Daemon Voices

On Stories and Storytelling

From the internationally best-selling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, a spellbinding journey into the secrets of his art--the narratives that have shaped his vision, his experience of writing, and the keys to mastering the art of storytelling.

One of the most highly acclaimed and best-selling authors of our time now gives us a book that charts the history of his own enchantment with story--from his own books to those of Blake, Milton, Dickens, and the Brothers Grimm, among others--and delves into the role of story in education, religion, and science. At once personal and wide-ranging, Daemon Voices is both a revelation of the writing mind and the methods of a great contemporary master, and a fascinating exploration of storytelling itself.

Fascinating

A really interesting take on the art of writing, combined with the insights of a brilliant man.

Great performance by the Author

Loved hearing Phillip Pullman read his own essays. It was like being at his talks!

Read it. You don't have to agree with it.

An essential book about story telling and the art of literature. You don't have to agree everything he says but you have to think about it.

The most cogent book on writing.

The best collection of this author’s thoughts spanning the years of all six of His Dark Materials. Mostly lectures and essays gathered together and divided into categories, not in linear progression.
I learned about the man who could create the most illuminating books in my library. I will return to them often, along with this essential companion book.

A double-edged sword

These essays made me like and dislike the author a little bit more. On one hand, he shows a sensibility for art, poetry and craft I would’ve never guessed. I love the way he thinks about illustrations and his overall eccletic taste.
However, as many reviews have stated, he has a very unflattering opinion about religion and fantasy. I was expecting that and thought I would sympathize, but the anger that transpires in his last essays is very unsettling.
I would like him to acknowledge he is not above people who believe in God. As he said himself, it’s the morality that counts. His work is wonderful, but it is certainly not great enough to be so despising of other fantasy authors. And no, His Dark Materials are not the only profound books of fantasy out there, and he is old enough to know them.