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Philip Pullman

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Northern Lights Filmed as The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials): 1 Paperback – 6 Aug. 2007

by Philip Pullman (Author)

4.6 15,891 ratings

Book 1 of 3: His Dark Materials

for school years 1–9

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There are worlds beyond our own - the Compass will show the way... The first novel in Philip Pullman's epic HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy is now the stunning motion picture THE GOLDEN COMPASS, made by New Line Cinema and Scholastic Media When Lyra is given the strange and secret alethiometer, she begins

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Book 1 of 3

His Dark Materials
Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Scholastic
Publication date

6 Aug. 2007
Dimensions

13 x 2.7 x 19.7 cm
ISBN-10

9781407104058
ISBN-13

978-1407104058
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They sat for a while longer, and then parted, for it was late, and they were old and anxious.
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Product description

Review

"As always, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterizations and seamless plotting, maintaining a crackling pace to create scene upon scene of almost unbearable tension. This glittering gem will leave readers of all ages eagerly awaiting the next installment of Lyra's adventures."--"Publishers Weekly," Starred""
"Extraordinary storytelling at its very best."--"The Detroit Free Press"
"Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --"The Washington Post"

" As always, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterizations and seamless plotting, maintaining a crackling pace to create scene upon scene of almost unbearable tension. This glittering gem will leave readers of all ages eagerly awaiting the next installment of Lyra's adventures." -- "Publishers Weekly," Starred""
" Extraordinary storytelling at its very best." -- "The Detroit Free Press"
" Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --"The Washington Post"

"As always, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterizations and seamless plotting, maintaining a crackling pace to create scene upon scene of almost unbearable tension. This glittering gem will leave readers of all ages eagerly awaiting the next installment of Lyra's adventures."--"Publishers Weekly", Starred" "
"Extraordinary storytelling at its very best."--"The Detroit Free Press "
"Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --"The Washington Post"

About the Author

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.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1407104055
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic; 1st edition (6 Aug. 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781407104058
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1407104058
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13 x 2.7 x 19.7 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,180,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 14,734 in Action & Adventure for Young Adults
- 30,206 in Action & Adventure for Children (Books)

Customer reviews:
4.6 15,891 ratings

About the author

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Philip Pullman

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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.

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Mr. R. W. Lockie

A gorgeous mix of fantasy and philosphy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2008

Verified Purchase

I was fortunate enough to be exposed to the philosophies of this story from a very young age.

This has given me the imagination and insight in to these ideas through out my life.

I loved the film, I did find it a little long in some places, but I thought it was wonderful and I couldnt wait to read the book.

The books arrived from amazon about 2 weeks ago and I couldnt wait to get stuck in.

I read the Golden Compass in around 2 weeks, which is the fastest I have every read a book in my life.

I was totally engrossed and loved every single page, Pullmans writing style is wonderful and I was totally caught up in his world.

This book got a lot of press as it attracted the religious nutters, as it does talk a lot about God, The Church, and Religion.

The morral of this story is about Free Will, and Original Sin.

The Christian God gave us free will when he kicked "us" out of the "garden of Eden"

This book deals with that idea that humans have free will thanks to their creator, yet, through out history there have always been organisations that have tried to take it away from them, The Church being one of them.

Telling people how to behave, how to think and how to live their lives has always been a way of the chruch.

88888 plot spoiler - dont read past this point 888888888888888

The Children in the story are "cut" from their Deamons (A soul that inhabits an animal form that lives out side the body)

In this process of cutting the children are almost stunted or forced to grow up.

It is a bit like in the past when young men were castrated so that they would keep their high voices, the church had no problem in mutilating young men in that way, and this is real life, not fiction.

I find it hilarious that the religious groups can throw mud at these books and writers like this, when THEIR CHURCHS have been responsible for so much death and so many terrible things through out history.

I would recommend this book to any one who loves fantasy and is also interested in Quantum Mechanics.

A great read!

5/5 stars!

