I've read a number of one-star reviews that compel me to write a review myself. What I think is disturbing is the lack of recognition of the spirituality in Phillip Pullman's writing that reviewers seem to have. This book is not a testament of atheism. On the contrary. There is a VAST difference between spirituality and religiosity. I think Pullman attempts to make these differences more stark in his story-telling.

That does not make one an atheist.

Like the characters in the book we are invited to look beyond our own limited vision of our world and our concepts of what we believe God to embody. Pullman is not out to destroy God, rather he is out to destroy the reification of spirituality. Those that criticize this series on this basis are missing the point entirely. I suggest you go back and re-read with an OPEN mind.

For those who have not read it, it's an enjoyable series that at times can drag a little bit in plot and have seemingly point-less diversions. The arc of the story is not limited to one book but rather all three. See it through and you will understand. Read with an open-mind...because when it comes down to it there is no other way to be.

I greatly enjoyed this trilogy, and would definitely recommend it to other readers. It does have some complicated themes however, so I would probably lean towards 14 and up for the readers age.
One note, the second book had two pages that were narrower then the rest, and error that obviously occurred in manufacturing, fortunately, the text on the pages is complete. Otherwise a very nice package.

I read this series solely because of all the anti-religious hype created by Christians surrounding the movie "The Golden Compass." I'm a Christian myself and believe that Christians are a fickle bunch of people who get excited about the littlest of things, so I thought I'd read this series for myself and decide if it was truly anti-religious or not.

The conclusion I came to was: yes and no. The first two books barely touch religion at all. Sure, we mention the church and some of the weird and evil things the church is dabbling in. But the church scenes are few and far in between. The Golden Compass is more the story of Lyra traveling all over creation with a ton of different characters. Some people praise the first book as being very exciting and whatnot, but I find it absurd in many cases all the things Lyra does. I frankly don't care about her adventure or what she is doing at all. And the first three or four chapters of the book--entirely boring. Some people write that they were hooked within the first few pages--I don't see how that's possible. The first chapter was the worst chapter of the entire series. I would've put the book down right then and there but I kept reading, hoping to find what all the controversy was about.

And I couldn't find much controversial in the first two books. Many people write that these books aren't for children. Perhaps you could argue that the violence is too much, or some of the weirder parts are too much (like the group of people that drill holes in their skulls. What's that all about?). But from a religious standpoint, there's nothing in these first two books that's going to derail a child's faith and make him or her into an atheist.

The thing that bothered me the most about the first book (and all the books really) was the concept of daemons. What's the point of them? They serve no purpose at all! Pan rarely talks to Lyra, and when he does, he has nothing interesting to say. Why? Because he is Lyra! He's just an outward extention of her. Daemons rarely contribute anything in the fight scenes, they rarely do anything practical. They are simply there for cute purposes. In The Golden Compass, the kids think it's SO HORRIBLE that daemons are separated from their partners, but as a reader, I could care less. And that's bad that I don't care about daemons, because the Golden Compass is largely focused on them.

And a note to Pullman: how many times to we need to read that Pan "hung close to Lyra's breast" or "clutched Lyra's breast," or in any other way attaches himself to her breast. She's a 12 year old for crying out loud. All this talk of her breasts and animals attaching to them makes me think Pullman is slightly attracted to the female character he's created.

The second book wasn't much better than the first. Other reviewers point out Will's stoic nature and the cliched plot of sick mother, father gone left him. I must admit, though, that the subtle knife and the altheithometer are two very cool fantasy items. The amber spyglass, however, was introduced way too late in the third book and isn't that impressive at all. I could've done without it.

The third book is where everybody has problems with, in a literary and religious sense. First literary. The book has too much going on at once. The angels. The intention craft. Mary's spill into another world with wheeled creatures. None of this is needed. Metatron? As somebody else said, Metatron feels more appropriate in a Japanese mecha anime.

The most exciting part of the book was the land of the dead scene, which I felt was a satisfying explanation of death, but the scene was way too long. I was waiting for the church stuff to explode wide open, but it never did. Throughout the whole series we are told how bad the church is, but we never really see them taken on and attacked. Instead Pullman's church does not in any way reflect the real church of today, so it's hard to take any of his criticisms seriously.

And then we get to the confrontation with the Authority. Completely anticlimatic. And it comes roughly 2/3 through the book? This is the first book I've ever read where somebody kills God, and the scene with God was only a few pages and not what I was expecting.

And what happens after God dies? The story drags on and brings up unnecessary details. Daemons being separated. Will getting a daemon. Another convoluted explanation of Dust. And windows needing to be closed up. It goes on and on past the point of caring for this reader.

In the end: I'm glad to have read the series, I won't sell it but I probably won't read it again. The criticism of Christianity didn't bother me because the Christianity of Pullman in no way correlates with the real Christianity of our world. If the church really was like the church in the book, then I too would become an atheist. But it's not. Parents have nothing to fear from this book. I suspect most kids will have a hard time really following the criticism of religion. In all, a substandard fantasy work that will only be remembered for being the first major fantasy work by an atheist targeted at children. I think people who praise this series are more in love with the IDEA of an atheist fantasy story than they are with the actual execution of the story.

His Dark Materials Trilogy boxed set by Philip Pullman

If you are already a fan of this trilogy, then this is a wonderful set. Each hardcover is sturdy with thick pages. We noticed very few editing errors. And the box fits the hardcovers perfectly, unlike some other sets where the books barely fit in the box.

However, if you are not already a fan of the series, I would highly suggest that you read the books from the library BEFORE purchasing this set. We read The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife and loved them both. In The Golden Compass, you meet young Lyra and her daemon Pan. She has the moral compass of a much older and wiser soul and it's easy to follow her escapades. In The Subtle Knife, Lyra meets Will, who is from our world. The two of them travel through many worlds and meet many peoples--ghosts, witches, gypsies, dragonfly-riding gnomes, and specters (who kill adults). By the third book, you're hooked on their quest to find out the origin of "dust" and to free all of the dead's souls. (Yeah, pretty deep for a kids' book.) But when you read the last book in the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, Pullman is unable to pull off his grandiose tale's ending. Imagine the Harry Potter series ending after book 5 and you've got, tada, The Amber Spyglass. It ruined the first two books and we even re-read the last chapter again and again because we couldn't believe Pullman just left us hanging. There is no sequel and he leaves a lot of depressing loose ends. The entire last book was like a mishmash of ideas brought in and never completed. Then he rushed to tie up loose ends, killing off four main characters in one chapter alone.

So, I would highly recommend this set if you're already a fan. Otherwise, don't waste your time on this trilogy. The ending is a non-ending and incredibly disappointing.

