His Dark Materials 3-Book Paperback Boxed Set: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass

I read these books a long time ago, and thoroughly enjoyed them. When i saw the released as i set, i thought they'd be perfect for my daughter (10 yrs old) to read. I won't go into the story too much, because if you are interested, just read it - its fabulous. I don;t want to spoil it for you :) But in short, it's about a girl called Lyra, and her unusual world. If you or your children liked reading books like Harry Potter, and Narnia books, then this is along those lines, but just slightly older. One huge word of warning though - if you give this to anyone, or read it for yourself, DO NOT READ THE FOREWORD INTRODUCTION!!!! It gives away so much of the story in the first few pages, its crazy. I couldn't beleive it when my daughter told me what was in it.....such a shame, as it has spoiled several of the surprise events in the books. The books themselves get a solid 5 stars - they are a great read, and a fantastic page turner, each chapter enticing you to read on ....and on.....and on! The book itself feels solid in hardback, and a joy to hold and flick through. Highly recommended to children of capable reading abilities, aged perhaps 10 years and older, and for any adults who like to dip into magical worlds every now and again :)

I have to admit that I was horribly late in getting around to reading Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy and it wasn't until after watching a TV program where he was speaking about his books and influences that I realised that I had to finally get around to reading them. Rather handily, I received Amazon vouchers for my birthday so I had a rummage around for a good hardback set of the three books and found this one, which looked to be exactly what I was looking for. The book itself is magnificent - beautiful to look at, pleasingly heavy and incredibly high quality. It's printed on very thin paper in small-than-usual text too, so for those of you that don't have the best eyesight, this may present a problem - but for anyone else this is a definite must-purchase if you're a fan of well-written fantasy. Thinking that these were going to be very much in a similar vein to the likes of J.K Rowling's 'Harry Potter' books, I started off reading the first book, expecting similar themes and tropes, but I don't think I could have been any more wrong. In fact, right off the bat it's clear that this is a much darker, more violent and sinister world than anything in the Potterverse - and it really surprises me that these are considered to be 'kids' books as some of the events in them are pretty gruesome and surprisingly mature. I'm not going to delve into the plot, but suffice to say that Philip Pullman's imagination is amazing and the world he's created in these books is fully realised and rich with originality and intrigue, and it's definitely a series of books that will keep you briskly page-turning right until the end. Love it! UPDATE: I sort of wrote this review before I had finished reading the book all the way through, so it is with a heavy heart that I say that although I loved the first book and enjoyed the second one, the third one is not of the same quality. It definitely has its moments, but any positive thoughts I had about the series evaporated in a puff of smoke after experiencing the saccharine, nauseating conclusion, which nearly had me blowing chunks on this book's pages.

His Dark Materials is a significant literary achievement. It is some way from perfection, but when it succeeds it does so massively. When it fails it is more often than not the result of forgiveable over-ambitiousness. It has rightly come to be seen as a young person's classic and a work which can stand alongside the two other great Oxford fantasies, set in Middle Earth and Narnia. The first book, the Northern Lights, tells the story of Lyra, who has been brought up in an Oxford college in a parallel world. This is a universe where part of everybody's nature is externalised, and embodied in an animal daemon. As a child, Lyra's daemon is constantly changing, in contrast to the fixed daemons of adults. Subject to the benign neglect of the scholars of Jordan College, Lyra is virtually feral, roaming at will around the college and its environs, constantly fighting with different groups of children. She is only tamed by the occasional visits of her "uncle" Lord Asriel, a famous explorer. Lyra's world starts to change when she learns about Asriel's search for Dust, a mysterious elemental particle which falls from northern skies. His search is seen as heretical by an oppressive, unreformed church. Then children start to disappear, snatched by the mysterious Gobblers. Lyra is, however, removed from danger by the arrival of her glamorous mother, Mrs Coulter, who takes her away to a seemingly civilising life in high London society. However, when a link between Mrs Coulter and the Gobblers is revealed, Lyra runs away into the arms of the Gyptians, benevolent travellers on the nation's waterways. What follows is a fantastical chase to the arctic to rescue missing children and uncover Asriel's secret work. It is a chase involving witches, a ballon borne aeronaut, armour clad polar bears, evil scientists and the malign influence of the church. For me, Northern Lights is the best of the trilogy. It is a tightly plotted action fantasy where Pullman uses his story to illustrate his magical world. He is a supremely visual writer, creating pictures which remain as after images long after the book is closed, but in doing so he manages not to put any brake on the momentum of his plot. The world he creates is marvellous, with daemons, and armoured bears being particularly wonderful inventions. The whole thing has a kind of steam punk aesthetic, this is a world of dark wood and shiny brass, where Zeppelins cross the sky. The beginning of the second book, the Subtle Knife, almost feels like a disappointment. Having created such a marvellous canvas against which Lyra's tale is told, Pullman pitches the reader straight back into our own world. Will, like Lyra, lives in Oxford, but his is a mundanely frightening existence. His father, another explorer, disappeared shortly after Will was born, and Will is left caring for his mentally ill mother. Will's ...

One of the most famous and beloved fantasy book trilogies you can think of. One that has been tried to adapt into a movie, but it failed, as some things (okay, most things!) are probably best left in book form. It’s so epic, I can only compare it to Harry Potter. If you haven’t read it yet, let me see if I can remedy that! ★★★★★ Endless number of stars His Dark Materials is a sweeping epic that tells of a story bigger than you can imagine, but it’s also a story told through the smallest characters – a story of a world, the fate of which lies in the hands of children. In a way, it’s all about the fight between good and evil, wisdom and darkness, but not in your usual fantasy sense. This is more philosophical than you might have expected it to be, but it’s also so imaginative, so full of adventure and unbelievable details, that you’ll never get bogged down with any of the philosophy. It’s a series that you can eat through a week – no matter how long the books actually are. You won’t sleep, if you have to. Reason #1. Don’t You Just Wish Your Cat Was Your Daemon?? Daemons are talking animals that are… curiously, they’re part of you. They’re kind of your spirit animal, which also makes up part of your soul. It’s incredibly interesting, cute, and it goes so well with the story! You can talk to it, it will help you and defend you, and even if you’re utterly and completely alone, it will be your companion. It’s likely that by the end of the series, you will find yourself trying to figure out what your daemon would look like. Or maybe even does look like. (more on why I say that – in the actual book!) Reason #2. There Are Wonders And Mysteries Obviously, it wouldn’t be cool if I just gave it away to you, now would it. But let me just tell you that there are worlds to explore. That there are reasons the entire world is falling, and you need to find them out. And the reasons are all pretty grand as well. It’s not your typical overused YA tropes either, for example – oh, this or that super power has just decided to thwart the main character and their family, and you need a special snowflake to fix it. No, it’s far better than that! That said, the main character (who is a little girl) IS special, and she’s IS key to the saving of the world, but she’s no special snowflake. We’re getting to that in the next point. Reason #3. The Characters Have Flaws, They’re Not Perfect Having imperfect characters is great! Especially so, because it prevents the aforementioned ‘special snowflake’ syndrome. The main female character, Lyra, is as flawed as can be – she lies, she’s not loyal, she’s subject to other people’s manipulation. She is also ridiculously dramatic, and it’s maintained throughout the entire series in the way she talks (I specifically loved that!). The main male character Will is also a great character. He’s...

Do you love adventures and dreaming of other places out there somewhere? If so you will love these books. Philip Pullman does a great job of drawing the reader in and keeping there attention. This series was just as big if not bigger in England than what Harry Potter was in the United States. There are some similarities as far as based in the same lands and has lots of magic concepts within the pages.