His Dark Materials Trilogy
Written in 1995, The Northern Lights is the first installment of His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman.
It is the inspiration behind the film "The Golden Compass" and has also spawned a series from the BBC "His Dark Materials" the book itself claimed the Carnegie Award in the year it was written and In June 2007 it was voted, - in an online poll - as the best Carnegie Medal winner in the 70 year history of the award!!
The "Carnegie of Carnegies," if you will.
– I find that to be rather fantastic, personally. –
It's set in a parallel world, similar to ours but different in many ways – you know, like a red crayon and a purple crayon aren't orange crayons but they're still crayons. – A world where colossal zeppelins fill the skyline, witches fly upon broomsticks, and huge armoured bears known as Panserbjørn rule the frozen tundra of the North and human souls manifest as a living, breathing, shape-shifting – until children reach adolescence - animals known as a “Dæmons.”
(I regularly find myself wishing Dæmons existed in our world. Oh, how wonderful it would be!)
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It follows the adventures of 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua and her Dæmon, Pantalaimon through the streets of Oxford, Brytain – this is not a typographical error – where she had been granted Scholastic Sanctuary when she was no more than a few months old at the request of her father to the Master of Jordan College and taught intermittently by the scholars who reside therein ever since.
She’s a half-wild, carefree child whose favourite past-times are clambering over the rooftops of Jordan College with her friend Roger, the kitchen boy to spit plum-stones at the heads of passing scholars, or diving in to the sprawling Labyrinth underneath the College, waging war with the children of Oxford, whether that be in the form of fighting members of other collages, calling a truce with the “collagers” to fight against the “townies,” harassing the clay-burner children by pelting them with lumps of clay or commandeering the “gyptians” canal boats to discover the location of its bung to watch it sink in the canal.
(Oh, what a beautifully care-free life she lives!)
However, one of the greatest and most beautiful ironies of life is that one of its few constants is change and were she to live a carefree life to the end of her days, then this book would not exist!
Lyra’s life is quickly turned upside down with wonderous and terrifying chains of events that begin with a visit by her Uncle Asriel to Jordan College. He has come to acquire funding for an expedition to the Northern Lights to discover the source of the mysterious elementary Rusakov particles associated with consciousness – commonly referred to as “Dust” – and possibly to uncover a gateway to another world.
(How very exciting! I imagine few would not be instantaneously enthralled at the concept of potentially being able to visit another world – outside of our capacity to do so through books and games. –)
Lyra then meets the stunning, charismatic, and empowered woman Mrs. Coulter and her Dæmon - permanently settled in the form of a Golden Monkey - who is able to enthral entire rooms with her presence alone.
(What a super-power this is!)
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After an evening of conversation with Mrs. Coulter propositions Lyra to live with her, where she will be introduced to the high society living, the etiquette of being a young woman, as well as learning Navigation and Mathematics in preparation for their journey to the North.
Completely enthralled by Mrs. Coulter’s powerful presence and fantastical stories, Lyra readily accepts without hesitation.
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On the morning she is set to leave with Mrs. Coulter, the Master of Jordan College secretly summons Lyra to his office and imparts a rare and valuable item called an Alethiometer with strict instruction to never, under any circumstance, allow Mrs. Coulter to become aware of her possession of it. – Why would this be, one must wonder? –
Over time, Lyra realizes there’s more to Mrs. Coulter than meets the eye, perpetual walls come up around her, preventing Lyra’s quest to discover more about “Dust” and her childhood friend Roger suddenly goes missing, along with many other children from around London.
This convinces Lyra that all these events are inextricably linked and, as such, makes her decision to escape from the lavish high society lifestyle and find a way – ANY way – of reaching the North to discover the truth of “Dust,” her origins, and the reasons behind the terrifying, child-stealing “Gobblers!”
This trilogy is, by far, my absolute favourite series of books. It captured my imagination when I was in my early teens and I have returned to read it innumerable times since.
It’s a rich and vibrant world full of fantastic characters, thought provoking theories and wondrous interactions.
It is one of the few stories that has brought me to tears on multiple occasion and ever since I read them for the first time, I regularly find myself fantasising as to how life would be if merely a fraction of the wonders within this world existed in our own.
It was written for children but even as an adult, the way in which it’s written along with the smooth flow of events, it will undoubtedly ensorcell readers of all ages.
Will Parry, is a young boy residing in Oxford whilst caring for his ailing mother.
His life is suddenly turned upside down as a number of 'men in black' who seem to be searching for some letters sent from his missing explorer father, - who has not been seen or heard from for many years, - has him in their sights and will seemingly stop at nothing to capture him.
(How terrifying this must be for the young man. I know even now in my somewhat advanced age, this would certainly shake me to my very foundations.)
They break into Will's home, and Will unintentionally kills one of the agents!
(Though accidental, considering the difference in age, this is quite the impressive feat!)
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Will decides he must now leave his home and try to find his father in order to ensure the safety of his mother and hopefully clear his name.
Will entrusts the care of his mother to his piano teacher and ventures off to find his father, it is not too long before he inadvertently stumbles upon a "window" to another world.
(My goodness, what an exciting and suddenly unexpected turn of events! I do hope his mother will be safe and sound.)
Will finds himself in the city of Cittigazze he instantaneously notices something strange about this place, with the exception of a wild band of children who talk of spectres chasing away the adults, the entire city is deserted.
It is here he meets the protagonist of The Northern Lights, Lyra Belacqua, who has traveled through the window from her world.
(What a stroke of luck!)