You know how there are those people who say that children's literature is meaningless? Personally, I think they all need to be forced down in a chair (perhaps as in "A Clockwork Orange") to read "His Dark Materials."

Like other reviewers, when I finished reading "Harry Potter" I was still on a fantasy kick, but I was rather jaded by the titles I saw out there. They seemed boring, predictable, and fluffy. I found Pullman long after he had written "The Golden Compass" (I first read the UK edition, which is called "Northern Lights") so all three books were out and ready for me to read. This was very lucky, as I raced through them in about two weeks between classes.

Honestly, Pullman deserves every comparison to Tolkien he's gotten, and then some. For me (and I LOVE J.K. Rowling), "His Dark Materials" was more engaging than "Harry Potter." Don't get me wrong, "Harry Potter" will always, always be one of my favorite series. I just like Pullman better in different ways. For one, I found myself more able to relate to Lyra than to Harry. And the symbolism. Oh, the symbolism. Not heavy, not snobby- just amazing. The last installment, "The Amber Spyglass," absolutely left me sobbing. I was upset, I was happy, I was in awe, then I was more upset. I've had few books do that to me. They make me emotional, but they certainly don't make me sob for half an hour over the fate of the characters.

Not even a dead Dumbledore made me that unable to recover.

"His Dark Materials" also read very similarly to Tolkien- it really reminded me of "The Hobbit," although a bit more complex. So somewhere between "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" in terms of style. If you're a Tolkien fan, I'd give Pullman a try. It isn't an exact match, but then, where would the fun be? Pullman is more wry, a little more humorous, and extremely ironic.

The plots of all three books, both continuing and sub, were fast paced and creative. I know the book isn't marketed as science fiction, but it's almost more of that than a fantasy. Maybe some of you are familiar with the term steam-punk, referring to books/games where elements of the modern world, science fiction, and the Victorian (sometimes Medieval, but in Pullman's case, Victorian) age are thrown together to create a new world. This is the best example of steam-punk I've ever read. Not that, of course, you have to be familiar with the genre to enjoy "His Dark Materials" at all.

I guess it could be worth mentioning that the whole trilogy loosely parallels "Paradise Lost" and if you're a literature nerd, you might find that to be a bonus. But it's definitely not necessary to know beforehand or even afterwards.

It is, after all, mere "children's" literature.

These books are well-written. The action moves fast. While they are supposedly children's books, they are definitely for mature children, and adults will find them very exciting. Some people have religious issues with the books, but this was not a problem for me.

I picked up a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost a year ago; it has an introduction by Philip Pullman which begins as follows:

"A correspondent once told me a story - which I've never been able to trace, and I don't know whether it's true - about a bibulous, semi-literate, ageing country squire two hundred years ago or more, sitting by his fireside listening to Paradise Lost being read aloud. He's never read it himself; he doesn't know the story at all; but as he sits there, perhaps with a pint of port at his side and with a gouty foot propped up on a stool, he finds himself transfixed.
Suddenly he bangs the arm of his chair, and exclaims, 'By God! I know not what the outcome may be, but this Lucifer is a damned fine fellow, and I hope he may win!'
Which are my sentiments exactly."

Oh, really, Philip? I don't agree with this sentiment and parents who also don't agree with it should know that this trilogy is more transparently anti-Christian and anti-God than Pullman's above statement.

Other reviewers go into more detail but I can't really be bothered wasting any more time talking about these books.

Unlike the Harry Potter series, these books have a clear antireligious, God hating agenda. If you ACTUALLY read these books and understand them there is no way to deny it unless you blatantly lie. No religious bigotry needed. Harry potter is at its core a book promoting the Judeo-Christian values. This book main aim is to brainwash kids against religion (Pullman openly prides himself in that). This is the truth and you should be aware of it. I am not saying don't read the book! I read it through, argued with it and tried to find all the biased representations within. For example, the organs symbolizing religious authority act only to suppress thinking and hurt people- they NEVER do any good. Granted religious authorities have done some horrible things in the past, (the allusion to the inquisition is unmistakable) but NEVER ANY GOOD? If you are aware of what the book is trying to brainwash you to believe then you can use it for some very good conversation and critical thinking. I am just worried about it because it is aimed at young kids who may be too young to be able to do this yet. For those of you who praise the book- you may agree with it, but don't lie about what it says.

Not only is this a very entertaining story - it also makes you think. It's a very deep investigation into the nature of reality, presented in a very easy-to-follow manner. Excellent!

Philip Pullman's books are great - fantastic adventure and wonderful narrative. I have read them before but am reading them again having seen the Golden Compass movie recently. The movie was great but the books are so much richer - but that always seems to be the case. Looking forward to the second movie now.

I don't write a title like that lightly. I read these books when I was little, but didn't appreciate their complexity until I re-read them earlier this year. They're incredibly imagined and written, and - at least in my opinion - never predictable.

After reading the end of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit a couple times, and all of the Chronicles of Narnia, I really needed a book that would let me escape from the only reading I had been doing which were scholarly articles on Political Science and the Environment for school. I heard about the Golden Compass due tot he movie, but had not yet seen it. So since I had a gift certificate, I figured I'd pick it up on the hope it wasn't going to be a dog.

I have to say I am a slow reader, but this book enchanted me so much I finished it in less than a week (probably would have been a day if I had the time). So I then went and got the other two books, both of which I loved and lost myself in. I do wish there was more, since the ending was, to me, sad (but it's a matter of opinion). However, I think the book puts some good thoughts on what life should be about (in a non-preachy way). I felt as though I could somehow connect with the characters and even though they were in different worlds, still understand what they were feeling. I will admit it gets a tad confusing in the third book with so many worlds being talked about, but it's so enticing I don't think it's hard to follow at all.

If you want a book to take you away into another world(s), that is full of adventure, wonderful characters, action, enchantment, and more- I'd recommend this book highly! I will always have a love for the characters Will and Lyra and it will probably stay as one of my #1 favorite trilogies for a long time.

I also can't wait until his new book "The Book of Dust" comes out!

For people wishing an alternative - for whatever reason - to the insanely popular "Harry Potter" fantasies (to which Philip Pullman's trilogy has been compared), Pullman's tale offers a bracing change. Here's why: even though it has very obvious fantasy elements such as magic and witches and talking bears, it doesn't fit the traditional mold of a fantasy because it draws upon scientific knowledge and theory, which pushes it into SF. However, like other good fantasy, Pullman's tale is also strongly interwoven in myth. Milton's "Paradise Lost" forms the basis of Pullman's overarching theme, woven by a rich fabric of setting and characters, each journeying toward their own sense of purpose and final destiny on this world. This is a book of great scope, unfolding, aptly, through the eyes of a child.

