Product Description

Philip Pullman's classic trilogy in one slipcase. Since the first volume was published in 1995, and has now been filmed as The Goden Compass, the trilogy has been acclaimed as a modern masterpiece, and has won the UK's top awards for children's literature. Today, the fabulous story of Lyra and her daemon is read and loved by adults and children alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1371 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-02
• Format: Box set
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Binding: Paperback
• 600 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy astounded the literary world, reaping high praise from adults as well as children. The final book in the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, was published to great literary acclaim, earning Pullman a place on the longlist for the prestigious Booker Prize and pushing the trilogy toward cult fiction status for both children and adults.

This stunning box set contains the three books in the trilogy: The Subtle Knife, Northern Lights and The Amber Spyglass, and is the perfect gift for anyone who is looking for a challenging read. It's recommended for age 10 and above. --Susan Harrison

Customer Reviews

Don't expect an easy ride...
In Philip Pullman's epic His Dark Materials trilogy, the author presents us with alternate worlds, strange characters, corrupt theology, and theoretical physics, all woven together into a gripping whole.

For those readers who have completed the Harry Potter books, and are looking for something of the same kind (as I was when I began reading this trilogy), I'd advise you to drop any pre-conceived notions about how 'young adult' fiction is written - these books have bite. Main characters are subject to questionable morals, the plots are trully labrynthine, the whole Christian notion of the nature of the Universe is picked apart almost in disgust, and characters that you find yourself caring about do die.
To compare this trilogy to Harry Potter (which I enjoyed) is to compare wine to fruit juice.

As the author himself admits, the three books are really all one book, in much the same way as The Lord Of The Rings. I defy anyone to read the first story and not want to immediately start on the second, then the third.
The tale focuses on a girl called Lyra, raised as an orphan, but with a great destiny. Her adventures begin with a struggle against the all-powerful Christian church in her world, which is parallel to our own, but with many subtle differences.
This struggle leads to a greater one, and a greater one, until her final destiny is revealed - one that has implications for all the parallel worlds in the Universe.

Bringing together cosmology, physics, and christian theology, the trilogy presents a unified theory of the Universe, one in which even God himself may not be everything he seems (please be aware from the outset that Christians may find many of the aspects of this Universal theory uncomfortable, but also remember, it's only a story).
Even on a scale as grand as this, you can't help being drawn into the minutae of Lyra's world, her struggles, her emotions, and the realities of her burgeoning adolesence.

Be prepared for an emotional involvement in this trilogy. Whether you agree with it's somewhat grey-area moral stance, you won't fail to be impressed by it.

A great gift set of the great books
Enough has been said about how wonderful these books are. In my opinion they are the most brilliant and life-affirming books I have ever read. The important thing about this product, though, is it is the best gift-set I could find of the books.

It's three paperbacks, with the best covers available, in a box. If you want to give His Dark Materials as a gift, then for me it's either this, or the all-in-one hard back.

An excellent trilogy for thoughtful minds
... These are not books suitable for the under 12s. Any parents buying them should be aware that they have a fairly high body count and contain at least one torture scene.

The books combine fascinating and philosophical (in fact partly theological) plots with truly complex characters and issues of morality. This is not a schoolboy romp in the Harry Potter mould nor even a dark epic quest in the Lord of the Rings mould. If anyone has read Susan Cooper's "Dark is Rising" sequence and liked it, then the feel of the books is perhaps closest to that.

Having read the other reviews I find it hard to understand the complaint that Northern Lights starts slowly. At pretty much the very beginning is an attempted murder and a basic introduction to a new world. Most inquisitive minds will want to know why the attempted murder happened and I found that from the beginning I wanted to know more about the other world.

Fantasy is a genre that many have difficulty with. However, in His Dark Materials all the characters are very human in bearing and thought - even the armoured bears.

I cannot recommend these books as much as they deserve. I hope that in time they will take their well deserved place beside C.S Lewis's Narnia Chronicles and The Lord of the Rings. As a 25 year old I have difficulty in remembering any books that I have found as involving or morally complex.