Booklist

The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials Book 1 by Philip Pullman

"In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing; victims of so-called Gobblers; and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved."*

I am going to ignore all of the anti-church rancor I've heard surrounding this set of books and just review it as a story. Perhaps after I've read all three I will be able to render an opinion on Pullman's agenda. Right now, I don't see much.

I like the story but it took some effort to get into the story. It doesn't begin with a bang and it takes some time for Lyra (our heroine) to get into her adventure. When things started rolling, I enjoyed it very much. The characters are engaging even if Lyra isn't a completely likable protagonist. She's a bit of a snot in the beginning but she softens a bit as the story moves along. The folks she meets along the way are really interesting. The gyptians, the bears, the aeronaut, the witches and the elegant yet sinister Mrs. Coulter all captured my imagination. I tried very hard to not insert the images from the upcoming movie into my brain but I had a hard time of it.

So, once we got some action and some good characters moving around I was hooked. And boy, did it end on a cliffhanger or what?

As for theological issues, I saw a few inklings but nothing substantial to hook into yet. I have heard, however, that the movie version will play down the anti-church angle so as not to offend anybody. As I've said before, I'll reserve judgement until the end but it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. According to a few things I've read, people are saying that Christians should be more concerned about this set of books than they have been about Harry Potter. We'll see.

*Source: www.powellsbooks.com