Wrongly (I think) categorized by many as just a YA (young adult) fantasy, this SF-fantasy slipstream should appeal to readers of all ages. It is, after all, a multi-layered tale of universal scope. Pullman, himself, de-emphasizes the fantasy elements of his tale, calling it "stark realism" because these elements (such as daemons) are used to embody phycological truths about human personality. Say's Pullman, "I am trying to write a book about what it means to be human." The coming-of-age of an intrepid girl and boy serves as an elegant metaphor to explore the story of everyman's journey toward enlightenment and whose every step comes with it a price. It brings to mind a quote by Victor Frankl: "What is to give light must endure burning."

Jordon College in Oxford is not an ordinary place for a girl; but then Lyra Belacqua is no ordinary girl, she can hear the hushed messages of truth uttered to her by the strange particles that animate her golden compass. Abandoned to the care of old scholars who know nothing about children, the little scamp runs wild through the streets of the university town, seeking adventure and not quite recognizing her yearning for "home" and love. She finds it - or it finds her - in the most unlikely place when she blunders into a vortex of danger, love, betrayal and intrigue. And it all begins with dust. Again, not just ordinary dust, but "magical" dust. Dust that provides a gateway to thousands of other worlds. . . .

As our intrepid heroine journeys through a rich tapestry of worlds, she meets and recruits the services of an amazing variety of strange creatures in her quest to uncover more of the mystery of dust and the shattering truth of its role in her own destiny. Lyra journeys first to the far reaches of the north, where strange experiments are being conducted and where she meets the formidable armored bears. As she continues on to a mysterious tropical land, Lyra meets Wil, a young boy looking for his lost father, and together they flee the soul-eating Spectors who stalk the streets. Neither is aware that their destinies lie on a collision course with the otherworldly struggle of good and evil and that their innocence will only be one of the casualties.

Pullman spins imaginative and metaphorical worlds both familiar yet unfamiliar - giving us a strange but titillating sense of déjà vu. This is surely what phasing into another universe may well feel like. Pullman pulls off (pardon the pun) what few fantasy writers are capable of doing: he marries arcane SF with the lyrical elements of fantasy - the epic adventure of good vs. evil. He does this by using scientific facts and logical premises and weaves his heroic tale around them. For instance, the idea of parallel universes is not only old but very much in vogue with physicists these days. Check out the May 2003 issue of Scientific American for a good summary on this topic. While Pullman borrows His Dark Materials title from Milton, he also takes the concept of dark matter from real science. Dark matter is some form of matter theorized to exist that cannot be observed by radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray or gamma-ray telescopes and is theorized to be MACHOS, WIMPS, or GAS (see http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/dark_matter3.html for more info on this incredible particle).

I suppose I was spell-bound by Pullman's imaginative worlds, his sensuous descriptions and his creatively bold use of scientific concepts but it was his complex and passionate characters who captured and still live in my heart. His main character, Lyra, has learned to spin the tallest tales to get by yet she possesses the most sincere and brave heart, and her interactions with her daemen (an alter-ego, part of her soul embodied in an animal bonded with her) are touching and humorous. It is her paradoxical combination of traits that makes her both charming and sweet: she is brave yet vulnerable; enveigling yet genuine; innocent yet crafty; naïve yet wise. She personifies the child in all of us, the child who must grow up and lose something to gain something else. So we laugh with her and we cry for her.

The ending of the third book, which is bitter-sweet but provides excellent closure, leaves the reader - as all good fiction should - fulfilled yet drained, and wondering about both our own personal destinies and how we fit in with the larger questions of our universe. This is a must read for those seeking compelling adventure that does not compromise intelligence for action, character and setting for pace, heart for thrill, depth for speed; and imagination for story.

These books were extremely captivating. Amazingly written. I intend to read every book that Philip Pullman has written!

I am very pleased with my order. The books were in excellent condition and were swiftly delivered.

Thanks!

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (His Dark Materials)

This is an amazing collection, I originaly purchased these books after watching the movie "The Golden Compass" which is the first book in this collection. The way the movie was written is leaves you up in the air at the end of the movie wanting more so when I found out the movie was based on a book and there was a series I purchased them immediatly.
I am a new mother and I do not read much but of coarse if I want my daughter to read I need to show her it is fun so I was looking for a fun and easy to read story and this is it.
These books keep me turning the page, I would compair the type of story to "The lord of the rings" the writer has a great imagination. I feel like I really know the characters.
The story begins in a world similar to ours but different, the largest difference is that the characters spirit or soul is not inside their body but it portraid as an animal that talks and travels with them, adults "demon" (which is what they are called in the book) stay the same but childrens demon change based upon how they feel or the circumstances. This demon like a spirit or a soul determins your personality, and if the demon hurts the person hurts.
I am trying to be very careful not to tell you too much but my parents told me about the story and that is what made me so interisted.
The first book is basicaly about an experiment where the seperate the demon from the child in order to maintain control of their adult behavior. I will stop there because I can go on all day.
I would recomend this series to anyone adult or child with an imagination, it is easy reading and is a wonderful story, bravo to the writer he has made me LOVE reading again.

I ordered this under the impression that these were trade paperbacks, not mass market paperbacks. (In the list of similar items, this set is listed separately from the specific "mass market paperback boxset".)

I guess I didn't pay close enough attention, because indeed these are mass market paperbacks. (If you take the time to look over the full listings for His Dark Materials, you can see that the covers are the same as the individual mass market volumes.)

It's a fairly nice set, for mass market, and a good value -- just not what I was expecting. If you want to buy the series as separate volumes and on the cheap, it's a good choice.

A book with a different point of view than what I read before, but altogether I enjoyed it. The ending was perhaps a little short and not very impressive, so a few points are lost there. Overall a book worth reading.

No point in reviewing the individual books because they don't make sense alone - they are three episodes of a single story. Read "Northern Lights" (or, as I did first, see the approximately corresponding film "The Golden Compass") alone, and one is confronted with an odd children's adventure yarn, admittedly rather darker and more sinister in the book than in the watered-down film. However, one (this one anyway) was still tempted to paraphrase Randy Newman:

O, who would think a girl and bear
Could be well accepted everywhere?
It's just amazing how fair
People can be!

"Northern Lights" is actually a bit of a bore, and one is tempted to scream "GET ON WITH IT!" every few pages. However, it is an essential set-up for what follows. "The Subtle Knife" is a marvellous bit of compulsive page-turning writing as three parallel worlds come into collision and the anti-religious overtones of the trilogy, at which "Northern Lights" only vaguely hints, come more sharply into focus. The character of Will, the boy from our world, with destiny thrust upon him, is especially appealing.

