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55th out of 56 books
—
57 voters
Once Upon a Time in the North (His Dark Materials 0.5)
In this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe, Lee Scoresby -- Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua -- is 24 years old. The story reveals the origins of Scoresby's friendship with Ioric Byrnison as well as Scoresby's aeronautical career.
After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Scoresby finds himself floating north. On the...more
After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Scoresby finds himself floating north. On the...more
Hardcover, 104 pages
Published
April 8th 2008
by Alfred A. Knopf
(first published 2008)
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"Nice piece of oratorical flamboyancy." (--Hester)
This book was a gift. I *love* the size and shape of it, its compactness, the cloth cover, the way it fits so perfectly with its companion book, Lyra's Oxford, which I perversely keep with my guidebooks rather than my other Pullman novels.
I am almost certain I would have liked the actual text better had I not been consumed with jealousy over the presentation. The story is less than 100 small pages long, directed at no obviously definable reader o...more
This book was a gift. I *love* the size and shape of it, its compactness, the cloth cover, the way it fits so perfectly with its companion book, Lyra's Oxford, which I perversely keep with my guidebooks rather than my other Pullman novels.
I am almost certain I would have liked the actual text better had I not been consumed with jealousy over the presentation. The story is less than 100 small pages long, directed at no obviously definable reader o...more
Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman: It's been some time since Philip Pullman has published anything set in the world of His Dark Materials; the last offering was a very short story called Lyra's Oxford. In Once Upon a Time in the North, Pullman returns with an original tale about Lee Scoresby the aeronaut, weighing in at just under a hundred pages - and while fans would wish for three times as much, it's certainly much better than nothing.
In a poker game in his native Texas, twenty-...more
In a poker game in his native Texas, twenty-...more
Short and sweet. It was nice to read about Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison again. This time around, Scoresby seemed a bit brash and more quick-witted than I remembered but he was 30 something years younger so that might have something to do with it.
I’m sure everyone’s main complaint will be that the book is too short (and I admit I was hit with a ting of dread around page 50 knowing that I was already closer to the ending than the beginning). However; just like Lyra’s Oxford, Scoresby’s story i...more
I’m sure everyone’s main complaint will be that the book is too short (and I admit I was hit with a ting of dread around page 50 knowing that I was already closer to the ending than the beginning). However; just like Lyra’s Oxford, Scoresby’s story i...more
This is a fabulous yarn that tells how the characters Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby from the His Dark Materials series first met. It reads like a Western set in the North and is just a nice, taut episode. Definitely not for kids, this is dark, political, and violent. Very enjoyable and helpful for getting our fix from Lyra's world.
Do yourself a favor, and read this quick little story.
A fantastic little read in a very well presented format. Pullman has a command of language not to be missed. In this little tale we get a beguiling introduction to Lee Scoresby and his dæmon Hester, and who doesn't love Lee and Hester--a wry Texan with a heart of gold and his delightfully sarcastic companion.
A sample-- after crash-landing his newly acquired air ballon:
The pilot gingerly untangled his fingers from the rope he'd been holding on...more
A fantastic little read in a very well presented format. Pullman has a command of language not to be missed. In this little tale we get a beguiling introduction to Lee Scoresby and his dæmon Hester, and who doesn't love Lee and Hester--a wry Texan with a heart of gold and his delightfully sarcastic companion.
A sample-- after crash-landing his newly acquired air ballon:
The pilot gingerly untangled his fingers from the rope he'd been holding on...more
I cannot quite figure out who would enjoy this volume: for those who have never read the His Dark Materials Trilogy, daemons and the world around them might be too odd, without explanation at all. I like the "western-gunslinger" flavor but don't see how that can hold the interest of most young readers. Then, it is not enough, not meaty enough, not enough Iorek, at least, for a fan like me. I wanted to know MORE about their past and their earlier personalities and hardship/happiness -- this does...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Feb 12, 2013
Thomas Pinkerton
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of the His Dark Materials series
An excellent little yarn, this book is just the right length to kill a lazy afternoon (or a commute to and from work on the bus, in this case). Focused on one of the best side characters in the His Dark Materials series, Lee Scoresby, "Once Upon a Time in the North" has the adventurous tone of the original series, but without the religious symbolism that permeates the main work. Instead, Pullman touches the surface of corporate-civil relations, and uses the rogue elements of Iorek and Lee to sti...more
It's been a while since I visited this world, but I still remember its denizens and their daemons fondly. So, it's with pleasure that I read this short story, featuring the aeronaut from the country of Texas and Iorek Byrnison, the Svalbard bear. This meeting of theirs is hinted at in the trilogy (was it in Golden Compass?), and it's as fun and epic a tale as it's made out to be there.
