Product Description

A luxury edition of all three books in the His Dark Materials trilogy in one volume. Contains 'Northern Lights', 'The Subtle Knife' and 'The Amber Spyglass'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #227744 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1024 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Northern Lights
Lyra's life is already sufficiently interesting for a novel before she eavesdrops on a presentation by her uncle Lord Asriel to his colleagues in the Jordan College faculty, Oxford. The college, famed for its leadership in experimental theology, is funding Lord Asriel's research into the heretical possibility of the existence of worlds unlike Lyra's own, where everyone is born with a familiar animal companion, magic of a kind works, the Tartars are threatening to overrun Muscovy, and the Pope is a puritanical Protestant. Set in an England familiar and strange, Philip Pullman's lively, taut story is a must-read and re-read for fantasy lovers of all ages. The world-building is outstanding, from the subtle hints of the 1898 Tokay to odd quirks of language to the panserbjorne, while determined, clever Lyra is strongly reminiscent of Joan Aiken's Dido Twite.

The Subtle Knife
At the end of The Northern Lights, Lyra Silvertongue watched in fear and fascination as her father, Lord Asriel, created a bridge between worlds. Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon, are now lost in an alternate universe where they meet Will Parry, a fugitive from a third universe. Will has found a small window between Cittagazze (a place where children roam unchecked but invisible Specters suck the spirit out of adults) and his Oxford, which, with its Burger Kings and cars, is frighteningly different from the Oxford Lyra knows. Will's father, an explorer, disappeared years ago, but recently some odd characters have started asking questions about him, and now, having accidentally killed one of them, Will is wanted by the police. Armed with The Subtle Knife, a tool that cuts any material (including that which separates universes) and Lyra's alethiometer, the children set out to find John Parry, with adults of various stripes in desperate pursuit. Lyra's finest qualities--her courage and quick mind--are stretched to the limit as she has to lie, cheat and steal to keep herself and Will out of danger. However, she must also learn when to tell the truth and when to trust, for though she does not yet know it, she has a huge part to play in the upcoming battle between Good and Evil.

The Amber Spyglass
Philip Pullman began the spellbinding His Dark Materials sequence with The Northern Lights, which dazzled everyone who read it, children and adults alike. Remarkably, he kept up the quality in The Subtle Knife, the second title in the trilogy. Here he brings the series to an extraordinary conclusion. Will and Lyra, the two children at the heart of the books, have become separated amid great dangers. Can they find each other, and their friends? Then complete their mysterious quest before it is too late? The great rebellion against the dark powers that hold Lyra's world in thrall (and many others) is nearing its climax. She and Will have crucial parts to play, but they don't know what it is that they must do, and terrible powers are hunting them down.

The pace of the book is compelling, the writing powerful. Pullman's plotting is intricate and cunning, surprising the reader again and again. In this volume the cosmic dimensions of the story become more prominent, as a great conflict across many universes comes to a head. The author's beliefs also come more into the open. Perhaps what is most striking of all, however, is the depth of the characterisation. Lord Asriel, Mrs Coulter, Iorek Byrnison the king of the armoured bears, a host of minor characters, most of all Will and Lyra themselves: the book is a library of beautifully drawn, remarkably convincing characters walking in worlds of marvels. Philip Pullman's writing commands immense respect; more than that, it is raising the profile of the best children's books among adults, as demanding critics of all ages fall in love with this remarkable trilogy. --David Pickering

Customer Reviews

Just buy it.
I don't have Pullman's way with words, so I can't express how good this trilogy is. I can't describe how intricately it's plotted, how widely it's imagined or how deeply it's felt. I can't conjure the dazzling array of characters that Pullman has created - all of them complex, all of them with their flaws and their contradictions - nor can I convey how intelligent this story is, or how truthful, how moving.
But it is all these things and more.
If you want to read something that will change the way you look at the world, that will move you to laughter and to tears, and that will keep you awake long into the night shaking with wonder and with fear, then read this book.

Not just a children's book
I picked up this trilogy because it featured in The Big Read (the BBC book push) and I was intrigued. I have to admit that I don't really like fantasy (I found - gasp! - Lord of The Rings tiresome) and found the Harry Potter books a little too simplistic for me and felt that they really were children's literature. His Dark Materials are, however, in a different league. I have recommended and lent these books to so many people that I feel a bit like a literary crack dealer, but I have known no one who has not been utterly spellbound by them: reading them on the loo, walking down the street reading them and reading them until four in the morning.

Northern Lights
In some ways confusing as you spend a lot of time head scratching wondering what an earth is going on? What are Daemons? What is Dust? It is an introduction, really, to a huge cast of characters and a different, alternate world.

The Subtle Knife
Another world and more characters and I felt a bridge between Northern Lights and...

The Amber Spyglass
The best in the trilogy and a panovision, wide-screen, Technicolor experience detailing a lot of concepts, worlds, creatures, characters - where to start?

I thought that His Dark Materials was one of the best books I have ever read and have no hesitation in recommending this to anyone.

My only criticism is that the cover artwork on the originals is sourced 20th century painting - ranging from realism to surrealism - and they were marvelous covers. Now some schmuck in the publishing house has commissioned a bunch of airbrushed 'fantasy' coves that are simply awful and really do not convey what is contained within which I thought the old covers did wonderfully.

Eye opening - one to re-read again and again
I saw these books appearing in shops as they came out but it wasn't until i went to university and a friend lent them to me that i read them. I'm sorry i waited, i could have re-read them several times by now! I got into the story almost immediately, finding that the way Philip Pullman writes just makes you feel like you are in the world he has created. I found the story gripping and complex, at the end of each book I couldnt wait for the next one and was glad that they had all been written by the time I discovered them. The books are multi-faceted, there's a lot to get your head around but it's definitely worth it. I particularly enjoyed the exploration, not usually found in 'children's' books, of the connection between body and soul. I want my own daemon! The story is very sad in places and there are some surprising plot twists but it all adds to a fantastic and (unexpectedly) realistic trilogy which I will definitely be reading again, as soon as I've finished all the other Philip Pullman books I can lay my hands on. I wouldn't class these books as children's books just because the main characters are children, they appeal to all ages because of how well written they are and the subjects they discuss are not the normal reading material of children. However, if I'd have discovered these when I was twelve I would have enjoyed them almost as much as I did when I was 18. These are definitely for older readers, from about 12 but anyone who enjoys a good story with real issues about life and who we are will not regret reading this.