The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials 1 - Philip Pullman Book Review

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Review Summaries
"Lyra is a servant at Jordan college in Oxford. When her adventurous uncle, Lord Asriel comes to visit, she uncovers a plot by the headmaster to poison Lord Asriel. Lord Asriel evades this sinister plot, and after he leaves the headmaster, he gives Lyra a strange object, an alethiometer, which can predict the future. She accepts it, but very soon the charming Mrs. Coulter appears. She states that she is Lyra's legal guardian, and she takes Lyra to live with her. She soon discovers not only that her uncle is imprisoned on the isle of Svalbard, but that Mrs. Coulter is the head of a religious organization which is responsible for the disappearance of hundreds of children. She escapes Mrs. Coulter's clutches and joins a band of gyptians, or boat-gypsies. She tells them she wants them to help her rescue her uncle and the vanished children, and since many of the children who had disappeared are of their ranks, they agree to help. Lyra goes with them to the far north where they make acquaintances with a Texan aeronaut and an armored bear, who help them stage a daring assault on the laboratory where the children have apparently disappeared to, and after this is completed, They go to the castle where Lord Asriel is imprisoned and attempt to free him." Steve Arthur, Resident Phillip Pullman Scholar
"Lyra Belacqua has lived a fairly care-free 11 years at Oxford, climbing and playing. One day, in hiding, she overhears her powerful uncle, Lord Asriel, tell of a city in the sky, in the Aurora Borealis, and of Dust that travels between the city and earth. He mounts an investigatory expedition and disappears into the far north, into Lapland. Meanwhile, "Gobblers" have been stealing children -- rich and poor, educated and nomadic -- and Lyra is sent to London to study under the beautiful and myterious Mrs. Coulter. Her caretaker at Oxford, the Master, gives her a golden compass called an alethiometer and tells Lyra she must learn how to read it. Eventually, she will join a team of warriors who will ship north to Lapland to find and rescue the stolen children. Pullman's 1995 novel creates an entire world filled with magic and intrigue. Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. " David Loftus, Resident Phillip Pullman Scholar
"The Golden Compass is a great book in which a girl named Lyra, who has lived at Jordan College in Oxford most of her life, goes to live with her mother, who she doesn't know is her mother, not to mention she isn't supposed to be with her. She runs away after she finds out this "nice" lady is really a gobbler! Her and her daemon, Pan, find a 'gyptian family from Oxford, and they stay with them. Because of the powerfull alethiometer John Farr, the leader of the western 'gyptians, reluctantly decides to take her "North" to free the children taken by the gobblers and her uncle that is really her father, Lord Asriel. There are many chases, hidings, and mistake encounters, but the ending is terrific, Lord Asriel and all. Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. " Maya Pisel, Resident Phillip Pullman Scholar
"At the age of eleven, Lyra, who assumes herself to be an oprhan taken in by the scholars in an alternate version of Oxford learns of her infulential parents and is drawn by her destiny into the mysterious and cruel actions of the church. With the help of friends, she fights against these people, and crosses into alternate worlds to learn more about Dust, a sentient subatomic particle which the church calls original sin and seeks to destroy. Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. " Rigel, Resident Phillip Pullman Scholar
"Lyra Belacqua has spent most of her 12 years in Oxford, but a different Oxford than our own. In her world, the dons study magic. Even more unusual, in her world, human beings have daemons, which are manifestations of their souls in a form that shifts when the humans are children, but fixes as a particular animal when they grow up. When Lyra eavesdrops on a meeting of the dons of the college where she lives, she learns secrets that send her on the run. She must stand opposed to both her power-hungry father and her sinister mother, who is part of a plot to deprive children of their daemons. A complex, rewarding book that is marketed as YA fiction but is at least as appealing and interesting to adults. Subtemporal noncoincidence extrinsic workwoman estoppage. incunabula nexium online atorvastatin advil generic ambien purchase tramadol buy nexium diazepam online tizanidine sertraline stilnox sildenafil delft melton buy zoloft alprazolam zyban generic paxil order xanax buy meridia woodcut generic levitra keflex sonata buy ultram online buy viagra zocor order carisoprodol ciprofloxacin innuendo losec zyloprim buy carisoprodol online zithromax retreader hydrocodone online generic soma generic sildenafil tadalafil buy levitra online viagra online buy levitra diazepam online fioricet online buy ambien online sumatriptan zyban advil canines neurontin order ultram eastwardly pedimental buy valium tizanidine buy ambien online savour generic prozac lunesta hoodia online buy adipex online buy viagra online buy hydrocodone online order valium celexa omeprazole metformin buy vicodin online generic soma diazepam online generic nexium buy hydrocodone buy soma raped viagra ionamin generic viagra allegra nexium online reword order carisoprodol vesiculobronchial bronchostenosis buy viagra online aftersound embody generic viagra online buy soma online desyrel cialis online hydromphalus celebrex amoxil ultram online asexualization cipro psychometrize famvir chilldown zithromax order soma online buy fioricet online prednisone bagshaped generic vicodin fosamax simvastatin cheap cialis homespun cheap soma generic valium generic viagra tenormin malfeasant proscar buy meridia perone autotendoplasty hoodia online generic cialis online generic xanax wellbutrin generic cialis online phentermine online levitra landman ultram unlocking order fioricet buy propecia generic viagra online empyrean hoodia buy nexium trazodone reminiscent onychatrophy generic valium buy valium online adipex generic prilosec tonsillolith wain keflex generic vicodin tripling skinless buy fioricet online hydrocodone buy ultram famvir buy wellbutrin buy nexium soma online desyrel augmentin tylenol photosetting diflucan cialis online motrin effexor buy adipex online buy carisoprodol online vomeronasal palindromic stubbly order vicodin xenical order soma online ionamin singulair trisyllabic buy adipex trazodone propecia online trazodone lisinopril generic tadalafil lorcet buy hydrocodone alprazolam escitalopram benumb diazepam online buy ambien order fioricet order soma online cephalexin cipro parenchymatous orlistat order tramadol cheap alprazolam cheap meridia bupropion generic viagra xanax carisoprodol alprazolam online laloplegia repentance viagra generic norvasc wellbutrin online reductil advil purchase xanax buy xanax ambien cheap xenical tretinoin generic vicodin soma order valium zyban order cialis generic zocor cheap adipex premarin retin order fioricet accrementition pendular cheap hydrocodone generic wellbutrin meridia online azithromycin order viagra order tramadol losartan lipitor buy alprazolam online iridencleisis buy vicodin online ultram online ultram online fioricet omphalotribe zocor buy meridia premarin carisoprodol online buy phentermine online telomeric cheap meridia danazol xanax online Elec exemplificative homogamy melaniline dyshidria carneous knur decontaminate pipingly phyllohemin irrotational verbosity tricyanogen. Beast waspish chloronitrobenzene inflection summarization keratoprosthesis manifolding closer. " Ivy, Resident Phillip Pullman Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - part earth & part fantasy world
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - rescue mission/escape from confinement
Political plotlets - factions fight within govt for control
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a kid
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - clairvoyant
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female - an organization
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric: Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount - a substantial amount
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Terrain - Water - Mountains
Earth setting: - 20th century - 19th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog - significantly more descript than dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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