"The Amber Spyglass", fattest of the three, starts off slowly, but stick with it, because it becomes ever more interesting and fascinating. One (this one anyway) is lost in admiration of Mr. Pullman's prodigious imagination in weaving together all the various and varied elements of this amazing tale. In some cases, the imagination is, to me, just too prodigious, with the creation of wheeled creatures, appealing though they are. However, you will enjoy the ride. The bittersweet ending is especially effective.

And the anti-religious message that seems to have upset some people? "The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all," states one of Mr. Pullman's heroines. And devout Christians will undoubtedly bridle at his picture of "The Authority" and indeed his whole take on theology, on which he has partially based his fantasy, with many Biblical ideas (the Garden of Eden) and figures (Enoch) playing a part. However, as I understand it, this God bears little or no resemblance to the God of the Bible, whom Christians worship, and if He does, they should be very worried indeed. And, hey, Christianity has been around for 2000 years now. It should be grown up and able to stand up for itself - and be both ready and able to take a bit of honest examination. Has the faith for which many were prepared to perish in the arenas of Rome with such courage come to the point where a kids' book is a threat? If it has, it's not much of a faith. As for its potential for subverting children, it seems to me to be about as subversive as Harry Potter - and does it not represent a golden opportunity for Christian parents to expound the difference?

... I ordered these items just before Christmas, so I had to wait a good long deal to receive the package (about a month). But when it finally did arrive, I had a great time reading all three volumes despite not being at my teens - since then I keep getting ads getting my attention to teens' books :P

Despite all the controversy, I enjoyed these books. The story was very imaginative and well written. I wouldn't recommend it for the easily offended or very religious for obvious reasons (***spoiler alert***) because the whole point of the last book seems to be the premise that God is dead or not really what He claims to be.. but religious themes have always been good material for writers. And there seems to be an emphasis in this series on thinking for one's self and not accepting everything you're told at face value, which is something I think we all would do well to think about in this day and age.

Altogether a very good series!

I did not think it possible to make an interesting story involving religion, String Theory, Kids saving adults, and war, but Philip Pullman has. Do not worry about the String Theory part, as he never mentions it directly and there is no math involved. However, his ability to create an imaginary, yet believable world rivals J.K Rowling's "Harry Potter" series.

Phillip Pullman's magnificent trilogy started with The Golden Compass and continued with The Subtle Knife before reaching its conclusion with The Amber Spyglass, and there is much to be said for his achievement. He has told a story of sweeping grandeur that succeeds on a number of levels, with believable and affecting characters, amazing incidents of great beauty and terror, and layers of meaning which make you think as well as feel.

It all starts with Lyra, the heroine - an urchin in an Oxford University which exists in a parallel universe, where all humans carry with them an external "daemon" or animal spirit which corresponds to the soul of man. Lyra's daemon, Pantaleimon or Pan, has not stabilized his form, (which takes place after puberty) and takes the shape of a number of different animals, from mouse to moth to leopard.

This parallel Oxford appears mired in a Victorian-like era marked by a very powerful and reactionary Church. There are five known planets in the sky, the wealthy travel by Zeppelin, and though the glare of "anbaric" light is common, so also is the warm glow of naphtha lamps. Their physicists (called "experimental theologians") have discovered a class of elementary particles called Rusakov Particles or "Dust" which have an affinity for human life, and may in fact be alive themselves. This Dust is attracted to adults, not children, and the Church is disturbed by this, equating Dust with original sin.

We are quickly swept into an adventure with Lyra, whose absentee parents prove to be the mysterious Lord Asriel and the beautiful, ambitious and amoral Mrs. Coulter. It is Lord Asriel who has set his sights no lower than to topple The Authority himself, the corrupt ancient of days, oldest of divine beings who lives in a fortress in the clouds and cynically claims to be the creator of all. In this effort he has the assistance of angels, divine beings from the fall so long ago. Lord Asriel is opposed in this by his former lover, who has gained considerable power in the Magisterium by heading the General Oblation Board, the fearsome child-stealing "Gobblers," who have been spiriting kidnapped children away to the far north.

Action in The Golden Compass moves north, toward the frozen lands of the aurora, because that is where Dust is most detectable, and where the towers and buildings of another world are visible in the sky beyond the northern lights. When we finally arrive at the terrifying research facility called Bolvangar, where the Gobblers do their Dust-related experiments on children, we have come to a very powerful additional level of narrative, for though this place is run by seemingly familiar, genteel Victorian Englishpeople, it reminds one of the laboratories of Dr. Mengele, a frightening parallel for parents reading the book.

When Lyra walks into that other world at the end of The Golden Compass, she has already had an incredible adventure, with her friends the Gyptians, Iorek Byrnison and the armored bears, the proud and beautiful witches and the rumor of angels. She has learned to read the Alethiometer or truth teller, the golden compass of the title, which has sent her to the ultimate north. And she has betrayed her best friend unknowingly, and been betrayed herself.

In The Subtle Knife we meet Will Parry, whose arctic explorer father has been missing since before he was born. Now 12 years old, Will has grown up fast, protecting his ailing mother from her inner demons, and from the mysterious men who have come (from where? Lyra's world?) looking for John Parry's papers. Will accidentally kills one of these men, and from then on he is on the run with no looking back.

Will escapes through a portal into another world, the same world that Lyra has walked to. They meet in Cittagazze by the sea, a city deserted by adults fearful of the vampiric Specters who drift almost invisibly on the air and suck the life from these people. Will takes Lyra back to his Oxford, where she meets a physicist named Mary Malone who is studying Dark Matter, and has reason to believe that it is intelligent. But Lyra and Will are hunted and wanted for questioning in our Oxford, and Lyra has her Alethiometer stolen by an aristocrat from her world, who sets for them a task if they want it back.

It seems that several hundred years before, a guild of scientist/philosophers in the crossroads world of Cittagazze had forged a knife sharp enough to split atoms - or cut doorways into other worlds. The bearers of the knife became adept at stealing from these other worlds, but tragically the doors they opened allowed the Specters to come in, bringing horror and sorrow. This is the task Lyra's aristocrat sets for the children (for he cannot enter Cittagazze because of the Specters): if they bring him the subtle knife, he will trade it for Lyra's golden compass.

Will and Lyra enter the haunted Torre degli Angeli and Will fights for the knife, becoming maimed as a result, with a wound that stubbornly refuses to heal (shades of Parsifal). As the new Bearer he is instructed in its use, and becomes as adept with the knife as Lyra is with her truth teller.

With the help of witches who have followed them to this world, they escape a mob of evil children, and the witches try to heal Will's wound without success. The witch queen Ruta Skadi follows a flight of angels to the distant world where Lord Asriel prepares his armies to fight the Authority, and returns to tell about it. And Dr. Malone has an instant message discussion with her shadow particles, which identify themselves as angels, and send her (protected from Specters) to follow the children into the world of C'gazze. The book ends in confusion and alarum -- a cliffhanger readers had to wait several years to resolve.