One person found this helpful

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S. Brown

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 March 2024

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A wonderful adventure by a master storyteller, if you haven't read these books then you're in for a real treat and escape into this amazing world, well worth your time and money. Still waiting with great anticipation for the 6th book of Dust, I just wanted to visit old friends by rereading the series again.

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Alana_thebooknerd

I don't know why I hadn't read this sooner

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 June 2020

Verified Purchase

Being so late to this book means I have heard A LOT about this novel from other readers I know, one of my bff’s was quite forceful that this should be my next read when I was pondering over my tbr. So here we are book lovers!

What did I like:

It has been a looooong time since I’ve read a book where the MC is so young, so I did find Lyra quite testing and petulant at times. I had to remind myself that I’m used to young adult or adult adult MC’s so I simply can’t hold her to the same expectation. That being said, the representation of Lyra as a character is wonderful and after a number of “she’s only a child” internal prompts & deep breaths through the first quarter to half of the book I did start to bond with the tenacious little girl and root for her. By the end of the book it was quite refreshing having the innocence of a little girl as the MC with her single minded driven attitude.

I really enjoyed the Gyptian community in this book and it was during these chapters I felt there was genuine relationship building, especially between Lyra and some of the Gyptian’s themselves. At the beginning of the book Lyra seems very disassociated with the adults in her environment with little to no true relationships with any of them but whilst she is with the Gyptian’s she builds some solid bonds with the likes of Ma Costa, John Faa and Farder Coram. I felt this was also a sound representation of community, with camaraderie, warmth and spirit.

I am an animal lover, so of course I have a soft spot for Iorek Byrnison.

The plot itself is genuinely well written and a treat to the imagination. From reading, it became quite clear why readers from so many age ranges loves this book, there is something for everyone. From all the books I’ve read so far this year this one has the most beautifully described detail that you could close your eyes and experience it in your inner eye. The level of world building and description that has gone into this book is what I think makes this novel so engaging to all ages, I’ve found with more “adult-y” books you can sometimes miss out on that detail which for me is where the magic happens. I want to immerse myself in the story.

Every part of the story flows beautifully into the next, everything had purpose. No dull, dragged out sections. I found everything progressed at a really good rate with a decent amount of action/drama. Every character we meet is diverse in characteristics and adds a little something to the story. The end definitely leads on to the next book, if I was old enough to have read this in 1995, I’d have been gutted to have to wait the 2 years before the next book comes out.

Philip Pullman is such a highly acclaimed writer, there isn’t much I can add that hasn’t already been said. His way of writing is quite unique and not a style I’ve seen replicated or similar anywhere else yet. The second and third book are patiently waiting in my wishlist to be purchased, next to Ruby in the Smoke (I borrowed it from the Library when I first read it) which I’d love to reread.

What I wasn’t so keen on:

This was an enjoyable read for me, so there wasn’t anything I really disliked. As I mentioned I had to remind myself child MC’s don’t behave like older MC’s. With my challenge for 2020 to read a more diverse range of books I will hopefully come to meet many different MC’s and not trip up on something so basic as this again.

Iorek and Lyra had a tight relationship from when they met, like there’s a connection. It was obvious what Lyra’s thoughts and feelings were towards Iorek but I’d have loved to find out his feelings towards her. Were his actions inspired by duty or genuine affection?

I’d have liked a bit more explanation in the last sections of the book as to what’s going on and why, but with end of the book the way it was maybe I’ll find out in the second book.

2 people found this helpful

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AndyM

If you like hugely fantastical reads then you'll love it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2006

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The beginning of book one really threw me. "Lyra and her daemon walking around Oxford ...." Huh, what!? I had no idea what on earth was going on (yes i know, i'm a bit slow) and i nearly gave up on it. Well all i can say is thank heavens i didn't! Book one was a brilliant read once i got my head around what was going on. Although i didn't particularly warm to the characters (apart from Lyras Daemon) the story was rivetting.

Then it just gets better, book two is fantastic with the introduction of Will (here we finally start warming to the characters) and as for book three, it's the most mind blowing thing i've ever read (how can one man have so much imagination?) and undoubtedly the best of the trilogy.

