A review by beatsbybeard
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
4.0
Reread in anticipation of the HBO adaptation coming out in a few months. The plotting is a little clumsy and slapdash – which the author cops to in the preface of the edition I have, stating that he let the plot unfold as it came to him and mostly without premeditation – but the world he built is fascinating.
Some of my favorite components:
– everyone has a dæmon, an animal companion that physically represents the person's character and emotional state and can change form until the person hits puberty
– Dust, the mysterious force that this universe's church believes to be original sin
– multiple universes, including our own, that can be reached from this fictional one
I love that this book ends with tragedy. It's the first of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and the author always intended it to be one story told in three volumes rather than three separate books. You get your feet just wet enough in the lore, meet some interesting characters, and then the rug gets pulled out. Looking forward to rereading the next two!
Some of my favorite components:
– everyone has a dæmon, an animal companion that physically represents the person's character and emotional state and can change form until the person hits puberty
– Dust, the mysterious force that this universe's church believes to be original sin
– multiple universes, including our own, that can be reached from this fictional one
I love that this book ends with tragedy. It's the first of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and the author always intended it to be one story told in three volumes rather than three separate books. You get your feet just wet enough in the lore, meet some interesting characters, and then the rug gets pulled out. Looking forward to rereading the next two!