The Children’s Book Review | June 21, 2016
The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials: Book One
Written by Philip Pullman
Age Range: 10+
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (1995)
ISBN-13: 978-0440418320
What to Expect: Fantasy, Adventure, Kidnappings, Betrayal, Battles
With the long-anticipated new work from Mr. Pullman, The Book of Dust (the first of a three part series), set to be published in October 2017, we had to revisit a true classic . . . The Golden Compass. Hold on tight, for nothing in the fantasy-adventure story is quite what it seems.
Lyra Belacqua is a rough and tumble heroine trying to get to the dark and cold North—a place where witches and armored bears rule, where Gobblers take the children they steal, and where her intimidating uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to an alternate universe. Her friend Roger has been kidnapped and children keep disappearing. With the help of a magical instrument that tells the future, Lyra is determined to rescue Roger and save the children that are being used for awful experiments. Filled with gripping action, darkness, betrayal, grand battles, and dramatic escapes, readers are kept on edge as Lyra does her best to outwit the evildoers.
Phillip Pullman’s storytelling is simply masterful. So grab your compass, follow the directions to the most comfortable reading spot you can find, and get ready to stay a while, because this is a real page turner.
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About Phillip Pullman
PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass (and the reader-voted “Carnegie of Carnegies” for the best children’s book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass; a Booker Prize long-list nomination (The Amber Spyglass); Parents’ Choice Gold Awards (The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of his body of work. In 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
It has recently been announced that The Book of Dust, the much anticipated new book from Mr. Pullman, also set in the world of His Dark Materials, will be published as a major work in three parts, with the first part to arrive in October 2017.
Philip Pullman is the author of many other much-lauded novels. Other volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, and The Collectors. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!; Count Karlstein; Two Crafty Criminals; Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess; The White Mercedes; and The Broken Bridge.
Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com and hisdarkmaterials.com. Or follow him on Twitter at @PhilipPullman.
The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials: Book One, by Phillip Pullman, was reviewed by Bianca Schulze. Discover more books like The Golden Compass by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Adventure, Battles, Books with Betrayal, Books with Kidnappings, Classics, Fantasy, and Philip Pullman.
