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: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

HIS DARK MATERIALS IS NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING DAFNE KEEN, RUTH WILSON, ANDREW SCOTT, AND LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA!

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 #1 New York Times Bestseller

Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

Published in 40 Countries

"Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past twenty 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

"As always, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterizations and seamless plotting, maintaining a crackling pace to create scene upon scene of almost unbearable tension. This glittering gem will leave readers of all ages eagerly awaiting the next installment of Lyra’s adventures.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred

“Extraordinary storytelling at its very best.”—The Detroit Free Press

“Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling.”—The Washington Post

Hands down a top book of all time!

LOVE this story, characters, scenery! Between hardcopy and audio (at work) I read it in two days, unheard of for me. I yearn with abated breath to read the sequel! <3

Glad to have read it again

Read it when I was younger. Really glad to have gotten back into it!

Perfect for car rides

It’s an absolute must for long car trips as the story keeps you enticed the whole way through with clear and well spoken dialogue from the full cast

great book but skip the interview

Loved the book but skip the interview. it had spoilers in it. I've never read the series and if you haven't read it either, skip it.

Enjoy rereading this immensely

I enjoyed this book as a child, but I enjoyed it even more as an adult.

Do angels count as quantum observers?

I asked my friend, "in quantum science, do you think angels count as observers?"

He answered, "you should read His Dark Materials"

I was not disappointed! Having finished the series, I would answer that question the exact same way.

Fantastic

Read this book as a high school student and fell in love with this book. And rereading it again in my thirties this book hasn’t lost its enchantment.

Amazing!!

This was hard to start listening to. The voice of Lyra was sort of manic, but she grew on me. And once "knowing" her, I realized that it is her character, not just bad direction.
The plot completely drew me in, until I was at the point of not wanting to turn off my Ipod. The story, along with the full cast really made you feel the intensity of their situations.
Now for the "anti-God" thing...umm...I didn't think that it was that bad. Especially since the world that Lyra lives in is basically a "parallel" world. Yes, the Church has done some incredibly horrific things in the past. So why is it such a stretch for someone to put it into a fictional story? And for the whole thing about "killing God"??? A bit over-hyped...but that is the fundamentalist way.
Young children wouldn't understand this story very well, and some parts would scare them. Older kids I think should read/listen to it. They should recieve more credit than many are willing to give.

fascinating

This is a surprisingly complex, sophisticated story for a kid's book. I'm an adult SF fan, and I loved it. However, such ideas as daemons, experiemental theology, etc. will have most kids younger than their teens scratching their heads and asking for an explanation. The entire story line is also substantially darker than the Harry Potter books. This book should probably be avoided by pre-teens and religious fundamentalists.

absolutely brilliant

the entire trilogy is amazing and the dramatization by such a varied cast brings the book to life. blows harry potter off his broom!