His Dark Materials is an epic trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It tells the story of Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them.
I had heard of this trilogy for some time and all that was said was generally good. So when I saw the second and third books for sale in the Brotherhood of St Laurence second hand shop in Moonee Ponds for $5 each, I snapped them up. So all I needed was the first book to complete the trilogy and I picked that up from an online second hand bookshop. I got through the first book happily (it was a very creative and good storyline) but stalled on the second book as I found I was not really relating to it. It took another 3-4 months of off-on reading to complete the trilogy and I found it a bit disappointing overall, especially the ending.
Over 400,000 Goodreads reviewers give the various books 4+ out of 5. Well, in my case, I would rate it 3 stars, but perhaps I would rate it higher for originality.
Perhaps I am looking at the books from an adult perspective whereas the books are actually written as children's fantasy. I expect that children will read the books with much greater joy.
In 2007, the first book was released as the movie The Golden Compass which I rewatched tonight. an excellent adaptation and a very true reckoning of the story.
