I read the His Dark Materials series at the strong urging of a friend after showing him my booklist, and I have to say he was absolutely right. Phillip Pullman is a masterful writer and His Dark Materials series and The Golden Compass stand out among many other phenomenal titles on our Fantasy list. The Golden Compass, or His Dark Materials series book #1 follows protagonist Lyra in an alternate world where people’s spirits or souls are represented in animal form as a “daemon.” These daemons are essential to their existence, and when Lyra learns of her uncle’s kidnapping, she travels to the far north to save him, learning about horrible experiments being performed on children’s daemons in the process.
First and foremost, when it comes to anything written by Philip Pullman, style and syntax must be mentioned. Pullman is a masterful writer and crafts language in beautiful ways that can be both simple and complex. Take the following quote for example,
“The idea hovered and shimmered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly in case it burst. But she was familiar with the way of ideas, and she let it shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else” (Pullman, 1995, p. 233).
Overflowing with powerful descriptive and figurative language, Philip Pullman weaves his characters and plot through a web of diction that truly shows how language can be beautiful.
Another part of what makes His Dark Materials so memorable are the characters. In books 2 and 3 of the series, we meet Will, a boy from our own universe who has no daemon, and follow his adventures with Lyra, with the two eventually falling in love in a beautiful yet tragic romance. Lyra is strong-willed and a powerful liar, and Will is courageous and clever, and even though they are young, they are smarter and more mature than even many adults are today.
Lastly, the themes of Pullman’s writing make this one of the most powerful yet controversial books of all time. The series presents God as old, frail, selfish, and his followers as almost evil in their zealous worship and the atrocities they commit in his name. The idea of a young girl and boy waging war against God himself is not exactly an idea many Christians would be okay with, but the fact that this writer shows us this point of view and does so in such a beautiful way makes it worth the read. Lyra and Will and all their friends teach us the importance of friendship and of doing what’s right, no matter the cost.
I didn’t know what to expect when I began this series. And I don’t even know if it is appropriate for young children, as much of his writing has been praised for adults even. But I love this book and this series because it shows the power of writing and the amazing things authors can do with words. It teaches about goodness and family and friendship, and while it may not serve everyone’s religious beliefs, it can nourish their soul in a way few books can.
I honestly can’t praise this series enough. It is up there with the Harry Potter and A Song of Ice and Fire series for me. I would be careful about who I recommend this to, but for a curious and mature young person, these books can be incredibly powerful.
Pullman, P. (1995). The golden compass. New York: Dell Yearling.
Literature for Youth Blog 