either. I should have been, and maybe as a kid I'd be enamored, but I just kind of found them uninteresting for some reason.

Then there is the magic compass itself. It's a cool idea, and I'd love to have one. However, I felt like it was overused by the author as a convenient plot device to move the story alone and make everything a lot easier on Lyra. She didn't have to be clever or figure anything out on her own, she just needed to consult the compass for what to do and then lie and lie BIG.

That all may make it sound like I didn't like the book. It was fine, just not as good as I was expecting, especially after the start.

What really has me interested in the next book is the mysterious city in the sky. What does it mean? How does it relate to dust? Hopefully the next book will build nicely on that stuff.