The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) in read with Marines

Nov 29, 2015 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Far, far better than the movie (duh) I actually enjoyed this more this time around than I did the first time I read it! I'm excited to keep on with the second and third book, as this one left off on such a good cliffhanger. And while I thought the conversation between Lee Scorsby and Serrafina Pekkala was a bit on the long (read:: boring) side, every other part of this book was so enthralling. I love the interplay between science and religion and mythology, and I think teasing out the other thre ...more

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Apr 25, 2019 Karen marked it as dnf-2016-onward

I've tried to read this a couple times. This time I'm dnf-ing at 17%. I don't know... I really want to read this series and like it but I just struggle with it. I have heard so many times that it's a slow start but for someone who barely ventures into fantasy, I just don't know if I'm going to ever get past the first half. I'd like to pick it up again someday but I'll shelve it as dnf for now because that feels the most honest. ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 Gabrielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-books-ever

Watch my full video review here! https://youtu.be/295WlJHaLeY

I am soooooooo excited for the His Dark Materials BBC adaptation, I can only hope they do the series more justice than the movie did. So, because I’m so excited and it’s been a while since I read the series, I’m doing a deep dive talking about all three original books, plus The Book of Dust.

I highly recommend you watch my video review of it if you’ve already read this book and want to deep dive in to the lore and plot of the series wi Watch my full video review here! https://youtu.be/295WlJHaLeY

I am soooooooo excited for the His Dark Materials BBC adaptation, I can only hope they do the series more justice than the movie did. So, because I’m so excited and it’s been a while since I read the series, I’m doing a deep dive talking about all three original books, plus The Book of Dust.

I highly recommend you watch my video review of it if you’ve already read this book and want to deep dive in to the lore and plot of the series with me: https://youtu.be/295WlJHaLeY

So, first up, we have The Golden Compass, also published as Northern Lights.

I’m going with the cons first, because there are very, very few of them in my opinion.

Cons:
Roger’s character. Roger is said to be Lyra’s truest and best friend. And yet, as a character, we know literally almost nothing about him. Nothing, except his devotion to Lyra and that he was a kitchen boy. For someone who is supposed to be so important to Lyra, we’re ultimately left with little impression of him.
Another con here is that the pacing can be a little inconsistent, mostly at the beginning. We start with a really interesting, mysterious scene, and then have to wait for the action to pick up again a few chapters later in the book.

Pros: These, I have so many of. Okay, so world building? Fantastic. One of the absolute BEST things about this world is the daemons. Having a physical animal representation of your soul that can interact with you and others in your world, help you make decisions, point out observations? That’s absolutely amazing and it definitely makes us more connected with the characters, because really who doesn’t love animals?

Plus, some of the most emotionally impactful moments and the most important revelations happen through the daemon interactions in this world, and I’m just blown away by their creation in general.

Lyra herself is such a great character. She’s not a good person, in any way, but she uses her “negative qualities” to accomplish good things. She’s selfish and arrogant, a liar and a manipulator, but she uses these things to help her friends and those she sees in danger. She was another one of my favorite parts of the entire novel.

Overall, I could go on and on about this book( and in my video, I definitely did),but I think I can get away with saying that if you have not read it yet, you definitely need to. 5/5 Stars.
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Jan 14, 2015 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2015-read

There's something about Northern Lights that makes it just so compellingly readable. The mix of familiar and unfamiliar marks it somewhere between adventure and fantasy but the world-building Pullman does in the opening chapters is so rich and real that it's hard not to imagine Jordan College existing except for in this trilogy.

I read this when I was younger and quite possibly did not appreciate half as much as I did on this re-read. This time round I particularly loved the way the book conside ...more

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Jan 08, 2016 Dana rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

Something about this narration style took me a while to sink into; it probably is great for children, but it ended up feeling a little patronizing to me at times. The end felt rushed, and I'm not sure that it was clear enough in what happened for a children's book. But, also, I am a little confused what age is the targeted age. It seems that 10-12 would be perfect because that's right around Lyra's age, but one of the key concepts was compared to imaginary numbers in math. I remember being one o ...more

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May 25, 2016 Nicole Sweeney rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Forever favorite. I might have reread thoughts later but probably I will forget.

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Nov 01, 2016 Lia rated it it was ok

Another Meh.

Narnia, LOTR derivative nonsense.

So many other, better fantasy epics for the young reader.
Very twee.

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Mar 16, 2016 Joan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

May 2019 reread: I remember flying through this book when I first read it in 2013. This time around was slower going, maybe because I already knew what was going to happen? As always, blown away by Pullman’s genius.

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