Rereading: THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman

Cover art by Eric Rohmann

I bought and read this when It was first published in 1996, having never read anything by Pullman, and I loved it so much I sought out and read all the other books of his published before it.

Lyra Belacqua is a pre-teen girl living in Oxford at Jordan College, but her Oxford and her world are different from ours. The most obvious difference is that every human has an animal companion or familiar from birth to death. These ghostlike creatures can take on a variety of animal shapes until the human reaches adulthood, at which time they become fixed on one form. The person and familiar talk to each other, are best friends, and are somehow linked in a way that they can’t be separated very far apart without causing them great pain. Lyra and her familiar, Pantalaimon, have been left at the college by her Uncle, Lord Asriel, and are being raised collectively by the staff and instructors, she doesn’t know why, nor does she much care, as her life is full of fun and excitement, with just a little learning when the instructors have time. She roams freely about the college and grounds, from the rooftops to the cellars, sometimes with friends like Roger, son of a kitchen worker, and farther afield doing battle with town kids and finding allies in the gyptian children that come to Oxford from time to time.

As the story opens, Lord Asriel is doing a presentation to the headmaster and others that Lyra sneaks into, and it’s about a mysterious substance called Dust, elemental particles that seem to be attracted to people. He is experimenting with it in the frozen north, and needs funding. Some time later, a beautiful and powerful woman, Mrs. Coulter, arrives at the college, and Lyra is immediately attracted to her. Mrs. Coulter offers to take Lyra on as her assistant in London, and Lyra agrees. Before she goes, the Jordan college Master gives her a beautiful object that came from Lord Asriel, an alethiometer. It looks something like a compass, but with several pointers and many strange symbols. Lyra is told to keep it secret, and over time she gradually learns how to read it and use it to answer her questions, and thus find out many helpful things.

At first, Lyra loves the glamorous life she now shares with Mrs. Coulter in London, but even before coming there she had been hearing about children being kidnapped and taken away somewhere by a mysterious group the children called Gobblers. At a party at Mrs. Coulter’s, Lyra accidentally learns that Mrs. Coulter is in charge of this group, and responsible for the kidnappings. Outraged and confused, Lyra escapes with the help of some gyptian friends, and is soon part of an expedition to the frozen north to rescue the kidnapped children. Along the way she becomes friends with an armored bear who joins the group and takes on the role of Lyra’s protector. She will need lots of protection from the many perils of their journey.

This book is excellent in every way, from concept and characters, to plot and execution. I was not as positive about the second and third books of the trilogy, but I’ll be rereading them soon to see if my opinion has changed. Highly recommended.

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