His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass

You're all bigots.

I can't believe you're all just proving Christian stereotypes true, If someone isn't preaching Christianity, you don't want to hear it. Stop being so ignorant and intolerant.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Read it!!!

I am Catholic. A coworker of mine was the product of a single parent home. Her mother was refused communion in the Catholic Church because she was divorced. They didn't take into consideration that she divorced a verbally and physically abusive man. I agree with Pullman... if I was God, I would be upset with them! I don't think people read into it enough and GET what Pullman is trying to say. It is not so much killing God, it is putting an end to a very hypocritical and corrupt organization. That being said, I did enjoy the books, but I don't this is a kids book. It is a work of FICTION... We have as much of a chance of encountering an armor clad bear than beaming up on the Star Ship Enterprise! I think it deals with concepts few children under 12 or 13 could grasp. Even an adult with a meager vocabulary might need a dictionary to read this series. From the first chapter, demon is spelled daemon... How many kids would know that it isn't 'day-mon'? Most of the 'kids' I know who have read the books are upwards of 15, which I think is an appropriate age to read this series... That is when they are able to truly start forming their own religious beliefs. In a world of iPods and Playstations, we should be happy that people are actually wanting to read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

starts great but the ending is wanting

I first started reading this book because i had seen the previews for the up coming movie 'the golden compass'. I enjoyed reading the golden compass as well, it was a good book, however once i got on to reading the subtle knife and the ember spyglass i found the real theme of the series, which is an anti-religious theme. ( not go give away anything but some of the characters decide to kill God). I was disappionted because found this book in the childrens section and this is certainly a book that i would rather not have my child read. So because i am a religious person i found especially the final book of the series a big let down and instead of having a happy complete ending as most children's books have the ember spyglass had a less than happy ending that left me feeling as though the book could not be finished becuase there was still more for the characters to do. Overall the golden compass is a great book and i recommend it to those who enjoy books such as harry potter or lord of the rings, but as for the subtle knife and the ember spyglass I would not recommend them especially for children because they are so dark and leave the reader feeling somewhat empty rather than excited and uplifted.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Great start, poor ending.

Like another reviewer here, I loved the first book. I labored through the second book in hopes the third would be a good as the first. Unfortunately, the story loses its clarity in the third book. Maybe the messages were too subtle for me, I kept waiting for something to happen that would bring the loose ends together. The Adam and Eve allusion and the temptress seemed to me to have no purpose at all. Even 'what is Dust' wasn't really answered. I love Science Fiction/Fantasy, but this book left me unsatisfied.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Don't waste your money on this garbage.

One man trying to make the world Godless. It won't work Phil, God bows to no one.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

What are we teaching our kids?

Being a Christian, I specifically read the Harry Potter series to see what the 'big deal' was too. Personally, I found the books to be a great read and while I do not agree with everything in those book, in the end good overcomes evil. As far as the Golden Compass trilogy goes (haven't read all), I cannot and will not recommend them. As a parent and a teacher I am responsible for teaching morality, obedience, and good decision making skills (among other subjects). It's rather frightening to think that the idea of killing God is acceptable. Why on Earth would I want my children or students to read such a text? Why would any parent?

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This book though interesting in overall content was disappointing. Unfortunately so is the movie even though its very different than the book. The book deliberatly uses religious terminolgy in naming the 'bad' guys. The author clearly seeks to peak your interest enough to encourage you to purchase the next two books in the series...don't bother. If he truly sought to present a different point of view he would not have referenced religous leaders and he would have been honest enough to present the true nature of the series in the first book. Atheiests can be bigots too. The author's intent is clear...God doesn't exist and the children actually 'kill God' in the third book. This author is an answer to the athiest's prayers and a nightmare for children.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

It's about killing God so it doesn't sit well with me.

I read the entire trilogy. While this book is well written and starts out as a fanciful romp, the agenda of the subsequent books becomes very clear. These books are about killing God and destroying His Church on earth. As a Libertarian, I absolutely support the right of people to believe as they want to, but I don't appreciate books that appear to be something they are not. Far from being allegorical and interpreted on various levels, as the books of C.S. Lewis, these books are a thinly veiled Atheist manifesto. The third book in this series ends with the children (I'm guessing around the age of 11 or 12) killing a senile God named Yahweh and being intimate with each other (in the Biblical sense). Is this really a good book for the kids? Mine are 11 and 12 and I don't think so.

1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A Recommended 3-in-1 Volume.

This 3-in-1 volume of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" brings together his mangum opus story much as do combined editions of "The Lord of the Rings." My favorite by far is the first novel, "The Golden Compass," but that's only because the setting is entirely in Lyra's alternate reality of our world, and I love the worldbuilding here that Pullman has done. Volume 2, "The Subtle Knife" is set in our reality as Lyra encounters and teams with a boy from "our" world, and Volume 3 takes place in various realms of Pullman's multiverse, fleshing out this world's take on what constitutes "reality." Multilayered, thought-provoking and philosophical, whether you buy into Pullman's athiestic views or not, this is often listed as a Young Adult novel, mainly because of the age(s) of its protagonist(s), but there's more than enough here for adults to get into.