Some have said this book is similar to JK Rowling and Tolkien - personally i think it's nothing like them - it's certainly as brilliant as them but i don't see any other connection.

Northern Lights i'd give 4 stars because although i loved it, i wish he'd explained what was going on a bit sooner and i think the confusing beginning may put some people off which would be a shame - but the other two would get 5 stars simply because they're among the most original and entertaining books i have ever read. The various worlds and locations were brilliantly done - he doesn't bore you with pointless details but does manage to paint an incredible image in your mind. The scenes involving the land of the dead were truly spine chilling (a bit like Sabriel ... and then some).

I can't recommend these books enough.

14 people found this helpful

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LA in Dallas

Yes, it's really THAT good!

Reviewed in the United States on 28 January 2024

Verified Purchase

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass was one of the first audiobooks I listened to after joining Audible in 2004. I followed it not long after with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, and subsequently with every other published book by Pullman I could get my hands on. The novels of His Dark Materials are both exceptionally good books and exceptionally good audiobooks. The Listening Library audiobooks are full-cast productions.

The Golden Compass takes place in a fantasy world that resembles our Earth in some respects -- for instance, there is a university called Oxford -- and is different in others. For instance, every person has a daemon -- a soul. The daemon is a talking animal. A person must remain close to his or her daemon -- to separate by more than a few yards causes both great distress. The daemons of children are changeable in form, but those of adults are fixed. For instance, Lyra, the girl at the center of the story, has a daemon called Pantalaimon, who, when we first meet him, is in the form of a moth, but who more often is something like a weasel. Mrs Coulter, one of the principal adult characters, has a daemon who is a monkey.

Lyra comes into possession of an device called the "alethiometer" -- this is the thing that the title The Golden Compass refers to. It is not in fact a compass. In the hands of a skilled user, it gives truthful answers to any questions it is asked. Lyra, it turns out, has a special affinity for the alethiometer. She learns dangerous things from it and she and Pantalaimon find it necessary to flee Oxford. Adventures and intrigues ensue, which I will not spoil.

Before I listened to The Golden Compass, I felt that J.R.R. Tolkien had in a sense frozen fantasy. Every fantasy work published after The Lord of the Rings felt, in a way, like a version or reflection of that Great Work. His Dark Materials did not. In 2004 when I read it I felt that I had for the first time in four decades found a fantasy series that owed nothing to J.R.R. Tolkien -- something new and completely original.

2 people found this helpful

Angela

Wonderful edition, amazing collection

Reviewed in Spain on 16 February 2023

Verified Purchase

I just found the most beautiful edition of His Dark Materials books. They are wonderful.

I’m not reviewing the story or writing itself, only the product that I had bought. Those who have read this masterpiece know how much it’s worth. Those who haven’t, I strongly advise you do. It has this beautiful dust jacket showing the Alethiometer. Hardback blue. The letters have a very decent size, same for the space between lines. And at the end of the book there’s an Appendix showing some curious papers from the Library at Jordan College. I had never seen that before in other editions! It’s a clever addition to the story.

The editions of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass have similar curiosities in its Appendix too. If you buy this edition of Northern Lights, you have to buy the other books in the same edition. I’m adding pictures to this review so you can see how amazing they are.

Those books are for every age. It's the fourth time I'm reading them, and each time I understand something new.

One person found this helpful

FANG LIN

good book!

Reviewed in Canada on 29 December 2020

Verified Purchase

this is a very good book. my son enjoys it very much and it seems very interesting

Guillermo Medel

Amazing story

Reviewed in Mexico on 21 January 2020

Verified Purchase

It is a really light reading book, to be honest it is really slow at the beginning but once you get to the good part you won’t stop until you finish.

Antonio Santana

Excelente livro

Reviewed in Brazil on 18 April 2019

Verified Purchase

Comprei para meu filho, adorou.

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Northern Lights Filmed as The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials): 1 Paperback – 6 Aug. 2007

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