The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

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The Golden Compass

(#1 - His Dark Materials)

November 13, 1995 / 368 pages / Fiction

“The most magnificent fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings.” --The Oregonian

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.
Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want.
But what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other. . . .

A New York Times Bestseller
A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time
An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel
Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

"Very grand indeed." --The New York Times
"Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --The Washington Post
"A shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"The Golden Compass is one of the best fantasy / adventure stories that I have read. This is a book no one should miss."--Terry Brooks

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“The most magnificent fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings.” --The Oregonian Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world. Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want. But what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other. . . . A New York Times Bestseller A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction   "Very grand indeed." --The New York Times "Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --The Washington Post "A shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred "The Golden Compass is one of the best fantasy / adventure stories that I have read. This is a book no one should miss."--Terry Brooks

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Good world-building (who doesn't wish they had a daemon or an armored-bear?) and character development. Suspenseful, unpredictable, and addicting. A great start to one of my favorite series.

Grade: A / HeathersCorner

/ Dec 14, 2017

Though it is definitely not the best book I have ever read, I can't say it's the worst. There are one or two parts that I actually enjoyed reading, but in all, there are better books for you to spend your time reading. I would only suggest reading it until you get to the Wells Fargo bank reference, though!

Grade: C / Bengtsson / Sep 3, 2013

A clever and exciting start to a well constructed children's fantasy series. The world-building is excellent, and the supernatural forces of daemons and 'dust' are intriguing and tantalizingly unexplained in this first installment leaving much to be discovered in the following volumes.

Grade: B+ / Andy / Sep 4, 2013

Great young adult (urban) fantasy with well written characters. I loved that it's not about a parallel universe that just has this one special thing (the daemons for example) but that there is so, so much more to discover.

Grade: B+ / Muisje / Oct 5, 2014

After years and years (literally 20 straight years) of people telling me I should read these books, I am finally reading them. Yes, it's because of the HBO adaptation, and yes, the books, so far, are better. As expected, the world was fantastic, but what I find I'm absolutely enthralled with is our protagonist, Lyra—a feral, bloody-minded little liar with a streak of loyalty as wide as the northern lights. I only wish we made more little girls brazen and uncompromising in our children's fiction.

Grade: A / epaulettes

/ Jan 8, 2020

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