The Golden Compass

His Dark Materials, Book 1

By: Philip Pullman

Narrated by: Philip Pullman, Joanna Wyatt, Rupert Degas, Alison Dowling, Douglas Blackwell, Jill Shilling, Stephen Thorne, Sean Barrett, Garrick Hagon, John O'Connor, Susan Sheridan, Full Cast

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

His Dark Materials is now an HBO original series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James Mcavoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda!

Featuring an exclusive bonus interview between the author, Philip Pullman, and His Dark Materials star Ruth Wilson.

The modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an “All-Time Greatest Novel” and Newsweek hailed as a “Top 100 Book of All Time”.

Philip Pullman takes listeners to a world where humans have animal familiars and where parallel universes are within reach.

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal - including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want.

But what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other....

A masterwork of storytelling and suspense, Philip Pullman's award-winning The Golden Compass is the first in the His Dark Materials series, which continues with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

A number one New York Times best seller

Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

Published in 40 countries

"Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past 20 years." (The Washington Post)

"Very grand indeed." (The New York Times)

"Pullman is quite possibly a genius." (Newsweek)

Don't miss Philip Pullman's epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials, the Book of Dust:

• La Belle Sauvage
• The Secret Commonwealth

Listen to the rest of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.

©1995 Philip Pullman (P)1999 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Superb.... Wonder-filled." (Washington Post Book World)

"Very grand indeed.... Scene after scene of power and beauty." (The New York Times)

"A rousing, page-turning adventure that promises to please fantasy readers of all ages." (Library Journal)

Great Story

The narration was fabulous. I enjoyed listening to all of the characters come to life.

awesome narration by the full cast!

this is a very enjoyable listen. the story was ok. I found myself zoning out a bit in some places. I am looking forward to the next book.

Fantastic!

Listening to a full cast changes the audio book scene. Phenomenal! I can't wait to download the next book in the series.

Beautiful Story line

I was so shook by the way the book was kept at good pace. I was engaged.

Incredible

This is one of my favorite books and it's certainly my favorite audiobook as well. Not only is the narration great but the characters have their own voices! It's like watching a play unfold inside your mind. Truly amazing. It's riveting from beginning to end; you will get lost in Pullman's amazing vision.

fantastic

love it. a wonderful experience, spellbinding, breathtaking, entertaining and could not put it down. more

a wonderful experience

the story was as good as I remembered. The full cast really expanded that experience.

A wonderful start to a fantactic journey!

If you could sum up The Golden Compass in three words, what would they be?

Fun, addicting, different.

What did you like best about this story?

I find picking out a single aspect to express as my favorite, very difficult. It's the story as a whole that I enjoy so much.

Which scene was your favorite?

Well I have many, but the first to jump to my mind are the battles involving the armored bears, so much fun! :-)

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, and I have. I've listened to, and read this entire series, numerous times. It doesn't get old to me, I have a vast library, but still have found myself relistening to this series.

Any additional comments?

I fell in love with this series as a child, and have continued enjoying it throughout my adult life. Although it is advertised as a "young adult" series, I don't feel that is a fair description. It is a great read for any age.

I have encouraged many people to read / listen to this series with mixed results. Some people have struggled initally getting into the story because it's a little strange, to those folks I say just keep listening, it gets better. Also, I have heard some complaints about the full cast audio. Personally I don't mind at all, it is interesting to have a little variety in my audio books :-)

Perhaps listeners with sensitive religous beliefs may have minor issues with this series, but I would point out that this is set in a different universe that has no correlation to actual religous institutions. And beyond that, it's just a book - calm down people

Truly Captivating

I thoroughly enjoyed The Golden Compass. I haven't seen the movie and wanted to read the book before I did, as movies rarely do books justice. I enjoyed this audiobook so much that I am listening for the second time.. The story is full of rich characters and is brilliantly narrated, in my opinion. I don't care that it is a children's book, I may not even wait for credits to read the two that follow. The cast brought the story alive and created vivid pictures in my mind as each scene and character was described.

I am so looking forward to listening to the next book in the series.

Wonderful!

One of my favorite books, and with excellent intelligent writing, and vivid characterization. I highly recommend this work to all!