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Book Review of The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Bk 1)

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Bk 1)
reviewed on
Helpful Score: 5


This is an interesting story. The movie, "The Golden Compass," came out in December 2007 and is much less nuanced. After reading the story, the movie feels rushed, it does recreate Pullman's world to good effect. After reading the entire trilogy, I feel this first book is the most enjoyable because it's tightly written and well paced.

Pullman creates a first-class alternate fantasy universe that both older children and adults should enjoy exploring. This first book is not a total cliffhanger but it does leave much for the next two books to explain. Items of religious controversy mostly come out in the third and concluding book.