The Golden Compass
(His Dark Materials trilogy, Book 1)
Philip Pullman
Del Rey
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
***
DESCRIPTION: Young Lyra lives in a world not unlike our own in a previous era, but where every human has a daemon, which is like a living extension of their soul.
Until adulthood, a daemon can change shape as it pleases, but then settles into an animal form that reflects something of its human.
It has been discovered that Dust, a mysterious substance visible only through special photography methods, will "stick" to adults, but not to children. This is the "proof" that
the church-backed government has been looking for concerning sin. Lyra, by way of her estranged parents, is caught up in the search for the source of Dust, and the horrible plans
to keep it from "sticking" to adult humans. All she has to guide her her daemon Pantamalion and a strange golden compass which can tell the truth, if you know how to read it. In
her journeys, she meets tree-witches and the mighty armored bears of the north, as well as other friends... and dangers.
REVIEW: If that sounded confusing, it's not entirely my fault. The book is hardly the most coherent thing I've read. This is often placed in the Young Adult section,
but I can't see why. Some of the tale is a little too complex and definitely too disturbing for younger readers, not to mention graphic. There is a fight scene with the armored
bears that, were it in the theater, would earn at least a PG-13, if not R. (Yes, I know there's been a movie made of this book; I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know how true to
the text they were - I'm just saying, the book's fight got pretty gruesome.) After slogging through the first half of the book, I finally found myself getting the hang of the
universe and getting into the story... just before the ending. I was warned at the outset that this was a three-parter, so it wasn't a total shock, but it did throw me a bit. The
early parts drag and meander something fierce, with just enough glimmer of hope to keep me reading, and then it goes and ends on me! What gives? Anyway, it was an okay story
overall, with a few decent characters and some different situations. If I'd paid for the hardcover edition, I would've been really ticked off, but at paperback price it was a
reasonable read. When I bought it, I was looking for something different, and I got it.
I see that the second book is now out in paperback. I may pick it up someday, but maybe not. I just don't know if I want to struggle through 3/4 of a story only to just start
enjoying it before it ends. Again.
You might also enjoy:
Dream a Little Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - When the world created by human dreams is endangers, one hero journeys to the real world to save it)
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into a world where elder gods and magic rule)
The Furies of Calderon (Jim Butcher, Fiction - In another world, everyone has at least one elemental spirit at their beck and call, except for one boy in a remote frontier valley)
The Supernaturalist (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - In a polluted and hopeless near-future, an orphan boy's near-death experience gives him the ability to see invisible parasitic creatures)
Magician: Apprentice (Raymond E. Feist, Fiction - An orphan boy in a frontier castle faces otherworldly armies)
Eccentric Circles (Rebecca Lickiss, Fiction - A woman finds a fairy world through the back door of her inherited cottage)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend find their way to the bizarre "abcity" mirror of everyday London)
The Seventh Tower series (Garth Nix, YA Fiction - In a world of light magic and shadow servants, a boy's search for a sunstone to cure his ailing mother leads him to more danger than he could have anticipated)
Witch & Wizard (James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet, YA Fiction - Two teens in a modern dictatorship are imprisoned for powers they don't know they have)
The High House (James Stoddard, Fiction - A vast house encompasses entire worlds and touches on many more)
The Death Gate Cycle (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Fiction - Fresh from a magical prison, a mage travels to the fractured elemental worlds of men, elves, and dwarves to prepare them for his cruel Master's coming dominance)
The War of the Flowers (Tad Williams, Fiction - A man is taken to the world of faeries, where magic mimicks technology and a war with humanity is brewing)
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The Ruby in the Smoke
(A Sally Lockhart mystery, Book 1)
Philip Pullman
Knopf
Fiction, YA Historical Fiction/Mystery
****
DESCRIPTION: After Sally Lockhart's father died in a shipwreck in the South China Sea, she finds herself alone in Victorian England at the tender age of sixteen, living with a cruel distant relative and seemingly doomed, like the vast majority of women of the era, to be little more than property. One day, she recieves a mysterious letter, seemingly sent on behalf of her father shortly after his death. Penned in a strange hand, it hints at trouble with Captain Lockhart's shipping company, with a special cryptic warning about the "Seven Blessings." Inquiring at the offices of her father's former business partner, the utterance of those two words scares the clerk on duty to death. Suddenly, Sally is caught in the middle of a dangerous web of international intrigue, opium smuggling, fraud, lies... and a ruby that lies at the heart of it all.
REVIEW: Pullman spins a dark and intricate tale, crafting several memorable characters as he wends his unflinching way through the Hell of London's opium trade and
other underworld pursuits. This is pitched at the Teen end of Young Adult, but I was still a bit surprised as to how dark Pullman went with it. Sally makes a decent detective,
surrounded by a good crew (as most detectives are) and pitted against fittingly ruthless enemies. The resolution of the mystery is just a hair shy of too convoluted, tying
together unresolved issues from Sally's own past as well as the tale of the titular ruby. As one might surmise, there are more books in this series, though oddly enough the next
one doesn't pick up until Sally is in her early 20's.
Incidentally, in my work at the library, I've seen a DVD of a televised version of this book go through a time or two. I haven't seen it, so I have no idea if it's in any way
faithful to the book or not.
You might also enjoy:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi, YA Fiction - A prim-and-proper Victorian young lady finds herself accused of murder during a transAtlantic voyage)
Wish You Were Here (Rita Marie Brown, Fiction - A nosy postmistress and her pets investigate murders in her small town)
A Study in Scarlet (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Fiction - An eccentric genius named Sherlock Holmes pursues a killer in 19th-century London)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Fiction - Short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes)
The Familiar Dragon series (Daniel Hood, Fiction - An amateur detective inherits a murdered wizard's familiar)
The House of Silk (Anthony Horowitz, Fiction - An aging Dr. Watson writes of Sherlock's darkest, most controversial investigation)
The Ghosts of Belfast (Stuart Neville, Fiction - An ex-IRA hitman, released from prison, sets out to appease the ghosts of his victims)
felidae (Akif Pirinçci, Fiction - A tomcat discovers a murdered cat in the yard of his new home)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series (Alexander McCall Smith, Fiction - The unconventional lady detective Precious Ramotswe solves crimes and helps neighbors in Botswana)
Three Bags Full (Leonie Swann, Fiction - A flock of Irish sheep investigates the death of their shepherd)
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