Customer Reviews
Another positive review 
2008-06-03
I probably can't do any more justice to this books then has already been writen. Yet it seems that I am going to try. I first read this book years ago, before their was even a third book. I have recently re-read the entire series. I believe that this original is the best of the three. The charactor's are real and the world is unique. Pullman is not the type of author to hand you a happy ending on a silver platter. His charactors are very realistic. If you have yet to read this controversial trilogy then I would urge you to start.
CD - Golden compass 2008-06-01
Good book. Love to listen to these on trips. I don't get all of the hype. I was born and raised Catholic. It's a book!! Fiction! I hope to get the rest of the books soon.
Wonderful 2008-05-31
I decided to give this book a listen before I saw the movie, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The combination of Pullman's reading with various actors interpreting the quotes of the characters made for a great listening experience, and the story itself was a wonderful mix of children's literature, fantasy, and science fiction. The characters are wonderful, the plot intense and interesting, and the fantastic elements very very fascinating. I highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers of any age.
Interesting... 
2008-05-31
I have studied greek philosophy so I immediately noticed that the word "Daemon" did not mean what everyone (or anyone who was christian) thought it would mean.
The scientifical aspects in his world were well thought out and easy to follow, it was more or less his characters that bothered me the most, I'm only talking about book one at this point so...
Many of his characters and in fact more than half of them are put in a "too real" context the relationship between the main character; Lyra's parents, is rather disturbing and a bit uncomfortable (especially towards the end) The church itself was put into a medieval light, therefore evil and unfair in my sense, what with the torturing (I think that was actually in the second book) but many of the "christians" in the book were what people stereotypically call "sleaze-balls" the regular Egor of the book, *shudders*.
But overall if you can get past that, there is enough action in the book to keep and hold your interest. In fact some of the scenes are enjoyable leading to what some typical readers will do and have you jumping out of your chair saying: "go! go! go!"
The book itself was an interesting read.
Anti-Christian 
2008-05-27
This is completely anti-Christian and so is the movie
Don't read it if you are offended.
Much better than the movie. 2008-07-24
More depth and better storyline than the movie. This books reads quickly and a good way to expand your vocabulary. It has an imaginative story that's hard to second guess. You'll want to order the second volume early so you can continue the epic.
Disapointed 2008-07-02
Maybe it was all the hype I got from friends who'd read it and recommended it, but it seems over-rated. Gets off to a slow start and doesn't really pick up and become a page-turner until Lyra falls through the ceiling and is in real danger. However, at that point I started to have a hard time suspending my disbelief over the fact that this 11-year-old can understand what's going on, be that clever, and have the conversations she's having. It's all too perfect. Still, I must admit that I have already put a reserve on the second book from the library, because I want to know what happens, so in that respect it's successful.
An incredibly rich universe that holds terrifying secrets 2008-06-21
I first became interested in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy after seeing the film based on it (The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)). I found the screenplay to be disjointed and lacking, so I decided to read the original novel in order to have a better idea of important missing background information.
Lyra Belacqua is a wild child growing up among stodgy scholars at Oxford's Jordan College. She's content sneaking around slinging mud, engaging in street fights with rival schools, and avoiding any real sort of education. Her daemon Pantalaimon is her voice of reason. And here is Pullman's first masterpiece: daemons are human souls that are present as an accompanying animal; they are connected to their owner, yet have distinct personalities. Generally, a daemon is the opposite gender of its human. Only children have daemons that are able to shapshift; once they reach puberty, their daemon will maintain that form.
Lyra and Pantalaimon witness an attempted murder that would have had devastating consequences for them both, and intervene. And so starts Lyra's journey to the North; to Svalbard, a reimagined Norway that's a dangerous land swarming with cliff-ghasts, ruthless Tatar tribes, and armored polar bears. Her secret weapon is an alethiometer, the titular "Golden Compass" that allows its user to ask a series of questions in order to discover the truth. There are very few in existence, and fewer still that know how to accurately read it. Lyra is one of those few.