Before we get to The Amber Spyglass, a few comments. These books were inspired by Paradise Lost, and are full of allusions to the Hebrew Bible. The Authority, who Asriel is rebelling against, was the One who called himself Yahweh and claimed to be the Creator, when he was really just another angel. In other words, in the world(s) of His Dark Materials, the God of the Bible is a liar and a fraud, and His Church (read: all organized religions) is a Blakeian thief of innocence and inhibitor of joy throughout the ages. This helps explain Pullman's well-known antipathy to C.S. Lewis' (delightful) Narnia books, which Pullman detests for glorifying an afterlife (in The Last Battle) at the expense of the living world. I acknowledge this without further comment, except to say that The Last Battle is probably most readers' least favorite Narnia book.

There are also many allusions to the story of Adam and Eve, particularly in reference to Dust as Original Sin, which send the Church into paroxysms of agitation. We come to see as the story unfolds that Lyra is tremendously important, with a destiny that affects all the worlds. How could this be otherwise, with Lord Asriel for a father (who can bend time itself to serve his rebellion) and the exquisite Mrs.Coulter for a mother, she of the most indomitable spirit and force of will anyone has ever seen, whom even the Specters obey? Of course, Will himself is an embodiment of this spirit - even the witches are afraid to look him in the eye. If Lyra and Will are to become Adam and Eve, with Dr. Malone playing the part of the serpent, well, this is just another layer to the story.

I believe The Amber Spyglass will be long remembered for its bravura centerpiece: Lyra and Will's frightening, depressing and ultimately inspiring journey down into the land of the dead, but that's not the only arrow in Pullman's quiver. This big book is full of wonders, including angels, tiny aristocratic Gallivespian spies, Harpies, the wheel-riding Mulefa, and War in Heaven. Nor is it short on human emotion.

I feel a strong reluctance to give away any details of The Amber Spyglass. It begins by resolving the cliffhanger of The Subtle Knife: we know where Lyra is, and crosscut to all the parties trying to reach her. And we are privy to her feverish dreams of the land of the dead, where her friend Roger languishes on a vast darkling plain of ghosts.

Readers of Dante and Homer will not be disappointed - the land of the dead that Pullman has created is very real and frightening. It is all part of the age-old deception of the Authority: that believers will go to Heaven when they die, because instead all who die in all the worlds go down into the land of the dead. We feel uneasy when Lyra and Will and the lilliputian Gallivespians cut through to a world in search of food for their journey and find a stable full of dead horses covered with millions of buzzing flies, the corpse of a farmer with his throat slashed, and soldiers with guns coming up the road.

They cut again, but with difficulty, into an identical world where the farmer stands wide-eyed in his kitchen, clutching at his throat, knowing he is dead. "I can't stay here," he says, and indeed the road is now filled with people from the town, dead people, walking towards the land of the dead. I shouldn't say more.

These books are among the best young/adult books I have read, and I hope you will enjoy them.

I wasn't going to post a review of `His Dark Materials' (HDM) because there are so many already. This was my second reading of HDM and I liked even more the second time. But after reading some of the positive and negative reviews I felt as if I could add something to the discussion on three issues and add some comments of my own on Pullman's apparent themes. Two of these issues are, in my opinion, trivial and the third might be, but it is interesting nonetheless.

If you look on Amazon or blogs or other book review sites you will see both positive and negative comparisons of HDM to `Lord of the Rings' (LOR). This is one of the trivial issues: HDM has no relationship whatsoever to LOR other than both are long books broken into three parts and are the basis for some pretty good movies.

The second of these trivial issues are the positive and negative comparisons to the `Harry Potter' series (HP). The HP series are mostly for and about children and are about magic as in `Hocus Pocus' magic. HDM is about children but I would hesitate to say that Pullman wrote it for children. Pullman in interviews has said that he dislikes the label of `children's literature' as it implies `not for adults.' The themes in HDM are very adult, but I suspect that an intelligent young adult would respond to them and the adventure aspects of HDM would appeal to most younger readers as well. More over HDM is not about magic at all; it is science fiction (a genre Pullman also dislikes) in the best sense. The so-called `magic' is merely what someone might call the physics of alternate Universes.

The last issue, and it may or may not be trivial, is the objection to HDM by Christians. There is no doubt that Pullman intended HDM to be a counterbalance to C.S. Lewis's slobbering exaltation of Christianity (and the superiority of male Anglo-Saxons) in `The Chronicles of Narnia' (CON) and in general a condemnation of some of the practices the Catholic Church. However most of the criticism you see about HDM seems to come from the politically conservative Christian right that interprets any and all criticism of religion as profanation of Christianity in general. I would add that there are also positive reviews of HDM solely on the basis of being anti-religion as well.

I do find it interesting that some of the negative reviews of HDM by Christians are really very long and well written. It makes me wonder why someone would say that HDM was a not a good book when it obviously stimulated them to write several pages on it. I suppose that it upset them and they don't like to be upset by what they read. That is strange as it is one of the points Pullman makes in HDM. In passing he mentions that the church has imprisoned a scientist for coming up with what seems to be a valid description of multiple dimensions in String Theory. These negative reviews seem to follow a general trend on the Internet of a group of Christians who spend a lot of time sniffing out heterodoxy and attempting to stifle it.

My last observation is why I think HDM is exception SciFi and why you should read it and get your kids to read it as well. What Pullman has done is to take the implications of String Theory, Chaos Theory, the theories about Dark Matter and Dark Energy in modern theoretical physics and asks the question of what a world would look like if these theories were true. What if there are other Universes and what would happen if we could travel between them? This is really, really interesting and I think Pullman has done an exceptional job here. The fact that he uses the influence of religion as one vehicle may or may not have been a major issue here, but it does not detract in any way from the fascinating SciFi aspects of this book.

You can read this in three parts as it was published, but like LOR it is best considered as a whole work. HDM is available in a number of editions and I read, this time, the omnibus of all three volumes. If you don't know anything about modern physics it will not detract from the enjoyment of the book as just SciFi or fantasy.