For those into an adventure of new world(s)

The story line was different than typical books but I thought it was extremely long.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

His Dark Materials

As far as books go, His Dark Materials is a well written series that grabs you into the story with a violence. I only caution Christian readers because this book was written with an obvious malicious intent towards God and those woh are sensative to those sortsof things need not to read this series at all!

Engrossing

It was a beautiful and engrossing look at human nature, whether technically human or not, and the power of rightness. Not the rightness someone else has dictated but the kind of rightness that is known instinctively and felt throughout your entire being. That every being in every universe and dimension has the right to be free from oppression and has the right to fight with every fiber of their being to ensure that freedom.

It also strips away the facade of organized religion and exposes the atrocities associted with it and the absolute horror of zealotry. Although the story takes place in a world parallel to this one, the words resonate deeply with what has occured throughout time wherever religion is present: murder, torture, theft and subjugation. The replacement of free will with the dictates of religious doctrine. The gleeful torture and murder of individuals who do not agree with that doctrine, simply because that doctrine said it was the right thing to do, overriding the individual's own sense of right and wrong.

Although it was published as three seperate books, its true form is one inseperable volume. Each of its parts flow so smoothly into each other that it is more like turning the page on a new chapter rather than a new book. That combined with the massive cliffhangers that leave you dangling from your fingertips make it impossible to not simply turn to that next page. Even the ending of the tale leaves you partially dangling, and hungering for more of a single, emotionally charged plot line left untied. Instead, it stretches into eternity and sets the wheels turning on the possibilities, and leaves you desperately hoping. If rumors play out, that last plot line will finally get tied in a fourth installment.

i hate this series!!

i have read from the start!the golden compass threw to lyra's oxford and philip pullman just stops the book. and it makes me mad how he did that. i really loved all 4 books but i just dont see why they just ended they way they did. it gives hints that there is more to the story that we dont know. i have looked all over for the "missing books" to find out if they have what the other books are missing. i have not benn sucessful and i dont think i will be.

Awesome

My favorite book EVER.
I love to lose myself in these parallel universes.

An amazing read! Magnificent for all ages!

His Dark Materials has an edgy, original twist to fantasy and religion. It has enticing characters and plot. It keeps you guessing and is great to discuss.

lose yourself in a fantasy...

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantastic fantasy! The story follows Lyra as she travels through different parallel universes. She sees many different places and meets a variety of different characters from armored bears to witches to miniature people. Lyra is on a quest throughout the whole book. Her quest changes from time to time but right from the beginning it is clear that she has a very important mission to carry out. She herself does not know the part she will play in changing not only her own world but every world. The book is so epic in length and depth that when I got to the end, I was not ready to let go of these characters. If you want to lose yourself in a different world and meet fantastic, highly original characters then this is the book for you.

Amazing, and thrilling!!!!

This book kept me turning pages night and day!!!

Wow! US doesn't know

What astounding novels! The Golden Compass was a slow start but I kept reading and it got better and better. Pullman has a wild imagination! The Subtle Knife was slow...very very slow!!! Still, when Will gained possession of the knife, I was hooked. Maybe it is Pullman's style of writing The Amber Spyglass was...is...well, I can't say because I am half way done but it is absolutely amazing so far. Can't wait for teh ending! The US is so sensitive when it comes to religion, but when we were a new country we were forced into the Church of England, so don't blame them. But it is a book! A BOOK! It isn't like kids are going to say 'Huh, lyra is going to destroy God so I think I won't be religious anymore and pretend I have a daemon!' But just because it only swept 7 million in the US and about 30 million overseas doesnt mean anything. The chronicles of Narnia has some religious themes burried under the plot, and it did not sweep as much hatred as the Golden Compass, what is up with that!?

Full of Imagination and Fantasy

I love fantasy novels. The idea of a book taking me away to a new place, one that I will never know in my present life, is amazing. This book did that. The book is complex, and I had to go back a few times to get a character/plot straight, but I became immersed in the worlds that Lyra and Will traveled in. I especially loved Mary's enounter with the mulefa. But most of all I connected with the characters. I felt sorrow, pain, fear, happiness, and every emotion that the book presented, and didn't want it to end. Simply fantastic. I highly suggest this book if you enjoy fantasy. Many people are put off because it disucsses 'killing God' 'or the authority'. Defintily left room for discussions, and really great for older teenagers and adults. To those skeptics, don't hate it unless you've read it, because ignorance only hurts others. Just remember, it's only a book. It is what it is. Happy reading!

Great Idea, not well executed

I love the story and the world of the book but I cannot bring myself to finish it. After reading the first two books the third one will remain un-read because I dislike the writing. If the author only committed a little more effort to creating his world, I might be able to finish. If you have low expectations of writing, then it is a great story.