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The story begins when Lyra Belacqua—an orphaned, eleven year old girl residing at Jordan College—secretly enters the Retiring Room, despite resistance from her dæmon, Pantalaimon; an animal-formed, shape-shifting manifestation of her soul. Inside the room, they see the Master of Jordan College attempt to poison Lord Asriel, Lyras uncle. Lord Asriel goes north, & Lyra continues with her normal life. However, before long her friend Roger is kidnapped by the Gobblers. Lyra vows to rescue him. A visiting woman of great importance Mrs. Coulter offers to take Lyra away from Jordan College to become her apprentice. Lyra assents, but before she leaves is entrusted with a priceless object by the Master of the College: an alethiometer. Resembling a golden compass, it is a device able to reveal the answer to any question asked by the user. Lyra takes it with her to Mrs Coulter's flat. Before long, Lyra becomes suspicious of Mrs. Coulters motives when Mrs Coulters dæmon searches Lyras room for the alethiometer. At a party hosted by Mrs. Coulter, Lyra discovers that Mrs. Coulter is the head of a church organization known as the General Oblation Board & that this board is in fact the Gobblers who have been kidnapping children. The horror of this discovery causes Lyra to take advantage of the hubbub of the party to flee Mrs. Coulters flat. After fleeing the flat she is rescued by the Gyptians a group of nomadic canal-boat-dwelling people, who afterwards reveal that Lord Asriel & Mrs Coulter are none other than Lyras father & mother. She also learns that many children like Roger have been disappearing from among the Gyptians & that the Gyptians are planning an expedition to the north to rescue the missing children. Lyra discovers that the children kidnapped by the Gobblers are having their dæmons cut away from them in experiments. Lyras is atacked & taken to the experimentation facility in Bolvangar. There she locates Roger & builds up a plan of escape but gets caught trying to flee. Lyra once again comes across Mrs Coulter who is trying to steal the alethiometer. Lyra is rescued by Lee Scoresby an aeronaut who is under the hire of the Gyptians in his hot air balloon, who also takes Roger & an armoured bear called Iorek Byrnison with him. Iorek is an exiled prince of the armoured bears of whose culture he is a perfect example. Now Lyra has found Roger she wishes to deliver the alethiometer to Lord Asriel who is imprisoned at Svalbard the fortress of the armoured bears because of his experiments on Dust which the Church opposes. On their way to Svalbard the balloon is attacked by cliff-ghasts, & Lyra gets thrown out although managing to land safely. She is then captured by the armoured bears but manages to trick the usurping bear-king Iofur Raknison into allowing Iorek Byrnison to restore his throne. Despite being imprisoned Lord Asriel has managed to continue his experiments on Dust. After explaining the nature of Dust which is an emanation from another world (ours) & the existence of parallel universes to Lyra he takes Roger along with him into the snowy distance. Once Lyra realizes what has happened she pursues & beats Mrs Coulters soldiers to him only to arrive too late to save Roger who is killed when Lord Asriel separates him from his dæmon. This act releases an enormous amount of energy which tears a hole through the sky into a parallel world. Lord Asriel walks through into the new world; on the advice of Pantalaimon, Lyra decides to follow him.Read full review
I read these books a few years ago after the "Harry Potter craze" and was told that they would fill the void while waiting for the next installment. I think I was able to read all three of the books in a week or so. Definitely great easy reads for children and adults alike. Intriguing storyline also, for the kids it is more of a child's epic adventure into the unknown and a test to see just how far a friend will go for another. Adults will see a different type of subject matter as Phillip Pullman talks about how religion, politics, and the establishment are no match for people who are trying to find truth and knowledge. Intriguing books from beginning to end.
I bought this book because of the new movie coming out soon, and always like to read the book before I see the movie. Even though The Golden Compass is marketed to young adults, and I am in my mid 50's, I really loved this book! Great adventure, I just couldn't put it down. A wonderful book from age 8 to 108! It is an inventive fantasy one just can't put down for a second. A must read! I would recommned this book full of magic and adventure to anyone.
A rich adventure series for kids ages 9 and up. First in the Dark Materials Trilogy. Very fast-paced and full of heart-pounding thrills. I personally have read it cover to cover and enjoyed the story till the end...when I discovered the secret. **Caution** For parents who monitor their children's reading matter, this might be too scary, or might go against certain religious beliefs. I myself was a little disturbed. This does not reflect on the author's writing style, I just think it a bit too mature for children.**2 stars
This is the first book in His Dark Materials Trilogy. I loved everthing about this book! Pullman holds nothing back in this series! If you loved the Harry Potter books than this is a must read. The adventure that follows Lyra and her Daemon is nothing but magical! I don't want to spoil anything about this novel, because it is just that good. It is one that i will go back and enjoy many many times! A Class A book!
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