His Dark Materials

Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:31 am

Has anyone read the trilogy by Phillip Pullman? (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.)

I thought it was an interesting series. It was fast-moving enough for my taste and I was captivated from the first chapter. I thought it really was good except for the ending, which seems a little predictable, to an extent, and drawn together at the last minute.

Has anyone any other thoughts on it?

Website · Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:46 am

I've read them, they are quite interesting with lots of action and suspense. But since I'm a Christian, I don't really like the way he insults the gospel... but still, its just fiction. :roll:

Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:27 am

Pullman is a god of writing. Stunning, wondrous, astounding... Just one of the best authors. Not best compared to modern authors, oh no. Best compared to the top authors in history. Not because of how popular his stories are- they'll never, ever be as bestselling as Harry Potter (even though I, a rabid Pottermaniac, think that Pullman's better than Rowling), but because of the originality, the characters, the plot, the description, everything about those miraculous books.

Brilliant author. Absolutely wonderful. His stories are amazingly well done, and in a style- a well written style, too, mind you- rarely found these days.

Lyra and Will are two of the most beautiful characters I've ever read about. Not beauty as in physical perfection, but beauty as in they have such a depth, such personality and character that you can't help but love them.

And the bears, and the witches... Completely, and utterly extraordinary and breathtakingly spectacular.

As I said. Phillip Pullman=A god of writing. Or perhaps story-telling. Or both.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:39 am

That series make up some of my favourite books. Well written, thought out, and utterly enthralling.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:48 am

I think Alex already said it all..
The books are amazing. They really make you think. The ending makes me sad though =(

Sat Sep 11, 2004 4:15 am

When i first read that trilogy I thought it was awesome.

After reading it again, I still think it's awesome. The emotion that i felt while reading it the first time has died down while reading it the second time, but the ending is still pretty depressing.

Only thing though, for some reason, here in Australia, the Golden Compass is called Nothern Lights.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:05 am

I think I have to read it again. The first time I read the series, I was simply bored around the second book. Once the mystery of what Dust was was solved I didn't really care much about what happened afterward, and I nearly didn't read the last chapter or two of the last book. I guess it just wasn't my thing. I'll take a stab at it again though.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:11 am

Lillie, I think you summedit up well for me. I think Dark Materials is brilliant (though Pullman himself is not, the other series he wrote sucked, thus the two balancing him out to 'OK'). The characters and Idea were really good however as mentioned it seemed rush slightly at the end. It was also a very depressing ending.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 8:01 am

Optimus wrote:Only thing though, for some reason, here in Australia, the Golden Compass is called Nothern Lights.

Yeah, I couldn't remember the name, but I knew it wasn't the Golden Compass

That aside, I love the books. They're amazingly well written - I first started reading them in Year 5 or 6, I can't remember.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 8:56 am

I read the Golden Compass because it was handed to me and I was told it was a good book. I was never overly impressed, but I did go on a long search for the Subtle Knife, which is when I really started to enjoy it. His Dark Materials is definetly right up there at the top of my favourite books list. (I've never been able to get very into his other books, though.)

Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:23 am

Some of my favourite books

I'm a christian, and I don't find it particularly insulting, for one, it's fiction, and two, there's nothing wrong with challenging ideas.

Northern Lights is my least favourite, but that always happens to me with first books of trilogies.
The end was a tad predictable, yes, but it was also sad! He's written another short book called Lyra's Oxford which is a bit pricey but worth a read. I hope he carries on adding to the series because I'm rather unsatisfied with that ending!

I've read 2 other of his books, The Butterfly Tattoo and The Broken Bridge, both of which I thought were really quite good, but they weren't fantasy.

Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:53 am

Alex wrote:
Optimus wrote:Only thing though, for some reason, here in Australia, the Golden Compass is called Nothern Lights.

Yeah, I couldn't remember the name, but I knew it wasn't the Golden Compass

That aside, I love the books. They're amazingly well written - I first started reading them in Year 5 or 6, I can't remember.

Its also called The Northen Lights in New Zealand, I had no idea it was also called the Golden Compass...

Sat Sep 11, 2004 11:04 am

Christopher wrote:
Alex wrote:
Optimus wrote:Only thing though, for some reason, here in Australia, the Golden Compass is called Nothern Lights.

Yeah, I couldn't remember the name, but I knew it wasn't the Golden Compass

That aside, I love the books. They're amazingly well written - I first started reading them in Year 5 or 6, I can't remember.

Its also called The Northen Lights in New Zealand, I had no idea it was also called the Golden Compass...

'Northern Lights' is the original (British) title. It was released in America with the title 'The Golden Compass'.

It's the same situation as 'Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone'.

The American title does fit in better with the titles of the other books, as they all follow the same pattern.

'The (Adjective) (Object)'

Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:13 pm

I started the Trilogy in year 6, as it was one of the books in the school's library sort of thing. I really like the series, and I think Philip Pullman is a great author. The Subtle Knife is my least favourite, and the Amber Spyglass is my favourite out of the trilogy. It took me about half a year to find the Subtle Knife after I finished the Northern Lights, and the introduction of Will was great! I've tried reading his other series...the one with the Tiger in the Well and that, but they made me put the book down after the first chapter

Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:57 pm

I absolutely loved these books. My neopets account was created right after I read them, hence the name:p The plotline was really interesting. It was one of those series where you just can't put it down until you've finished it.

I still think that the books weren't insulting religion, they just provided a different explaination. Especially since it was in another world to begin with...