His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass [Hardcover]

Philip Pullman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2000

The only hardcover omnibus of the best-selling and award-winning fantasy trilogy, in a Contemporary Classics edition.
 
Philip Pullman's trilogy is a masterpiece that transcends genre and appeals to readers of all ages. His heroine, Lyra, is an orphan living in a parallel universe in which science, theology, and magic are entwined. The epic story that takes us through the three novels is not only a spellbinding adventure featuring armored polar bears, magical devices, witches, and daemons, it is also an audacious and profound reimagining of Milton's Paradise Lost that has already inspired a number of serious books of literary criticism. Like J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis before him, Pullman has invented a richly detailed and marvelously imagined world, complex and thought-provoking enough to enthrall adults as well as younger readers. An utterly entrancing blend of metaphysical speculation and bravura storytelling, His Dark Materials is a monumental and enduring achievement.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

PHILIP PULLMAN was born in England in 1946. The author of numerous books, he was included by The Times (London) on its 2008 list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface

I began to write this novel with little sense of the plot, even less notion of the theme, and only the vaguest idea of the characters. I'm convinced that that's the way to do it. I tried to work out the plan of a novel once, when I was young, ahead of writing it. It was an excellent plan. It took me months and covered page after page, and in the end I was so fed up with the damn thing I threw it away and started a quite different novel with no preparation at all, which came out much better. I suppose these things are partly temperamental; I know that some excellent writers make a great thing of planning every book before they write it; but it doesn't work for me.

One thing such a technique prevents is what I think every long book must have if I'm not to go mad writing it, and that's the element of surprise. I had no idea what Iorek Byrnison, the armoured bear, would say when Lyra first came face to face with him. His vulnerability to strong drink was a huge surprise. I knew there was going to be a boy called Will, but his reason for running away and thus meeting Lyra was a complete mystery to me until it happened. As for Lee Scoresby, I was as ignorant of his existence as the gyptians themselves the sentence before he turned up. These surprises are pleasant and exciting; they feel like a kind of reward. If I knew they were coming I wouldn't enjoy them at all.

In the first sentence above, I mentioned something I called the theme. By that I mean what the book is about, in some fundamental sense. I've heard that some writers decide on a theme first, and then make up some characters and a plot to exemplify it. They seem to get on all right, but again, it wouldn't work for me. A book, especially a long book like His Dark Materials, has to have some sort of theme, or else you'll be working for a long time (this story took me seven years) in a moral vacuum. But that doesn't mean you have to decide what the theme is. If you're working as seriously as you know how to, for a matter of years, then a theme will emerge whether you want it to or not. It'll be something you think very important. It might be the most important thing you know. Once you know what it is, you can shape the story more precisely to help it show up, but it's a mistake to rely on the theme to lead the story for you. I think I did that in a couple of places in this book, and it's the worse for it. But there we are, we're never too old to learn. Next time I shall remember: the story should lead, and the theme will emerge in its own time and its own way. Besides, if you want to write something perfect, write a haiku. Anything longer is bound to have a few passages that don't work as well as they might.

So here is a story that was the best I could do at the time, written with all the power and all the love I had, about the things I think most important in the world. I think it was worth writing. I hope you think it's worth reading.

Philip Pullman --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 740 pages
• Publisher: Science Fiction Book Club (2000)
• ISBN-10: 073941335X
• ISBN-13: 978-0739413357
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,067,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute best., January 18, 2008

By 

Stephen Thoemmes "All sins are just efforts t... (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass (Hardcover)

The finest piece of work I've read in 40 years. I, at first, had no idea what the author was talking about. Then the lightbulb turned on. It totally captivated me and had me in its thrall. I cannot compare it to Tolkein or LeGuin as it came from a totally unique perspective. Comparisons fail as to works of art. We only add our own perspectives and prejudices. As said in interviews with the author, this is a story of children moving from innocence to experience.

4 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for children - sexuality and plans to kill God, June 23, 2011

By 

S. Smith "Homeschool Mom" (Burlington, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass (Hardcover)

This series was designed to cast doubt in a person's faith in God. It also contains child sexuality and homosexuality.

Book one is also a movie. The movie was far more tame than the book. The series is well written to draw the reader in and then you realize his agenda. The second book introduces the plan to kill God who the series claims is actually an angel but since he was the first one formed he tried to control all of the others. There is sexuality in the series as well. Two important angel characters are homosexual and it mentions multiple times how in love they are (in books 2 & 3) and then in book 3 the two children mature and begin making out and fondling etc. Their love making saves the planet they are on at the time by creating more "Dust" the particles with intelligence. Watching the movie with fuzzy bears did not represent what these books are really about. I am so glad I got them from the library and read them first. My young kids will not be reading them. This series is for older teens & adults (and only those who are secure in their beliefs). Gifted youngsters who read at higher levels should avoid this book series.