YA reading blog

Pullman, P.  (2002).  The Golden Compass : His Dark Materials Book 1.  Thorndike Press.

Pullman, P.  (2003).  The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials Book 2.  Laurel Leaf.

Pullman, P.  (2003).  The Amber Spyglass : His Dark Materials Book 3.  Yearling.

5 stars out of 5 for the whole trilogy

Age range 12-18

In completing the series requirement in the reading log I read Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy.  This is the story of Lyra.  And I may as well say it, she is destined to save the world.  In the first book The Golden Compass Lyra is a scrappy young girl determined just to save her best friend.  She escapes Mrs. Coulter of the evil golden Monkey and travels to the north with a group of people intent on saving the children that have been stolen by the Gobblers and gains a mysterious ability to read the Altheiometer.  This actually has some frightening elements in it (the soul cutters) that add to the excitement.  She learns about the mysteries of dust and meets many strange, unique characters.  Lyra befriends them and they come to her aid many times in the following two books. 

In The Subtle Knife Lyra meets Will.  She has grown up a fair bit since the first novel and she and Will fight specters and try to find the truth about Will’s missing father. 

In The Golden Compass the forces of rebellion have gathered to fight the authority.  Lyra and Will race from world to world and finally play a pivotal role in the inevitable battle.

What is great about these books is that they are overflowing with strange, multifaceted characters such as Iorek Byrnison, Serafina Pekala, the Gallivespian spies, Lyra’s parents Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel and Dr. Malone.  All of these characters grow and develop throughout the books.  For instance, who would have guessed Lyra’s thouroughly reprehensible parents would redeem themselves in the end.

Also this book is full of interesting things not seen in any other books, for instance Daemons.  These are such a great part of the story.  I wish I had one.  I liked though that some people had them and some didn’t.  (Although really they did, they were just not visible)  Also the idea of traveling from world to world was different from other fantasy books I have read as was the mysterious dust.

I loved this trilogy.  It had lots of great elements.  The constantly changing landscape remained fresh and interesting throughout the series and the characters were also fascinating.  They continued to change and develop never becoming dull or one-dimensional.  I can see how it might offend some considering how the church and even god and some aspects of the bible were portrayed but I think that is just a matter of personal preference.   I found it really interesting to see some of the usual biblical stories reversed and portrayed in a different way.  This idea or theme doesn’t seem all that unusual though, as lots of writers seem to enjoy challenging the idea of a creator and the church.  For instance, a book that reminded me of Philip Pullman’s series is “Not Wanted On The Voyage” by Timothy Findley where the idea of heaven and angels and god all get a more negative spin as well, and the fallen angels get a more positve one.  While these books may not achive total popularity I found them to be really fun to read.

Kate