Paperback, 397 pages
English language
Published Sept. 13, 2007 by Scholastic.
Philip Pullman has created a fantasy world, where demons swoop and scuttle along the streets of London and Oxford, where the mysterious Dust swirls invisibly through the air, and where only one child knows secrets the adults would kill for.
не знаю, не вразило, м'яко кажучи.
This was okay as far as classic YA fantasy goes. I guess I was expecting it to blow my socks off. I'm intrigued about the rest of the series, but I'll have to think about whether I want to continue with it.
i can't believe roger died!?!! i'm so MAD
minus one star for ROGER D Y I N G
A reread for me.
Enjoyed it as much as I did as a child, if not more.
I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, and finally got the nudge I needed in the form of the upcoming HBO/BBC series. (I saw the Nicole Kidman movie when it was newish but it didn't do much for me.)
Overall, it's hard for me to get past my biggest issue with this book. As we follow Lyra through the story, we're apparently meant to believe Lord Asriel is a "Good Guy," or at least more so than the creepy Mrs. Coulter woman , then be surprised to find out that's not the case. But the name of the series is "HIS Dark Materials," so who tf else's materials are we supposed to think that's referring to? The mystery, the surprise, the very plot twist that the story DEPENDS ON - the climax? The big revelation? - POOF! Gone. Spoiled because of the TITLE.
I enjoyed the …
I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, and finally got the nudge I needed in the form of the upcoming HBO/BBC series. (I saw the Nicole Kidman movie when it was newish but it didn't do much for me.)
Overall, it's hard for me to get past my biggest issue with this book. As we follow Lyra through the story, we're apparently meant to believe Lord Asriel is a "Good Guy," or at least more so than the creepy Mrs. Coulter woman , then be surprised to find out that's not the case. But the name of the series is "HIS Dark Materials," so who tf else's materials are we supposed to think that's referring to? The mystery, the surprise, the very plot twist that the story DEPENDS ON - the climax? The big revelation? - POOF! Gone. Spoiled because of the TITLE.
I enjoyed the book, but I didn't find it un-put-down-able. The ideas are interesting, the storyline is intriguing. The storytelling is good, the writing is great, though a bit more worldbuilding might be nice. I found some of the characters fascinating, but oddly, not the protagonist. I like that the author doesn't shy away from somewhat graphic scenes.
I intend to read the rest of the series, though I don't feel compelled to jump into them immediately. Thankfully, my issue with this book won't carry over into the others.
BTW, readers sensitive to suffering of children or animals should be aware some scenes might be troublesome.
Good beginning to a captivating story and world.
I confess to not entirely understanding what is going on, and to not entirely caring for the fate of the main character, but seeing as how it ends on a cliffhanger, I just have to keep going.
All I remember is intelligent armored polar bears. I could not pay attention to the story with the ridiculous and awesome world building going on.
[re-post from my old blog]
I figured any book written by a proud and public atheist was worth trying, especially given the movie hype. It started off badly for me, as it introduced several fantasy memes that I just can't stand, like a child everyone prophesies about and a mistakenly overheard conversation. It got a little better and wasn't awful, I guess. I'm not sure what all the anti-religious brouhaha was all about - it isn't the first fantasy book where the controlling religion is pretty awful.
The milieu was pretty eclectic, to say the least. I was happy he didn't spend pages of exposition explaining every little detail, as I find those mind numbing as well. Talking armored polar bears are a little extreme though! And I surely got tired of the "get captured" plot device, as the girl in question must have gotten grabbed five or six times …
[re-post from my old blog]
I figured any book written by a proud and public atheist was worth trying, especially given the movie hype. It started off badly for me, as it introduced several fantasy memes that I just can't stand, like a child everyone prophesies about and a mistakenly overheard conversation. It got a little better and wasn't awful, I guess. I'm not sure what all the anti-religious brouhaha was all about - it isn't the first fantasy book where the controlling religion is pretty awful.
The milieu was pretty eclectic, to say the least. I was happy he didn't spend pages of exposition explaining every little detail, as I find those mind numbing as well. Talking armored polar bears are a little extreme though! And I surely got tired of the "get captured" plot device, as the girl in question must have gotten grabbed five or six times in order to move the plot along. But I did finish it, which is more than I can say for most fantasy novels these days. And I probably will try the next in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.
note: I am reviewing this as a book, rather than a kids' book, which I am not convinced that it is.
This is not a good book. I struggled to finish, if only to watch the film without a lingering sense of unaccomplishment.
I have heard much about the "genius" of this book. True, it is an interesting conceit, with some compelling angles. However, the language is almost unreadable, with sentences that contradict their own premises with staggering consistency. The plot "twists" are contrived and unsatisfying.
There is one line in this book that was worth the dime store paper that it was printed on. I'll leave that to you, if you dare.
I was recommended the His Dark Materials series by my sister, and I enjoyed the first of the series a lot, and read it in a day. Pullman crafts an imaginative world with armored talking mercenary bears and animals called daemons that accompany each human. This is just good fun fantasy at it's best, somewhere between the compelling plot-line of Harry Potter and the imaginative descriptiveness of Lord of the Rings.
It was slow for me to get into. If I'd followed my 60 page rule, I would have put this down. However, I had heard such good things about it that I did not want to stop just because it was very slow. After such a slow beginning, my reading time contracted to nearly nothing and it took me over one month to read this book. At the time, that was an extraordinarily long time for me to read a book.
In the end, I'm not sure if I liked it that much. Certainly, this is not an easy read. I usually enjoy dark books, and while "violence" to children bothers me, I can tolerate it for the furthering of the plot. Someone is either going to love this book or hate it. I am undecided on which for myself.
I have tried and failed to get through this several times now.
This series is incredible and it is a crying shame that the religious right shut down the movie series productions.