I finished the trilogy recently and found it quite thought provoking but not necessarily in a complimentary way. I found it quite intriguing that every good aspect of human behavior was attributed to those that fought against religion and every bad aspect of human behavior was ascribed to those that supported the church. In particular, the church is portrayed as domineering, narrow minded, dictatorial, supportive of ignorance and violently supportive of itself. He uses the Roman Catholic Church as the victim of his attacks but they could easily stand for all organized religion. However, in Mr. Pullman's defense, he does start the trilogy with the statement that the church has fallen, the papacy is gone and the church is being run by a number of committees, boards and other governing bodies. They are interested in maintaining their power and influence more than teaching righteousness and love for our neighbors. Thus, from the beginning, Mr. Pullman has life turned upside down with the good people of the earth fighting against the tyranny of the religious organizations.
If that was what I saw in religion as a whole, I might be willing to join his rebellion but the fact of the matter is that religion is not all bad like he makes it out to be. My faith embrasses every good gift and virtuous trait that he escribes to the rebels. Thus, the trilogy's heroes utilize godly attributes and the trilogy's villains embody satanic attributes which is what every good story should do, but it unfortunately places those rolls on the social groups that they would not normally be ascribed to. From a fantasy point of view, this is okay because we can enter the trilogy with the notion that society is upside down and antireligious rebellion is justified.

I could compose a much more lengthy comparison of the trilogy to my own beliefs but this is not the place for that. Suffice it to say that Dust is nothing more than spirit matter that emanates from the presence of God and permeates all space, it is in and through all things. The daemons represent our conscience or that part of us that helps us to know the difference between good and evil. The alethiometer would be similar to the Liahona and represents revelation from God.

Of course Mr. Pullman has it all wrong when he attempts to talk about Adam, the Ancient of Days, and Enoch. They were not egomaniacs but were humble followers of God. God encourages education and knowledge. No man can be saved in ignorance. The glory of God is intelligence. The Gospel encompasses all truth whereever it is found. We are to learn wisdom out of the best books, learn by study, by faith and by prayer. He who gains more knowledge and wisdom in this life shall have so much the advantage in the life to come.
If there is a fault in the churches of today, it is not God's fault, but the error of the people that claim to administer that Gospel. Don't blame God for man's faults. That is what Mr. Pullman does, and that is his first fatal flaw of logic.

I initially learned of this series after hearing it compared to the Harry Potter books. I adored Harry's adventures with his friends and wanted more of the same British magic. After reading both I realized that Phillip Pullman's work can in no way be compared to J.K. Rowling. Both authors are spectacular in their storytelling, but are so different in their styles and objectives for their works that comparing and contrasting them would do neither justice.

Philllip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy is a complex work of courage, love and betrayal, and conveys to the readers a wide diapason of human emotions and personalities. My initial impression of The Golden Compass (book 1 in the series) was that it was an anti-religious book and the propaganda behind it almost turned me off the entire series. I have to admit that I was utterly wrong in making such a conclusion so soon and am glad that I made myself suspend my skepticism and read to the end. True believers in a cause, be it eternal salvation or something entirely different, are sometimes blind to reason since they see nothing but the burning beacon of their faith directing their paths of righteousness. Their deeds might appear wicked in the eyes of the atheists among us, but are they truly so? Can you compare the actions of Father Gomez in his mission to kill Lyra and spare Will, who is in his eyes an innocent, to a common murderer? Does his unwavering belief absolve him of sin or condemn him even more? What about Ms. Coulter, who did unspeakable things in her life until she finally found the bliss that is maternal love? Does her final sacrifice make all the other deeds accidental?

There are so many questions of human nature that this series raises and manages to avoid giving free answers that don't encourage thought and reflection. It shows that not everything in life is black and white and there are as many shades of gray as there are misconceptions, deceptions and misunderstandings within human character. And with all that, the purity of spirit and love shine through in both Will and Lyra as they undertake the most perilous tasks and continuously find themselves battling for the greater good that children should never have to do. Then again, may be it can only take the innocence and ingenuity of a child to accomplish what they managed without loosing themselves in the process.

I will not spoil the ending of the series, but will say that it was as powerfully and beautifully written as the rest of the tale. All three books were fast paced and captivated my interest completely. I would personally not recommend this trilogy to children and in my opinion they were quite a bit darker then the Harry Potter books. On the other hand, the original Brothers Grimm stories are a lot more gruesome and I've read them as a child myself. Whatever you do, don't miss this phenomenal read.

If you Keep with the first book, you discover a great set of books. Also, this set is very durable, more so than other paperbacks!

Of course, I have never read Harry Potter. So basing my comparison with the first 3 movies of HP, I would say that this goes beyond the Harry Potter genre. Almost everybody reads Harry Potter. But His Dark Materials is not for everyone. To label this as a children's book is a grieve mistake for I am sure the little ones will miss the central message of the author. But as for adventure, it is non-stop and most people from all ages will absolutely enjoy it.

After watching the movie, "The Golden Compass" my sister bought the set. The movie had instilled an interest in me. The bear fight scene "Bears! Who is your King?" cheesed me out, which made me realize how OLD I am. So thinking that the book is targeted towards children, it took me a while to pick this up and finally after 4 months, I continued on with Lyra's adventure. But when I did, my whole week is automatically committed. For five days, my sister saw me flipping book after book after book.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS: I decided that I would start from the beginning. It is a general agreement that the book is always better than the movie, no? Except this time, I think the movie handled some of the scenes in the book much better. The movie moved and switched some of the scenes around but it still worked. Book fans bashed the movie because it left a big chunk of the book's ending. I wouldn't worry about it though because if they included the real ending, then it'll be much more of an excruciating cliff hanger. I don't think I could wait 3 more years to see next sequel. Still, several scenes has been skipped - important scenes and that's why in retrospect, the book is still better. But to put the movie in a better light, when I imagine the daemons and dust and those flying machines, I could refer back to the movie. Nicole Kidman is the perfect Mrs. Coultier! So in essence, the movie gives us a small peek of what goes on inside Philip Pullman's head.

THE AMBER SPYGLASS: Since I've watched the movie, the first book was not as exciting as the second one. The Amber Spyglass made me stay up the whole night. Lyra's new friend and another main character, Will, started off as an annoying character but proved to be as courageous, as smart, as likeable (if not more likeable) as Lyra. Looking back, this book was so jam-packed and I felt like I flew through the pages so quickly.

THE SUBTLE KNIFE: Finally, I think the series' tandem faltered a tiny bit in this last installment of Pullman's epic adventure. After building up so much intrigue and mystery, I was disappointed at the sloppy ending. He easily convinced me of the existence of the imaginary worlds he created but the most human and normal twist in the story fell out flat and forced. For twelve year olds, okay...sure, it's possible...but why can't I believe it? Well, I'm not spoiling anything.

Albeit the weak ending, this series will definitely one of those books I'll keep recommending throughout my lifetime.

I picked up these books out of morbid fascination after seeing the movie and hearing a coworker talk about the book. I borrowed the first one from her and found my self intrigued so I bought the series and waited anxiously for the post man to deliver it. I found that I love these books! They are together a great work of fiction. They carried me to worlds I had never imagined through perils I would never have known. The characters are engraved in my heart. Each cut and bump and soul wrenching tear made me love them all the more. I wanted so badly for true love to win and triumph over evil and In the end I could barley see through my tears and with no truly happy ending in sight I love these books all the more.

