A short prequel to the His Dark Materials trilogy.  As the title suggests, this story takes place in the north and focuses on the young and inexperienced (in flying, at least) aeronaut Lee Scoresby.  Lee is one of Pullman's most endearing characters and his relationship to his hare-daemon Hester is every bit as touching as that of Lyra and Pan in the main stories.  Down on his luck and searching for work Scoresby finds himself embroiled in the politics and legality of the frontier.  In fact, despite it's arctic setting, this book reads a lot like a western and that is thoroughly in keeping with Scoresby's character.  We are also treated to his first encounter with a certain "York Burningson" and the already enjoyable story goes from strength to strength from then on.  This book's only downside is, unfortunately, a major one... it's just not nearly long enough!  I would quite happily have plowed through a few hundred pages of Lee and Iorek's early adventures, but instead we have to try to get by on less than one hundred (which also means it's quite expensive for it's length).  More please, Mr. Pullman!

4 out of 5

'The battered cargo balloon came in out of a rainstorm over the White Sea, losing height rapidly and swaying in the strong north-west wind as the pilot trimmed the vanes and tried to adjust the gas-valve.'

 

Northern Lights

The first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy.  I won't explain what this book is about because it is one of those rare books that will be many things to many people.  At it's most fundamental level it's the story of a headstrong young girl, Lyra, who embarks on a quest to rescue her kidnapped friend Roger.  This quest has all that can be expected of it; strange lands (Svalbard), loyal companions (the gyptians) and fantastical creatures (the witches and the panserborne).  I feel I should give a special mention to the panserborne (which translates directly as 'armoured bears').  The concept of the armoured bears seemed a little daft to me at first, but I really came to love their fierce warrior culture and the way in which their armour is their soul.  Beyond the basic story are issues of philosophy and religion that will make for interesting reading to just about anyone who ponders such things.  Perhaps Pullman's best idea is the way in which the human soul is actually an external thing, in the form of the daemons.  I believe there's an especially poignant point being made when it's discovered that the agents of the Church are attempting to sever children from their daemons.  That part of the story is also a brilliantly written bit of horror.  You will find yourself so enamoured of the daemons (Pantalaimon in particular), that when it seems Lyra is about to be ripped apart from hers you will be on the edge of your seat.  I very much look forward to seeing where else the trilogy will take me, but until then, my mind is still turning over what I've read already.

5 out of 5

'Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening Hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.'

 

The Subtle Knife

The second book of the His Dark Materials trilogy.  The first thing this book does is introduce us to Will, a boy both like and unlike Lyra.  He too is faced by unknown foes on his quest to find his lost father and he also becomes the bearer of a powerful artifact (not unlike Lyra and the alethiometer).  However, Will is from our own world and has both a fierceness and a coldness that are unlike Lyra.  The majority of the book involves Will and Lyra together moving between our world and a world known as Ci'gazze as they search for Will's father and try to understand the events they are caught up in.  Using the differing perspectives provided by the three worlds, this book begins to reveal the truth about Dust and more importantly, Lord Asriel's true intentions.  This latter is one of my favourite elements of the book; Asriel is planning to unleash a war against God.  Throughout the book there's a wonderful peripheral sense of vast armies gathering for the coming cataclysmic war, be the warriors human, angel or otherwise.  Now, heroic last stands aren't particularly new, but the one featured in this book is made wonderfully touching by the way in which it focuses on the man's love for his daemon, even as he feels the bullets thudding into him.  It is a rare thing indeed for a sequel to surpass it's predecessor, but I certainly feel that 'The Subtle Knife' did so and then some.

5 out of 5

'Will tugged at his mother's hand and said, "Come on, come on..."'

 

The Amber Spyglass

The conclusion to the His Dark Materials trilogy.  In the previous two books Pullman revealed that he had a remarkable imagination, but here that imagination explodes into numerous new wonders.  Foremost among these are the world of the mulefa and the land of the dead.  Mary Malone's journey into the world of the mulefa is a delight to read as we discover it's remarkable features (wheeled people, bird-ships, volcanic roads etc) along with her.  As for the land of the dead, amid an already intricate story the author takes us on an emotional journey through death (or rather with death) into the afterlife.  Meanwhile, the truth of Lord Asriel's war is revealed as actually being against the charlatan known as the Authority and his Regent, Metatron.  The 'battle on the plain' is spectacularly written as Lyra and Will search for their daemons amid the fighting multitudes of men, angels, ghosts, spectres, panserborne and others.  This epic book winds down with an emotional rollercoaster of joy, despair, love and separation.  Having completed reading the series I have no doubt that it will be seen by later generations as one of the literary masterworks of the late-20th/early-21st Century.

5 out of 5

'In a valley shaded with rhododendrons, close to the snow line, where a stream milky with melt-water splashed and where doves and linnets flew among the immense pines, lay a cave, half-hidden by the crag above and the stiff heavy leaves that clustered below.'

Well, I've often heard the His Dark Materials trilogy being measured up against J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books (although, personally, I think they're far too different to be comparable).

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