Philip Pullman - Northern Lights

[SERAFINApekkala]

My father and brother read it first. I remember all of these endlessly discussions they seemed to be having about armoured bears, aeronauts, deamons, a parallel dimension and an evil god so i was very intrigued.

Well worth reading in conclusion.

The ending is a bit of a cop-out though. It reminded me of the Lord of the rings trilogy which ended with that awful hobbit battle in the Shire..

xx

[Misplaced Marbles]

Dear me!!!!!!
How come nearly all of you found the ending of Amber Spyglass so disappointing? I just cannot understand! It was so moving for me, and yes, I admit it, I did cry. Or do you mean it was disappointing because Lyra and Will couldn't be together? That upset me, but I dont think it ruined the books conclusion. Floods of tears, I found it really moving. The whole concept of the trilogy was intriguing and I felt like Gollum obsessed with his precious turning over the next page. I thought it surprisingly deep a concept for Y A fiction and felt proud at the time (I was 11, I think) that I could read it and that adults thought it a concept children could understand.
The whole daemon as being the physical embodiment of a soul was a fascinating idea. As was bringing pieces like Paradise Lost to a larger audience. The whole God is dead, we build our own heaven really caught me up. These books will stick with me forever. A read for children and adults alike I believe.
x x x

[Steve S]

I too thought the end was stunning, a fitting end to an incredible achievement. I am green with envy at Pullman's abillity and imagination!

[Sathai]

I enjoyed His Dark Materials. My favorite of the three is The Golden Compass.

[Barristan]

I'll try to describe what disappointed me about the 3rd book and i'll warn you now that it sounds a little wishy washy. Disappointed is probably the wrong word, but I cant think of a more succinct one.

The flavour of the first 2 books were so intense, dark and compelling, but when it came to the third, the flavour changed too much. The story was still good, the characters and their actions still interested me, but it was like the spirit of it wasnt as strong as the other 2, so didnt have as great an impact.

I think i'll have to do a re-read, lol, gotta know what my current opinion is as I read them years ago.

I still really enjoyed the books though and am looking forward to the impending film.

[Chupacobra]

I first read the HDM trilogy about 18 months ago and was completely bowled over by it.

I've just started to re-read it for the first time, and I can honestly say that it is just as good as the first time...in fact, it's even better, as I am one of those people who tend to race through a book the first time. Second time around and I'm more content to dwell on some of the imagery that the story engenders.

If you haven't read it, then do so. I don't think you'll regret it.

[Majimaune]

I have read Dark Materials a couple of times and now I have heard Northern Lights/Golden Compass is being made into a movie. Nichole Kidman is going to be playing Mrs Coulter (apparently).

[Ellie]

I'm in the middle of The Subtle Knife right now. I kept hearing about the series, and I was at a thrift store a while back and found all 3 for $1 a piece, so I thought I'd try it. I was immediatley taken in with The Golden Compass(NorthernLights). Pullman is very imaginative, but he also writes very well. He's not so wordy and flowery that you get thrown out of the story, but at the same time I think he writes a very lovely sentence.
I'm really enjoying The Subtle Knife. Someone I work with told me it takes a turn, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that manifests.
There is a preview trailer for the golden compass at Philip Pulmans site- either philippullman.com, or thegoldencompass.com, or maybe it's hisdarkmaterials.com, can't remember for sure, but a websearch for "the Golden Compass trailer" ought to bring it up. I think it may even be on youtube.

[Majimaune]

I did think that the books got poorer as they went, with the first one the best and the third on the last.

[Medea]

I agree. The first book was fantastic. But I think once they started moving between the other worlds it got worse...

[Majimaune]

The world I liked the most was the one with those creatures that had the seed pods on their feel and rolled around. They were cool.

[Jackolsman]

I have actually just finished this trilogy of books tonight. Definitely written for children, but Pullman does draw many adult parallels, especially in the last book. It's more of a single book, divided into volumes, as Lord of the Rings is a trilogy but only in printed format. So if you read one, you will have to read the others.

The story is very good, and I found myself reading all three books in less than a month, which is good for me with my job. When I first started with The Northern Lights I didn't think I would finish it at all! But as the character Lyra develops, as I discovered more about her, as well as daemons, I couldn't help reading on to know her story.

The Amber Spyglass has left me a bit disappointed. The ending is rough, even for an adult, and I'm sorry for kids that read this and get caught up with the two main characters. The ending makes sense in an adult-type of wisdom, but it's a bit sudden and distressing.

One has to respect that it was written for the young-adult to children audiences, and in that perspective it is very well written. All in all, I enjoyed the series, even through my initial skepticism.

[The_Warrior]

I jst finished the first book a couple weeks ago. Now that movie titled 'The Golden Compass' is coming out in december. Chris Waits(Sp?) first snighed on to be the director, but when he found out that new line wasn't going to have the religious elements in it, he singed of. So they hired (Forget his nma first name ) Tucker to direct. Though things got meshed up with him. So Chis got back on. I think it's going to be a little (and hopfully) more faithful to it's source then that disater by named Eragon.

[Majimaune]

Eragon was a bad book and so what can you do with a film? It wouldn't be hard to beat although I hope Northern Lights beats it by a long long way.

[The_Warrior]

Hopfuly, it will. I seen some previews and can actally see secenes from chapters in it.