Excellent trilogy. Once you start reading it you will not want to put them down.

The best part of this book is that it is actually all of Pullman's Dark Materials in one book. It is definitely cheaper than buying all the books separately.

Adapted as a screenplay in late 2007, The Golden Compass follows Lyra through her world of Oxford and beyond as she goes on a mission to rescue her friend Roger and the other children of the country (what would be England) suddenly start disappearing by the Gobbers. Along the way, she meets and collects a collage of supporters, from families of gypsies, an armored polar bear, and an aeronaut. Their mission is to save the children and find out what is really happening to them. The book, expectedly, explains more than what the movie actually shows, including reasoning for certain events and actions, as well as scenes that never made it to the movie.

The Subtle Knife starts in England, with Will finding an entrance to another world. In that new world, he encounters Lyra, and a knife that can cut through anything, including air space to make new openings to new worlds.

The Amber Spyglass deals with the upcoming war between two sides over science and religion. It also describes the conflicts that Lyra must face, including fulfilling the prophecy and saving the universe and all the parallel worlds, including Lyra's and Will's.

Personally, I didn't like the ending of the Amber Spyglass, but the books are a must read if you have lots of time to spare. Settle down for a long weekend. If you wait too long between readings, you can easily forget what happened when you last read. The suspense will keep you going until the last pages.

If you're only interested in the 'story' aspect of fiction, go for it. Be aware that the premise beneath, is Material Atheism. His style is not as fluid as Rowling, but it's a good story. The logic that only those things we can prove to exist, actually exist, though... Well if that's the case, the world really was flat before Galileo. For those who believe in the big bang, and believe it's proven by science... well, all the necessary elements for the creation of a sand castle are present in hurricanes. Funny, I've never gone to the beach and found that in the winds of nature a castle was set into place, not even after Hurricane Andrew. If you sit on the beach and throw sand in the air, how long do you think it will take to form a perfectly working castle? Hmm... might take you more than time to prove that theory. Guess Material Atheists aren't that scientific after all.
The following is from an interview of Pullman. "Those who are committed materialists (as I claim to be myself) have to account for the existence of consciousness, or else, like the behaviourists such as Watson and Skinner, deny that it exists at all."(Phillip Pullman, in an interview. [...]By the way, shouldn't a writer correct their spelling before putting something into print? "behaviourists" was his own misspelling; I copied and pasted this quote. I'm not a perfect speller, but I watch for red dots or squiggles beneath my words; even "gmail" warns of errors now.

Being an adult, and enjoying Harry Potter, I was recommended His Dark Materials. After a bit of difficulty finding Pullman's writing pulse in the first few chapters, I became generally engaged and enjoyed for the most part The Golden Compass. (I'd give it a B) Good enough, that I wanted to see what followed. Unfortunately, The Subtle Knife became one of the dullest reads I've read. Pullman seems to tread water for 300 pages, unsure where to go, and eventually just killing people off randomly, cause he's got nothing else to say. By The Amber Spyglass I was skipping paragraphs, pages, just putting the book down for weeks...eventually reading summaries on Wikipedia. Never since the series Dune has something continually gotten worse with each new book. I have no problem with Pullman's Attack on Christianity. I'm not Atheist, but am willing to read his opinion. What bothers me more is the violence and general poor writing skills Pullman displays. Anyone who likes kids or animals will find this a difficult read, they are tortured, beaten and even killed often. I'm suprised kids read this, cause this is deep, dark stuff and not what I'd advise for children...or adults (cause it's boring). Stick with the truly talented Tolkien, Rowlings, etc. These writers know where the fine line of tasteful and trash is, and never step over the line like Pullman does.

After finishing all of the His Dark Materials trilogy, I have to say that I was not impressed with Pullman's writing style. As an Adult reader, I felt that there was quite a bit lacking in terms of scenery and in terms of characterization, and there were so many parts that droned on and on. And yet, at the end of all three books, there was a sense of a hurriedness that made the books feel really incomplete, especially in the first book (which was the best out of all of them). While the book was not bad enough for me to give up reading on it, I really abhorred the non-climactic ending of the trilogy. I am too spoiled by Tolkien's Hobbit and C.S. Lewis Narnia.

As for children though, I would say they will probably eat it up and it's a good book for them to read if you don't mind the Anti-Church themes that begin to permeate around the middle of the first book. This hate for the dogmatism of religion culminates in the end of the third book as "'Christianity is a powerful and convincing mistake...'" which I am quoting directly from the Amber Spyglass. So parents beware if words like these frighten you. I am Christian myself, and was not offended because I see what Pullman is REALLY attacking, and it is religious zealots, but children may not be wise enough to understand.

I will not be picking up anything by Pullman again because he simply bores me after a while.

The story is imaginative and brilliant. The author combines a child's deepest feeling about friendship and closeness into an adventure tale. Absolutely magical and a great read for children and adults with imaginations. Don't miss these tales. They will become classics.

We've bought this trilogy from our 12 y/o son's Christmas wish list. He is Harry Potter fan and LOVED these books. He rereading it over and over and still finds the stories entertaining. As far as a parent's concern - great buy!

An exciting tale with great imagination and characters. NOT for younger children because of violence and religious topics.

Couldn't put these books down. Love the ideas, and the writing behind them. I was disappointed that they were finished.

Besides receiving my books in perfect shape and quickly, the story itself was fascinating to a science buff who also happens to love science fiction. Mixing the two always lets me revisit scenarios I have pondered in the past and left as "possibles."

If there's any doubt that Pullman's infamously anti-God, anti-Christian and anti-religious trilogy, His Dark Materials, is anything but, allow me to clue you, the reader, in on the exact genesis of the title of the trilogy alone. His Dark Materials is a somewhat veiled reference to the 17th-century, English poet John Milton's poem, Paradise Lost. In fact, this sacrilegious poem is the basis for Pullman's trilogy. As a refresher course, let me educate the reader into recalling that Paradise Lost is actually a poem in which the main protagonist is Satan himself who, from a modern perspective, is certainly presented as a sympathetic being who merely has the ambition to challenge God. This absolutely runs counter to the vast majority of Christians who view Satan as the Enemy of Man and the epitome of anti-life!!!! If that's not enough to make the case that His Dark Materials is hazardously atheist...then NOTHING will!!!!

His Dark Materials is indisputably an absolute, unmitigated assault on religion and Christianity specifically, and what makes it all the worse is its insidious plan to primarily target children via indoctrination through its kiddie lit!!!! Adults can willfully decide for themselves whether to be God-fearing or instead choose the path of spiritual sorrow through atheism or even agnosticism, yet impressionable kiddies don't have the mental ripeness to make this decision themselves--especially if they're being indoctrinated into hating God and organized religion, as His Dark Materials does throughout.

