Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - The Golden Compass

This book wasn't what I'd expected and I'm not sure what to think about it. I feel like Pullman writes children far more accurately than most authors - Lyra is a feral little gremlin and not in a mostly sweet, occasionally troublesome way most people would portray her. Like this girl has been left mostly to her own devices to cause havoc for most of her life and you can tell! She is a very real feeling character who has believable flaws and is very resourceful but is still very much a child out of her depth.

The whole daemon thing was unlike anything else I had read before and was very interesting(if you aren't in the know 'daemons' are an animal representation of a human's soul that everyone has). The book is set in another version of Earth and Pullman has fully integrated much of the aspects he has added and considered the implications this would have for people's behaviour and culture.

This book does contain some darker elements (a lot of kidnapping of children, unethical experimentation and child death so that's FUN) and I found it impressive that Pullman can communicate the awfulness of the experiments being done in the arctic when it is based on things that are completely unknowable and impossible to us. In the opening chapters of the book a character makes an shocked remark about a child in a photograph being 'an entire child' which made me laugh at the time because isn't that a strange thing to say haha how amusing. Having finished the book I'm now like 'OH NO! That's not funny anymore! :0'

ALSO I am majorly reassessing everything about

Lord Asriel

because what is that man on??

Like I knew Mrs Coulter was going to be bad because of the way she was introduced as too good to be true but everyone in the book is like 'oh yea Lord Asriel is a great guy! The best guy ever!' and then when he finally gets more than like five pages on screen he's actually maybe worse than Mrs Coulter and does some casual murder just because. I thought he was going to be the typical 'Victorian father who is allergic to openly caring' but ACTUALLY it was a cover for 'religious extremist who is planning on wrecking everything'. All I can say that I guess they are the villain power couple I wasn't expecting but got anyway

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fruya's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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seedsofsunflowers's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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mmefish's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

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tessahartman's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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archosaur's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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monoliloquy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I have loved this book since I was too young to read it. I first read it when I was about ten and fell in love. I forget about this series ever so often and it's always great to reread.

There are moments, in the way Pullman writes people--women, especially--that give me pause, but most of these moments are storytelling choices and specific misconceptions that Lyra has about the world.

The writing in this book is enthralling, vivid, and doesn't let you go even for a moment. It's creative and the worldbuilding is beautiful.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have read The Golden Compass so many times, I know its beats as well as I know the rhythm of my own heart.

This book is an old favorite - I've listened to the audiobook three times, including once with my husband; my old box set paperback copy has seen better days. I have distinct memories of reading this book on my lap in high school French and hoping le professeur did not notice (I'm pretty sure she did). And as I come back to The Golden Compass and His Dark Materials time and time again... it's still good.

There's a few different things to look at and admire here, but one that has always struck me is Pullman's depiction of Lyra. Unlike more and more books I read these days, I've always felt Lyra acted her age and felt very much a child. She's brimming with curiosity, often fails to think her actions through to their consequences, and responds... purely, I guess, to the things around her. I can't say Pullman has consistently been adept at writing children (La Belle Sauvage is not as well done) but Lyra is fantastic.

And she's not the only character who shines in this novel. Mrs. Coulter is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and I've always enjoyed the beauty and sadness behind the Serafina Pekkala/Farder Coram relationship. Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison are also fantastic characters.... particularly as the series goes on (no spoilers here!).

The urgency of the plot momentum and the adventurous storyline are also gripping and wonderful. I'm always struck by a story that moves into cold climates, because it's as though nature itself becomes a minor villain due to the extreme weather. Even though I've read it so many times, The Golden Compass never feels tired or predictable. I know what's going to happen overall from experience, but I completely enjoy the journey. If you haven't read it before, I don't think it's predictable at all. I love the alethiometer. I love the twists. I really love the daemons. As I've gotten older, I've grown to enjoy the fantasy philosophy and the conversation about Dust and other worlds as well.

While I can't necessary put Pullman on a "best authors" list (he's made some poor Twitter decisions, and his depiction of the "gyptians" is very stereotypical, although they are characters to be respected), it would be foolish to deny the brilliance of this trilogy. His Dark Materials, and The Golden Compass are filled with memorable characters, adventure, meaningful conversation, and wonder.

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