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Lyra's Althiometer has been stolen and has been tasked with the retrieval of an item known as the "Subtle Knife" in order to reacquire the Alethiometer.
It quickly becomes evident their meeting is more than mere coincidence as the Subtle Knife comes in to their possession and holds the power to allow its wielder to travel between worlds.
(Oh! How I would love the ability to visit new worlds! What I would give to have the Subtle Knife, though the trade-off for claiming ownership is somewhat disagreeable to me, given my affinity for musical instruments.)
Will and Lyra agree to work in tandem in an attempt to find Will's father to correct the troubles in Will's world and help his mother.
Mrs Coulter, however, has other plans and is Hell bent on Lyra's destruction.
(What a caring woman Mrs. Coulter is!)
With Witches and Angels now also involved, Will and Lyra move forward together on this dangerously perilous quest.
Lyra's character continues to develop throughout the book with Will her side, whom Lyra admires and looks up to - though she would not EVER voice this. -
Lyra at first is repulsed by our friend Will, as he comes from our world, where you can not see a persons Dæmon.
But Mr.Pullman cleverly highlights within the book that, though we might not be able to see our Dæmon in our world, we all undoubtedly have one.
(Oh, I would love to see my Dæmon! I do wonder to which form it would have settled, as their settled form is the truest representation of our character and soul.)
Mrs Coulter continues her cold-hearted crusade and will stop at nothing to bring about young Lyra's downfall.
Trusty Iorek Byrnison and our charismatic Lee Scorsby make appearances, as their antics are smoothly woven into the plot, whilst Will and Lyra hop from one world to another.
(I do rather appreciate what Mr. Pullman has achieved here, as he has ensured that, even though the characters are - literally - worlds apart, their lives and adventures remain linked. It's very clever, and quite beautiful for is it not true that we are forever connected to those with whom we share a part of our lives, however briefly?)
There are instances of grief in this book, it deals with many aspects of emotional turmoil which serves to make story richer and more absorbing as a result.
(I cannot count the amount of times this book also brought me to tears.)
The Subtle Knife is the second book in the 'His Dark Materials' Trilogy and introduces a new character from our world.
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Will Parry, is a young boy residing in Oxford whilst caring for his ailing mother.
His life is suddenly turned upside down as a number of 'men in black' who seem to be searching for some letters sent from his missing explorer father, - who has not been seen or heard from for many years, - has him in their sights and will seemingly stop at nothing to capture him.
(How terrifying this must be for the young man. I know even now in my somewhat advanced age, this would certainly shake me to my very foundations.)
They break into Will's home, and Will unintentionally kills one of the agents!
(Though accidental, considering the difference in age, this is quite the impressive feat!)
This is the second book in the 'His Dark Materials' Trilogy and introduces a new character from our world.
The final and fantastic finalé to the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, The Amber Spyglass is the winner 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year award, the first time that such an award has been bestowed on a book from their "children's literature" category.
- How truly wonderful is that! Well done, Mr. Pullman. -
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The Amber Spyglass ingeniously amalgamates elements of religion such as Original Sin, God and the After Life with multiple scientific elements such as Quantum Physics and Chaos Theory with ideas of theology such as the human race being the creator of its own destiny and ultimately, therefore, we are the architects of our own destruction.
(I could not put this book down, and the cataclysmic finale was so heart-wrenching it had me in tears for days each time my mind returned to the story.)
Lyra is tasked with the potentially lethal journey to Land of the Dead to save her good friend from the first book Roger, the kitchen boy.
However, it falls upon our good ol' friend Will to rescue Lyra from Mrs Coulter's icy grasp.
Iorek Byrnison once again makes an appearance to aid our beloved protagonists whilst Lord Asriel wages war against "The Authority" that has somehow fallen under the control of the Angel Metatron.
(My goodness, how convoluted this plot has become! Though the previous books were full of excitement, wonder and peril. Mr. Pullman has managed to "turn it up to 11" in this final installment.)
The Magisterium has completely lost Faith in Mrs Coulter's ability and, after being arrested by them, she chooses to assist Lord Asriel in his crusade to bring down the Church in order to preserve the truth of our mysterious elementary particle, "Dust."
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Mary Malone - a scientist from our world - is recruited by Lyra to aid in her quest to discover the meaning of Dust.
She travels through the original window Will found in The Subtle Knife, and after a long and arduous journey, enters in to the land of the Mulefa.
(Mulefa - or Zalif as for a singular creature - were one of my absolute favorite aspects of this book. They're a sentient species that use seed pods as wheels and are able to see Dust without the aid of any technological devices.)
Mary Malone creates a telescope from tree resin and bark which allows anyone looking through it to see Dust. Through her ingenuity, the Amber Spyglass is born!
(Good on you, Mary Malone!)
Through the use of the Amber Spyglass, Mary Malone comes to a disturbing revelation about the state of Dust and its connection to all worlds.
(Whatever could this realization be, I wonder?)
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Philip Pullman did an absolutely phenomenal job tying the story together over the course of this trilogy and the final events of the book are thrilling, heartbreaking, wondrous and memorable.
When I left school, I had absolutely no interest in reading as a result of being "forced" to read books throughout my school life. Being made to read books in which I had no interest almost fully suffocated the fire I had for literature.
I do not recall what it was that inspired me to begin reading this series of books, but I am so glad I did, for His Dark Materials fed the dying embers of that fire and transformed it in to a raging inferno.
I have read innumerable books since, but I always find myself drawn back to reading these books, and they feed my imagination to this day.
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As such, whenever someone asks me for a recommendation pertaining to books, His Dark Materials are the ones I would suggest first without hesitation, every single time.
