Meagen Today I’m sharing my review of The Golden Compass By Philip Pullman. This is book one in the His Dark Materials Series which is now a show on HBO!
The Golden Compass was originally published and 1995 and is considered middle grade in most cases. The book itself has kind of a rocky history and was in some instances banned by the Catholic Church.
The book handles religion in a backhanded sort of way, it’s not necessarily the main focus of the plot but much of what happens in the book ties into religion and the ways in which it controls everyday society (noticed or otherwise). I’m sure as the series carries on it will be more evident and play a prominent role.
I don’t care for reading about overly religious texts/themes and the religious elements of the book didn’t put me off, so take that as you will 🙂
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Check out my full review of The Golden Compass below. It’s spoiler free, there is info about the storyline but there’s no major giveaways and I try not to ruin the story for those who want to review before reading 🙂
What is The Golden Compass about?
The Golden Compass as I mentioned above is book #1 in the His Dark Materials series. It follows the journey of a young girl named Lyra through a series of challenges as she works to uncover the meaning of the mystical discussions she overhears in her home among some elderly scholars and researchers.
A good portion of her journey is fight to save her friend Roger who is kidnapped by a secret society which steals children to use for their experiments.
Along the way she meets many interesting characters, learns about her true parents, comes into possession of a mysterious device which only she can use to uncover the truth, and of course she also meets a polar bear who becomes her protector and friend.
The Golden Compass certainly doesn’t lack for excitement, there’s action pretty much from the very start. For me this was somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4 star read. I listened to the audiobook and it is quite a production. Unlike most I’ve listened to it has many characters and is very well cast.
What did you love about this book?
I really enjoyed listening to The Golden Compass on audiobook. The characters are rich and dynamic. I enjoyed Lyra’s journey and seeing her overcome obstacles and grow into her self confidence was great.
The magic systems in this book were interesting and pretty unusual. The characters are living in a parallel world where human souls take the form of animal companions. I thought that facet was very intriguing. I also love that they’re called daemons.
In this alternate world there’s clearly some dark forces at work, we just don’t quite know who is the worst and who to trust. It keeps things interesting and fun.
What did you not love about this book?
I wasn’t crazy about the first portion of the book. I know we have to suffer through some world building but perhaps I would have been better off reading in this case versus listening to the audio book. I found myself getting distracted and having to go back and re-listen to bits and pieces to catch what was going on.
This is definitely not the kind of audio book you can listen to while doing anything else. Not necessarily a fault, just worth mentioning since that’s usually what I use audiobooks for!
Will you read more in the His Dark Materials series?
I think I will continue on with the series…you guys know I can’t DNF books and I really can’t tolerate doing the same with a series. It’ll eat at me if I don’t finish it so I will.
I’m still debating if I’ll listen to the others on audiobook or if I’ll get the physical books to read. I only resorted to the audiobook for The Golden Compass because I had been waiting for months for a copy from the library that never came in.
I think I’ll pickup the rest in physical books and read them that way. The audiobook took too long for the length of the book in my opinion. It was very entertaining just seemed to drag on, even listening at nearly 1.5x I was slogging through this one for over a week.
Overall opinions of The Golden Compass:
I really enjoyed the characters in this book and they are what will keep me interested in the rest of the books!
There’s definitely some interesting themes in the book as well, it’s a complicated situation that Lyra finds herself in and I think the struggles she faces resonate with a wide audience. Another instance of middle grade fiction that spans across genres.
Lyra’s relationship with the ice bear is probably my favorite part of the whole book. The two of them together are just equal parts ridiculous and heart warming to imagine. I’m definitely going to have to check out the HBO series to see how they’re portraying things once I finish the books.
I also think it’s worth listening to this one on audiobook if you can. I borrowed it from my library through Libby and it was really great. It’s so theatrical. I’ve struggled through audiobooks in the past but this one was great.
Again, I think the magic systems / alternate reality aspects of the series are really interesting as well. It’s a unique take that I wasn’t expecting. It also struck me today while I was writing this that it’s been a hot minute since I read anything by a male author. I’ve been all about the amazing female authors on my shelves lately so I think that might also contribute to the slow pickup in the beginning. I had to get used to a wholly different point of view.
Where can I buy this book for myself?
You can grab a hardcover copy here:
You can get the kindle copy here:
The Dark Materials Box Set:
This includes all three books in the series!
Kindle Unlimited Membership PlansWhat else has Philip Pullman written?
Philip Pullman has a long and extensive history in the writing community. You’ll be amazed to find all titles he has authored over the years. Check out his author page on Goodreads here or on Amazon here.
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