The questions, discussion topics, and author information that follow are intended to enhance your group's reading of The Golden Compass . We hope that this guide will help you to navigate - alongside the story's young protagonist, Lyra Belacqua - Philip Pullman's richly imagined universe, populated by armored bears, gyptians, witches, and human beings, whose daemons are never far from their side. Daemons are one of the most striking, charming, and powerful images in The Golden Compass . These spirit-creatures, which seem like physical representations of the human soul, can change form to reflect the myriad of emotional states their humans go through as children. But in adulthood, each daemon settles into the animal form that best reflects the inner nature of its human counterpart. It is in this unusual and imaginative creation that Pullman turns his sharpest mirror back onto his readers, helping us to imagine our own souls as precious, living extensions of ourselves that we can love, challenge, or even betray. The Golden Compass is a complex story that turns on a simple word: 'Dust.' This Dust does not gather in the unswept corners of Jordan College, Lyra's Oxford home. Rather, this Dust seems to reveal - or perhaps contain - the thing that makes each human being a unique creature. The concept of Dust provokes fear in some; others realize that mastery over Dust could be the source of great power. Although she does not quite realize it, Lyra - along with her daemon Pantalaimon - finds her life inextricably entangled with the exploration of Dust. And as her understanding of Dust and her mastery over a mysterious tool called the alethiometer increases, the dangerous journey that she seems destined to make takes some astounding twists and turns.
Industry Reviews
"Extraordinary storytelling at its very best." --The Detroit Free Press "Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --The Washington Post
"Very grand indeed." --The New York Times
"Powerful [...] a fantasy adventure that sparkles with childlike wonder." --The Boston Sunday Globe
"Marvelous [...] the writing is elegant and challenging." --The New Yorker
"Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past twenty years [...] If [The Subtle Knife] is as good as The Golden Compass, we'll be two thirds of the way to the completion of a modern fantasy classic."
--The Washington Post Book World
"Pullman is quite possibly a genius...using the lineaments of fantasy to tell the truth about the universal experience of growing up." --Newsweek
"Masterful storytelling [...] with a cast of instantly beguiling characters." --The Dallas Morning News
"The most magnificent fantasy series since Lord of the Rings." --The Oregonian
"Pullman has created the last great fantasy masterpiece of the twentieth century. An astounding achievement." --The Cincinnati Enquirer
"Once in a lifetime a children's author emerges who is so extraordinary that the imagination of generations is altered. Lewis Carroll, E. Nesbit, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien were all of this cast. So, too, is Philip Pullman, whose Dark Materials trilogy will be devoured by anyone between eight and eighty. The most ambitious work since The Lord of the Rings, it is as intellectually thrilling as it is magnificently written." -- New Statesman
"Thrillingly paced and exotic [...] breathtaking." -- Columbus Dispatch
"[...] a rare few have minds capacious enough to engage in vast cosmos-making, imagining realms and inventing universes. I am thinking of Dante and Milton and Blake. We may now add Philip Pullman."
--Parents Choice (online)
"The Golden Compass is one of the best fantasy/adventure stories that I have read in years. This is a book no one should miss." --Terry Brooks, author of The Sword of Shannara
"As always, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterizations and seamless plotting, maintaining a crackling pace to create scene upon scene of almost unbearable tension. This glittering gem will leave readers of all ages eagerly awaiting the next installment of Lyra's adventures."
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"This first fantastic installment of the His Dark Materials trilogy propels readers along with horror and high adventure, a shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe." - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"This first fantastic installment propels readers along with horror and high adventure [...] A shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"The characters of Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coutler, and Iorek Byrnison and the cold and beautiful Northern setting are captivating; the constantly twisting plot and escalating suspense are riveting; and Lyra and Pantalaimon are among the gutsiest and wiliest of adventurers. Touching, exciting, and mysterious by turns, this is a splendid work." --The Horn Book Magazine, Starred
"Glorious. And what an ending -- simply operatic." --School Library Journal, Top 100 Children's Novels (#28)
"This is a captivating fantasy, filled with excitement, suspense, and unusual characters." --School Library Journal
"A totally involving, intricately plotted fantasy that will leave readers clamoring for the sequels."
--Booklist, Starred review
"Glorious. . . . The Golden Compass is one of those lyrical suspensions like Alice in Wonderland and The Lord of the Rings that crosses all age lines and intertwines mythologies and legends with seamless beauty." --BookPage
From the Hardcover edition.
