Any Phillip Pullman fans out there? I loved His Dark Materials as a young kid and a teenager; I’m re-reading it now as an adult and I’m so blown away with how well this series holds up and all that it offers to older readers as well as younger ones. I know that it’s a retelling of Paradise Lost but it’s also really rich in literary allusions beyond that. The writing is lush and beautiful, bordering on poetry at times.
I remember being so taken away by the story when I was a child, and I think it’s such a testament to Phillip Pullman’s skill as a writer that he can create a work which is capable of enchanting both young kids with its incredible adventure and emotive storytelling, whilst also being able to draw in adult readers through beautiful writing and bold ideas (so many of which went over my head when I was little!).
Anyway, just wanted to share some appreciation for this series because I think it’s such a wonderful piece of literature- one of those books that you can see yourself reading to your own kids one day.
by ConList
32 Comments
One of my absolute favourites from my pre-teen years! So excited to share with future kids
If you haven’t read the spinoff/sequel series he’s been writing (The Book of Dust) I highly recommend it. There’s two books out now and a third coming at some point. I also recently read the Sally Lockhart mystery series, and would recommend that as well
One of my favorite series from when I was a kid and it 100% holds up reading it as an adult. Fantastic books. The HBO/BBC series did a fantastic job, too.
There’s a subreddit for it r/[hisdarkmaterials]
I’m a fan! As an atheist, it pulls no punches and I appreciate it for that.
It’s also very well written more importantly
These books were so much more powerful for me as an 11 year old than Harry Potter ever was. Cried and cried and cried at the end, I was so mad that it wasn’t the happy ending I wanted. As an older person, I see now that the ending was happy in its own way – and I still think Will and Lyra are better role models for kids than most books have. Wonderful stories! The HBO show was lacking in a few key areas but boy, they nailed the ending. Worth a watch
The way the 2nd book builds off the 1st is brilliant
If you can, listen to the audiobook. Narrated by Phillip Pullman and he does a wonderful job.
I read them as they came out when I was like, 8-10ish. I’m 30 now, and have all three in one volume sitting around somewhere. I definitely need to revisit, unlock old memories, and appreciate everything from an older mindset. While I’ve forgotten plenty, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget Lyra and Will’s “atom” exchange at the end of The Amber Spyglass.
I love His Dark Materials! Those were some of my favorite books when I was young, and they’re still some of my favorite books as an adult. They’re so well written!
I am in a similar boat to you. I just reread these as an adult having read them a couple times when I was younger. I agree they hold up really well. The only thing that left me scratching my head was Pullman’s sense of time at certain points: mainly, how did Asriel build an entire kingdom in a few days, and how did Mrs Coulter get to the Himalayas in less than a few days lol. Otherwise they are really great. It was also interesting to see how I appreciated TAS so much more as an adult. I think some of it went beyond me as a kid.
My first time reading the series I was in my mid 30’s. I throughly enjoyed. I was so absorbed into the idea of the battle between free will and dogma, I actually forgot it was YA. It was a great series. The tv series isn’t too bad either.
Whenever I read a book that I absolutely love, I promise myself I’ll wait 10 years before rereading. His Dark Materials is one of these!
One of my favorites, Lyra and Will remain one of my OTPs
Probably one of my favorite series ever, I have to reread it once a year and the end always tears me up.
Huge fan, and recently finally got my hands on all the His Dark Materials companion stories and Pullman’s essays on writing. Diving into the book of dust series now!
I just finished The Golden Compass audiobook, as the gift of a friend and really loved it! I’m really looking forward to reading/hearing the rest!
I read them as a preteen/teen, as they came out, and it’s hard to overstate their impact on me. I really think they shaped who I am as a person in so many ways. Now I teach kids who are around the age I was when I first read them. Maybe it’s time for a reread!
I just started The Golden Compass for the first time because one of my students kept asking me to read it. Really enjoying it so far!
Favorite book from when I was a kid. Listened to it semi-recently (6 years ago) on a long drive. The second chapter, about Lyra clambering all over the roof of Jordan College, is one of my favorite chapters of anything.
Yeah… I really liked the concept and the story in the books when I read them. Incidentally, Ken Liu has a short story called State Change which is based on the concept of daemons, which is also one of my favourites by him. No correlation, just a nugget I find nice.
Me! Like you, I read them when I was younger again after some years, and it still blew me away. My favorite is the second and third books. Def a classic and I always recommend it to my friends and people.
I think the HBO series is really good too if you’re interested
The concept of daemons blew my mind when I was 12 and first read His Dark Materials. One of my favorite trilogies to this day and I make sure to reread every year or two. There’s certain parts that still continue to make me emotional rereading.
I read the books as a child. I literally couldn’t put them down (lucky me the school library had all three of them) and finished them in like 3 weeks.
I was surprised when there was a lot of hype behind the HBO series, but suddenly nobody talked about it.
I named my daughter Lyra. That’s how much I love his books.
My sixth grade teacher suggested we not read or watch it because it says bad things about the church (the movie was coming out at the time). I read them instantly and enjoyed them quite a bit.
Read random stuff for school all the time but it wasn’t really something I did as a personal pass time.
Then in 9th grade my English composition teacher chose 3 books for the entire class to read through out the school year. Writing a short 2 page summary for each book of our favorite parts and how we felt about the story could be used to replace a major quiz grade.
The Golden Compass was one of the three books. I was hooked on it almost immediately and I couldn’t put it down. I NEEDED to finish the series and since then I’ve been an avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy.
One of my fondest memories as a teen was laying in bed with a night light on reading the conclusion to Roger’s story in the Amber Spyglass. I teared up and at that moment realized that one can feel a brunt force of emotions through novels just as one could through movies or shows. Because of that his Dark Materials will always have a special place in my heart.
On a side note, there was a 2nd book in the 3 that my teacher chose that year that I really liked. To this day I don’t remember the name and have tried so hard to recall plot points in attempt to find it :(.
I still cry at the end of Amber Spy Glass sue me lol
Oh, they’re gorgeous books — absolutely among my lifelong favorites, and they honestly hold up so well. I reread them every year or two, and even decades later, I always catch some new little detail.
My favorite thing about the trilogy is that it is one of those series I can give as a gift to someone who hasn’t read them, and just sit back and wait excitedly for them to be blown away by how gorgeous and complex they are. Every person I have ever given them to was stunned at how fantastic they are.*
Meanwhile, I loved the HBO miniseries and was utterly blown away by it. I thought season 1 was good (almost great), season 2 was superb, and season 3 was just fricking fantastic. The show had incredible actors and also was willing to add depth and nuance to moments we didn’t get in the books (like >!seeing Mrs. Coulter tame the Spectres!< — one of my favorite scenes in the show thanks to the fabulous Ruth Wilson — the added complexities of >!Marisa’s relationship with her golden monkey!< — or the changes to the >!final confrontation between Marisa, Asriel, and Metatron!<. Just dazzling.
*I also love that James McAvoy was given the books by Indira Varma while they were performing in a theatre production, and he became obsessed and has reread them multiple times. So when he got the call to play Asriel (the previously cast actor backed out) on a Friday and he needed to be there Monday, he was like, “I WILL BE THERE.” I thought he was a superb Asriel.
I definitely think these are fantasy classics — not at all “just YA fantasy” (not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I’ve read the first book twice but found the second book insanely boring so I never finished it. I will have to have another crack at the series again.
I’m right in the middle of the second book now for the first time and I am loving it. I started reading it because my wife used a passage from the series in her wedding vows and it brought me to tears. I don’t know the context yet so please no spoilers.
“I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again…”
“I’ll be looking for you… every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pin trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives,
they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight..”