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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. "
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. "
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."
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."
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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