Along the way, she becomes involved with the gyptians, a Gypsy-like seafaring tribe, a Texan balloon pilot, a friendly witch, and an exiled prince that aid her on her quest to reach her Uncle Asriel. Richly imagined and brimming with tantalizingly complex science, Pullman's universe is, much like Tolkien and Rowling's works, a self-contained universe that possesses its own form of religion (as many have noted, Pullman's works are anti-religion, or at least anti-organized religion), history, geography, and science. The book is much more richly nuanced and imagined than the film adaptation, which does a dreadful disservice to the original novel by omitting the final chapters.
A note: if you consider yourself to be very religious, you may not want your children reading these books, as there are numerous anti-religious (specifically, anti-Catholic) sentiments within, as well as discussions of castration and scenes of at times extreme violence, including towards children. Pullman, an atheist, takes issue with the dangers of organized religion; as one character puts it, "Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling." However, the His Dark Materials trilogy is beautifully written and imagined and has much to recommend it.
best done audio book I've heard in a while 
2008-06-19
The book: good book, weak ending. (true of the other books in the series, too)
The audio recording: fantastic. A cast of several different actors give truly excellent performances. It is so easy to get swept into Lyra's universe with the varied and compelling voices reading this book. In particular, Lyra and Bjorn Berneson were *perfect*. Pullman himself narrates which is a nice plus.
Adult Book Masquerading as a Child's 
2008-06-04
Now I know why I never bothered to read this book before. It doesn't at all live up to the hype. The only reason I am giving it 2 stars as opposed to 1 is because I think the animal daemon's as an outward manifestation of the soul is a cool idea. The grammar was atrocious (on purpose) in order to show how the lower class spoke, but I just found it distracting and annoying. The constant action was tiresome as well. It felt like a marathon! The best books lead up to the action or insert smaller stories within a large one in order to create a certain flow. This is what makes Harry Potter so wonderful (not to mention JK Rowling's amazing characterization). The Golden Compass lacks both.
People claim that this story is original, which I completely disagree with. Quite a few times I was rolling my eyes, especially when Mrs. Coulter explained that they cut the daemons away because they bring "troublesome thoughts and feelings, and that's what lets Dust in" (384). So really, the daemon is that little voice inside your head and dust is sin. This is a typical Christian viewpoint of the corruption of sin.
Another thing that really bothered me was this prophecy that included Lyra. The way it was worded was bad in itself. Pullman writes, "She is destined to bring about the end of destiny...If she's told what she must do, it will all fail; death will sweep through all the worlds; it will be the triumph of despair, forever. The universes will all become nothing more than interlocking machines, blind and empty of thought, feeling, life" (310). The only reason I understand this is because I read Paradise Lost. It's the same idea of Satan questioning human ignorance. Adam and Eve were in a state of childlike innocence before they ate from the tree of knowledge. So in a way the Gobblers and the church become God by attempting to prevent children from growing up...though they are far more vicious and twisted than Milton's God. Do yourself a favor and read PARADISE LOST rather than this poor interpretation of it.
I don't care about the characters in this story. A good writer will pull in readers right away with an original protagonist. Lyra is the typical girl who acts like a boy. It's completely dull. She should have some other distinguishing trait, but she doesn't (unless you count endlessly lying as one). The minor characters are simply there. The only part of the book that touched me at all was when they found Tony, whose daemon was killed. His funeral was quite sad.
Now for the more disturbing parts of the book... violence towards animals is rampant. Lyra herself confesses to killing a bird and roasting it. That's a real nice idea for kids reading this book! Another example is when Iorek cut open a seal and started smearing its blubber over his rusted armor. Then of course the battle between the two bears where Iorek rips the other one's jaw off, and then (once he's dead), his heart. Disgusting! I've read plenty of violent descriptions like this in ADULT books, but these morbid scenes should not be in stories for children.
Bottom line, this is not at all captivating. There's really no good or bad side, it's a book of gray. Young children should not be reading this, it's more for a teenage and adult audience.