Lee Scoresby, really young here (thirty five years before his death), has won the balloon in a poker game and ha...more
Lee Scoresby, really young here (thirty five years before his death), has won the balloon in a poker game and ha...more
This is the second prequel to Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy and is almost twice as long as the first prequel story. It's a nice novella featuring Lee Scoresby and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than the first, Lyra's Oxford. I listened to the audio version and, as usual, was impressed by the British method of producing audio books, with full casts to do the voices. Pullman himself does the narration and he has a very pleasant reading voice.
I suspect they had a Brit doing the Texas voice...more
I suspect they had a Brit doing the Texas voice...more
This prequel to Philip Pullman's classic fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, introduces some of the characters from those stories in this fast-paced short work. Set in the coastal Arctic town of Novy Odense, the drama quickly gets under way when 24-year-old Lee Scoresby, an airman from Texas who befriends Lyra Belacqua in later novels, lands there in a hot air balloon. With Scoresby is his "daemon," or animal spirit, Hester--everyone in this world has one. (Hester, by the way, discovers in the...more
This short, little tale is a prequel to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, set decades before the events in Northern Lights. Here we meet Lee Scorsesby and the armored bear Iorek Byrninson, and learn how they came to know each other.
Once Upon a Time in the North is a lovely story, and the title suggests a homage to Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in the West.
But the influence does not end there. Pullman's writing is fantastic and he conveys the steampunk atmosphere of a small port town perfec...more
Once Upon a Time in the North is a lovely story, and the title suggests a homage to Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in the West.
But the influence does not end there. Pullman's writing is fantastic and he conveys the steampunk atmosphere of a small port town perfec...more
This little book is an add-on to Pullman's His Dark Materials series. The presentation is fantastic, and in the same style as Lyra's Oxford. It is a very small hardcover, about 100 pages long, with beautiful woodblock illustrations. It has a bunch of extra goodies inside: a shipping manifest, some notes between Lyra and her professors, a newspaper article. Instead of the fold-out map from Lyra's Oxford, there is a cool little fold-out boardgame featuring hot-air ballooners traveling to the north...more
This is another companion mini-novel to His Dark Materials, this time telling the tale of how Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison met. And it had more interesting inserts from Lyra's world. And a board game! Hee!
It's a great read! I mean, Lee Scoresby! And Hester! Lee and Hester are my favourite character (singular because really they're the same person) from the whole series, so I was very excited when I heard about this book. And it did not disappoint. (Except for the stereotypically mousy librari...more
It's a great read! I mean, Lee Scoresby! And Hester! Lee and Hester are my favourite character (singular because really they're the same person) from the whole series, so I was very excited when I heard about this book. And it did not disappoint. (Except for the stereotypically mousy librari...more
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy may have some faults *cough*Book3*cough*, but it is surely a classic of contemporary fantasy fiction. The story arcs were complex and allegorical, the addition of personal animal daemons was flat out rocking, and he created some memorable characters in Lyra Belacqua, Mrs. Coulter, Iorek Byrnison (the armored bear) and Lee Scoresby (Texan gunfighter).
It’s these last two characters that are featured in an adventure novella prequel Once Upon a Time in the...more
It’s these last two characters that are featured in an adventure novella prequel Once Upon a Time in the...more
I've been grateful for these additions to His Dark Materials, packaged as hardbound, bite-size treats intended for a child. They are a way for Pullman to let his obsessed fans continue on journeys with characters they have come to know and love so well.
Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrenison both play leading roles in Once Upon a Tim in the North. The timing of their meeting and adventure is appropriately vague. Did this occur before the adventures spoken of in His Dark Materials? Afterwards? In anothe...more
Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrenison both play leading roles in Once Upon a Tim in the North. The timing of their meeting and adventure is appropriately vague. Did this occur before the adventures spoken of in His Dark Materials? Afterwards? In anothe...more
As I mentioned in my first review, of telling us to our, I've been reading/rereading some classic young adult fiction. There is a lot of wisdom there.
This one was a new one to me. I absolutely love the Golden compass series, and have read it through at least what. So when I happened upon this book in the library the other day, I was quite pleased. it's a short piece, more of a prologue really. In it, we learn the backstory of how that wonderful aeronaut, Lee Scoresby, (and his daemon, Hester) or...more
This one was a new one to me. I absolutely love the Golden compass series, and have read it through at least what. So when I happened upon this book in the library the other day, I was quite pleased. it's a short piece, more of a prologue really. In it, we learn the backstory of how that wonderful aeronaut, Lee Scoresby, (and his daemon, Hester) or...more
Read The Golden Compass last summer. With the other books on my shelf I wasn't sure if I was ready to tackle the next in the series, so this seemed like a nice way to revisit Pullman's world without too much of a time commitment. It was a nice little afternoon's read. Even if you haven't read Pullman's books, if you've seen the movie, you'll enjoy this book. Lee Scoresby is back in this one which, it turns out, is a prequel to the events of The Golden Compass. Scoresby is visiting Svalbard for t...more
I loved listening to this book on tape because the author, Philip Pullman, and a full cast read it and they do a wonderful job. I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy and was excited to have another book featuring two characters from those books. However, the story was largely political and while very well written it wasn’t as engaging as I thought it would be. Had it not been for Mr. Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison being in it I would have probably stopped reading it.
The story is about Lee Scoresb...more
The story is about Lee Scoresb...more
A tightly written "pre" book to "His Dark materials. I hope Phillip Pullamn writes more stories placed in the Golden Compass universe.
It's by pure chance I read this book immediately after finishing "What's the Matter with Kansas" and it's deconstruction of the Conservative movement in the US. I found this passage in Once Upon a Time in the North:
"On one hand there are the properly constituted civil institutions, such as the Customs and Revenue Board,and on the other the uncontrolled power of...more
It's by pure chance I read this book immediately after finishing "What's the Matter with Kansas" and it's deconstruction of the Conservative movement in the US. I found this passage in Once Upon a Time in the North:
"On one hand there are the properly constituted civil institutions, such as the Customs and Revenue Board,and on the other the uncontrolled power of...more
An elegantly imagined Western tale, even though it is set in the far North, when a very young Lee Scoresby and the bear Iorek Byrnison meet and find they are on the same side. It unfolds like a movie, in grey and blue and ice tones instead of dust and dun and gold, but the pacing, spirit, and tone conjure up every great cowboy movie you have ever seen.
A coda offers a tantalizing glimpse into Lyra's life as a graduate student.
A coda offers a tantalizing glimpse into Lyra's life as a graduate student.
3.5. This is the second of Pullman’s novellas set in the His Dark Materials universe and it was so much better than the hot mess that was Lyra's Oxford. This story is set well before the trilogy and follows the original meeting between fan favorites Lee Scoresby (Texan aeronaut with his rabbit dæmon Hester) and Iorek Byrnison, (the disgraced, and occasionally drunken, former bear king). The story involved a little mini-adventure in a corrupt Arctic town. It’s nothing to write home about, but fa...more
This story (a prequel of sorts in the sense that it shows how Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison met and the setting is pre-Lyra, therefore it is a stand-alone) is perfect in terms of pacing, length, plot, and characterization. Like Lyra's Oxford, this book is also illustrated and I'm glad the characters are actually shown. Here is a picture of Lee and Iorek together for the first time (pardon the sepia tone, that's how I like to read on my iPad):
The pointy things by Lee's arm are Hester's ears, si...more
The pointy things by Lee's arm are Hester's ears, si...more
For an audiobook I thought it was excellent.Like all audiobooks it detracts from a lot of detail that's provided when reading the story.
