Philip Pullman Reviews

Philip Pullman  The Golden Compass
    Knopf/Random
    Reviewed 7/96
An extraordinary, compelling fantasy, the first volume of a projected trilogy, is set in an alternate world, parallel to our own earth, but differing in many details. The most fascinating is the existence of dæmons, an integral part of every human being, much like a soul, but taking the form of an animal. Human and dæmon are tied by an emotional bond that cannot be broken without indescribable suffering or, more probably, death. The technology of this world is similar to that of our own of perhaps a century ago, with such things as anbaric light rather than electric, and balloons and zeppelins rather than airplanes. Our heroine is orphaned Lyra Belacqua, who lives with her dæmon, Pantalaimon, at Jordan College in Oxford, under the care of the Master. She is an unusual child: rough, inquisitive, wiry, a born leader, an accomplished liar, almost fearless. Soon after children begin disappearing all over the country and Lyra's guardian, Lord Asriel, is captured and imprisoned during an expedition to the Arctic, she is taken from the college by the beautiful, fascinating Mrs. Coulter. The Master of Jordan College has secretly given Lyra a rare and unusual instrument, the alethiometer, which looks like a compass and can be used to answer questions of every sort, even about the future. Her old friends the gyptians, who live in canal boats, rescue her, and mount an expedition to Lapland to locate the missing children. On the way Lyra encounters and helps to free Iorek Byrnison, a sentient armored bear, who becomes her most powerful defender. Lyra finds the missing children in a scientific experimental station, where they are being subjected to the hideous operation of intercision, which separates them from their dæmons. The reasons for this butchery are only part of the extremely complex plot, in which the unknowing Lyra is deeply involved. The characters of Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter, and Iorek Byrnison and the cold and beautiful Northern setting capture the reader's attention; 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. ANN A. FLOWERS

Philip Pullman  The Subtle Knife
    Knopf/Random
    Reviewed 9/97
In this second book of the trilogy His Dark Materials, following The Golden Compass, the adventures of Lyra Belacqua continue, with the introduction of young Will Parry as a major protagonist. Will comes from Oxford in our world; he is anxious to find his long-lost explorer father and struggles to protect his mother and some valuable papers from sinister men in black. He accidentally kills one and escapes through a window into a city, Ci'gazze, in a middle world where he joins up with Lyra. The two become friends and allies against a bewildering conglomeration of enemies. They are pursued for many reasons: they have both been prophesied to play leading parts in impending struggles of immense proportions; Will has become the owner of a knife of great powers, the subtle knife; and Lyra possesses the alethiometer — the golden compass — which can foretell the future and direct Lyra and Will to their unknown destinies. Many characters from The Golden Compass reappear: Mrs. Coulter continues her evil plotting; in a moving episode, Lee Scoresby, the Texas aeronaut, is killed defending a lost hope to protect Lyra; Serafina Pekkala and her witches enter this middle world to lend aid to Lyra and Will. The intricacy of the plot is staggering; it is perhaps a retelling of Paradise Lost — there are hints and portents that Lord Asriel, Lyra's father, is preparing to restage the revolt of the angels against God and that Lyra is destined to be the new Eve. Although this volume is very much a book between the first and third — and almost incomprehensible without having read The Golden Compass — each of the players in this vast game is clear and distinct, and there is no doubt that the work is stunningly ambitious, original, and fascinating. Pullman offered an exceptional romantic fantasy in The Golden Compass, but The Subtle Knife adds a mythic dimension that inevitably demands even greater things from the finale. ANN A. FLOWERS

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