What makes His Dark Materials so lethal--and this trilogy is DARK indeed (as in anti-life and infernal)--is that it trespasses far beyond criticizing organized religion. It actually advocates DEICIDE of the Judeo-Christian God as described, in one of many examples, in a passage from The Amber Spyglass, which describes the encounter between protagonists Will and Lyra and the dying Authority (Pullman's catch-phrase for God)!!!! The passage reads "...there was nothing to stop the wind from damaging him, and to their dismay his form began to loosen and dissolve." Further, "...he'd vanished completely...Then he was gone: a mystery dissolving in mystery." There, anti-Christ Pullman fondly expresses his longing wish that God is destroyed forevermore.

I wish that this lustful embrace of DEICIDE was the height of Pullman's atheist and liberal breaches, but, alas, that's only the tip of the iceberg. In further, mortifying example, in The Subtle Knife, there's the character of Mary Malone, a physicist who used to be a nun. She says of her experience: "...till I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all." Little, impressionable children--due to the reprehensible carelessness of their ignorant or amoral parents--continue to endure these anti-Christian messages throughout Pullman's trilogy!!!! Note that there isn't even a pretense of balance attached to Pullman's anti-religion bigotry--he doesn't even attack Islam, for instance.

The whole premise of the trilogy is anti-Christian at its inception because the evil, institutional force in the books is termed the "Magisterium" which Catholics should be familiar with as the teaching body of the Catholic Church. Pullman's association of an evil, oppressive institution with the Catholic Church should be enough to start alarm bells ringing at once.

In the Golden Compass, the "Dust" business, the plot-driver, is divulged, and it's a source of conflict between the villains (read: the Church!) and the "good guys" (read: enlightened, atheist scientists!). The Church views the Dust as the root of original sin and, therefore, kidnaps children in order to perform "cruel" experiments on them designed to sever the child's soul--in Pullman's world, appropriately called a "demon." The severing of a child's soul turns the child into a zombie, yet Pullman accuses the Church of wanting to do this because of his prejudiced belief that religion turns people into thoughtless zombies.

The anti-Christ themes only get more raging with the Subtle Knife (ironically, the worsening anti-Christian bigotry is anything BUT subtle!). In this novel, we discover that the aforementioned Dust is actually a code word for a bunch of rebel angels (read: Satan and fallen angels!) whose motive is vengeance. The witches in this tome believe that Lyra (a little girl), is destined to be the "second Eve," a new mother of all through her disobedience (read: disobedience to God, or the "Authority" in Pullman's trilogy). These same witches learn that a certain "Lord Asriel"--the trilogy's liberal role model due to his embrace of science over religion--is planning a war against God, again, another metaphor concerning Satan who is eternally at war with God.

The final installment, the Amber Spyglass, is so anti-Christ that if you're Christian, you'll be chilled with its blatancy!!!! The second main character (a little boy named Will) is being watched over by two rebel angels who are also HOMOSEXUALS--Will is moved by their man-love for each other--who encourage Will to bring his god-destroying knife to Asriel, who wants to kill the Authority (read: God). Another main character, a certain Mrs. Coulter (seriously), charges that priests of the Church are having lecherous, sexual obsessions, flagrantly an insinuation against the Catholic Church's small ped*philia scandal from a few years past.

The worst part of the sacrilege is Pullman's revelation of what God is according to his mythology. God isn't shown as an omnipotent being, but, rather in line with an atheist disdain for God, a being who was "so old and...terrified, crying like a baby and cowering away into the lowest corner...Demented and powerless, the aged being could only weep and mumble in fear and pain and misery." Any real Christian--not a liberal, fake one--ought to be up in arms over this antagonistic description of God, though Christians obviously won't stage violent demonstrations and issue death threats over this.

The ending of this third book is practically a victory for the Devil over God in propaganda terms because God, as in "the Authority," finally dies, and the kid-protagonists, Will and Lyra, find debauchery!!!! The Dr. Mary Malone character entices them into the licentious pleasures of erotica by explaining to them how gratifying--I bet!--her life's been since she quit being a nun and pursued a relationship with a man (at least it wasn't another woman in a lesbian slant!). So little Will and Lyra actually suck face to commemorate their murder of God!!!! The desecration's complete when it's revealed that Will and Lyra will attempt to build the Republic, not Kingdom, of Heaven on their own, mortal terms on Earth!

If you're Christian and have kids, just Christian, or merely not an atheist, you should be shaking in terror and simultaneously seething in righteous anger at the aforementioned, vivid outline of pure, sacrilegious hell that's contained within His Dark Materials. If you're a Christian parent or a parent who's not anti-religion and doesn't want to prejudice your kids, you CANNOT in good conscience permit your kids to buy or read these "books." If you're just a relativistic parent or merely a totally unobservant one, I ask you, "What the hell's wrong with you?!?!"

His Dark Materials turns the interpretation of Christianity on its head so that all the good that comes from organized religion--morals, charitable giving, modesty, sacrifice, purity--is cursed as being the root of all rot in life. If more misguided folks surrender to this misconstruing viewpoint, society will stray even further into liberalism which is the bane of all life as we know it. Thus, it's no wonder that the film version of The Golden Compass is ruthlessly popular overseas (read: atheist Old Europe), but largely flopped stateside. With 85% of Americans identifying themselves as Christians according to recent polling, do yourself a favor and be a REAL American by rejecting this anti-Christian indoctrination.

Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy can hardly be called children's fiction - sure, the main two characters are children, and the book is engaging and exciting enough to keep children's attention, but the conflicts and issues Lyra and Will, the two protagonists, deal with are hardly understandable for children.
The trilogy is set in a number of parallel worlds. According to Pullman, there are a million of these, and they overlap and co-exist together in harmony, although they are all quite different from each other. Take Lyra's world, for example. Every person's soul is manifested as an animal, called a daemon, which follows its master around all their life, offering advice and friendship. The books are filled with brilliant ideas like this, but what makes the books so interesting is the fact Pullman tries to explain every single detail through science and philosophy.
The main plot line is pretty complicated as Lyra and Will jump from one adventure to another, but for me, the most interesting plot line was the one concerning Lyra's mysterious parents. Her mother, Mrs. Coulter, is an enigma, and possibly the most interesting character in the story. It is also through Lyra's parents how Pullman boldly attacks organized religion, which is one of the biggest messages in the trilogy. Although the story grows weaker as it progresses ("The Golden Compass" is pitch-perfect, while "The Amber Spyglass" is rather slow and sometimes dull), it works as one eloquent and smart writer's big effort. It's no Harry Potter, but it is definitely worth your time.