3 Review(s)

His Dark Materials is a critically-acclaimed fantasy trilogy by Philip Pullman, telling the coming-of-age story of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. Summary of the Book Containing Northern Lights (alternately named The Golden Compass), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, this collection brings together the complete trilogy of novels concerning Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry. In a parallel universe, Lyra is a 11 year old student at Jordan College, Oxford. A magical universe, it allows humans to be accompanied by a certain kind of dæmon, which assumes an animal form. Lyra's dæmon is named Pantalaimon, and she has been brought up by the scholars and residents of the college following her parents' death in an airship crash. Her uncle, Lord Asriel, is a man she respects and fears deeply, and a conversation of his that she overhears soon sets her off on an adventure which will test her powers and her mental abilities. If she does not come through, all the children around her will be used in wild experiments which separate them from their dæmons. About Philip Pullman Philip Pullman is a British writer, best known for his fantasy novels, and the fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. The first part of this trilogy was adapted into a movie entitled The Golden Compass, starring Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Lee, Nicole Kidman and Sam Elliot, winning a BAFTA and an Academy Award for visual effects.