Philip Pullman stated in an interview when commenting on his recent 'GRIMM Tales for The Young and Old' that traditional folk-tale and fairytales have 'flat' characters - they're psychologically dimensionless and based on culturally based ideals and gender stereotypes. Like fairytales I found the female characters in 'Once Upon A Time in The North' flat and base...more
Philip Pullman stated in an interview when commenting on his recent 'GRIMM Tales for The Young and Old' that traditional folk-tale and fairytales have 'flat' characters - they're psychologically dimensionless and based on culturally based ideals and gender stereotypes. Like fairytales I found the female characters in 'Once Upon A Time in The North' flat and base...more
After reading Lyra's Oxford yesterday this was a more satisfying read in many ways. The story is a fair bit longer and more engaging, bringing a western gunslinging sensibility to the frozen north. Scoresby and Iorek are interesting characters and it's nice to see their first meeting. The story is swift, atmospheric and more fulfilling.
Better still is this hardcover version (I would love to have the previous story in HC too). It's a wonderful little hardcover, cloth bound with a fold out board g...more
Better still is this hardcover version (I would love to have the previous story in HC too). It's a wonderful little hardcover, cloth bound with a fold out board g...more
3,5
No me ha parecido la gran cosa, puede que mi inglés incompleto no ayudara (pero se comprende), aún así me ha gustado.
Me ha dejado gusto a poco en lo que a la relación entre Iorek y Lee se refiere. Se supone que era el centro de este libro, pero me ha resultado débil y poco trabajada, esperaba demasiado.
Lee se destaca mucho y lo extrañaba xD Es un personaje que adoro, es tan genial... Y Hester no se queda atrás ;3
A nivel historia no me ha parecido la gran cosa, quedaron algunas cositas intere...more
No me ha parecido la gran cosa, puede que mi inglés incompleto no ayudara (pero se comprende), aún así me ha gustado.
Me ha dejado gusto a poco en lo que a la relación entre Iorek y Lee se refiere. Se supone que era el centro de este libro, pero me ha resultado débil y poco trabajada, esperaba demasiado.
Lee se destaca mucho y lo extrañaba xD Es un personaje que adoro, es tan genial... Y Hester no se queda atrás ;3
A nivel historia no me ha parecido la gran cosa, quedaron algunas cositas intere...more
By far the weakest of the series - and not because of the shorter length - this text seems written solely to earn money from the His Dark Materials name. As a children's book, there is too much bad language and violence to make parents comfortable, and as an adult-oriented novel, the plot is rather thin. All we get is Old Western good cowboy moralizing against bad cowboys, and young characters moralizing against big corporations. The only female spares no talk except about marriage, and then she...more
Before Lee Scoresby, Texan aeronaut and adventurer, swung his way into Pullman's Northern Lights Trilogy in his dirigible he landed in the Arctic oil town of Novy Odensk. Scoresby being who he is it wasn't long before he was forced to fight his way out of the town with the help of his new friend, the mighty polar bear Iorek Byrnison. This is that story, beautifully packaged in a little blue fabric bound hardback illustrated with enchanting engravings by John Lawrence and sprinkled with intriguin...more
I was caught up in this short little prequel adventure about Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison. At not quite 100 pages, this is a fast-paced read with a western style feel. There is an element of Frontier Justice, and I definitely felt a little "huzzah!" in my head as the scruffy aeronaut and the outcast bear completed their adventure.
Anyone who enjoyed the His Dark Materials series should appreciate this for the context it gives. I actually think that this story has wider appeal, because Pullman...more
Anyone who enjoyed the His Dark Materials series should appreciate this for the context it gives. I actually think that this story has wider appeal, because Pullman...more
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from his official website:
"I was born in Norwich in 1946, and educated in England, Zimbabwe, and Australia, before my family settled in North Wales. I received my secondary education at the excellent Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech, and then went to Exeter College, Oxford, to read English, though I never learned to read it very well.
"I found my way into the teaching profession at the age of 25, and taught...more
More about Philip Pullman...
"I was born in Norwich in 1946, and educated in England, Zimbabwe, and Australia, before my family settled in North Wales. I received my secondary education at the excellent Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech, and then went to Exeter College, Oxford, to read English, though I never learned to read it very well.
"I found my way into the teaching profession at the age of 25, and taught...more
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