 | | |
| His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) | 
 enlarge | List Price: $22.50
Buy New: $13.83
You Save: $8.67 (39%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $11.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 1081 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1060
Category: Book
Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Studio: Laurel Leaf
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
Label: Laurel Leaf
Format: Box Set
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 4.4 x 3.1
ISBN: 0440238609
EAN: 9780440238607
ASIN: 0440238609
Publication Date: September 23, 2003
Release Date: September 23, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Metaphoric "Paradise Lost" June 9, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
For people wishing an alternative - for whatever reason - to the insanely popular "Harry Potter" fantasies (to which Philip Pullman's trilogy has been compared), Pullman's tale offers a bracing change. Here's why: even though it has very obvious fantasy elements such as magic and witches and talking bears, it doesn't fit the traditional mold of a fantasy because it draws upon scientific knowledge and theory, which pushes it into SF. However, like other good fantasy, Pullman's tale is also strongly interwoven in myth. Milton's "Paradise Lost" forms the basis of Pullman's overarching theme, woven by a rich fabric of setting and characters, each journeying toward their own sense of purpose and final destiny on this world. This is a book of great scope, unfolding, aptly, through the eyes of a child.
Wrongly (I think) categorized by many as just a YA (young adult) fantasy, this SF-fantasy slipstream should appeal to readers of all ages. It is, after all, a multi-layered tale of universal scope. Pullman, himself, de-emphasizes the fantasy elements of his tale, calling it "stark realism" because these elements (such as daemons) are used to embody phycological truths about human personality. Say's Pullman, "I am trying to write a book about what it means to be human." The coming-of-age of an intrepid girl and boy serves as an elegant metaphor to explore the story of everyman's journey toward enlightenment and whose every step comes with it a price. It brings to mind a quote by Victor Frankl: "What is to give light must endure burning."
Jordon College in Oxford is not an ordinary place for a girl; but then Lyra Belacqua is no ordinary girl, she can hear the hushed messages of truth uttered to her by the strange particles that animate her golden compass. Abandoned to the care of old scholars who know nothing about children, the little scamp runs wild through the streets of the university town, seeking adventure and not quite recognizing her yearning for "home" and love. She finds it - or it finds her - in the most unlikely place when she blunders into a vortex of danger, love, betrayal and intrigue. And it all begins with dust. Again, not just ordinary dust, but "magical" dust. Dust that provides a gateway to thousands of other worlds. . . .
As our intrepid heroine journeys through a rich tapestry of worlds, she meets and recruits the services of an amazing variety of strange creatures in her quest to uncover more of the mystery of dust and the shattering truth of its role in her own destiny. Lyra journeys first to the far reaches of the north, where strange experiments are being conducted and where she meets the formidable armored bears. As she continues on to a mysterious tropical land, Lyra meets Wil, a young boy looking for his lost father, and together they flee the soul-eating Spectors who stalk the streets. Neither is aware that their destinies lie on a collision course with the otherworldly struggle of good and evil and that their innocence will only be one of the casualties.
Pullman spins imaginative and metaphorical worlds both familiar yet unfamiliar - giving us a strange but titillating sense of deja vu. This is surely what phasing into another universe may well feel like. Pullman pulls off (pardon the pun) what few fantasy writers are capable of doing: he marries arcane SF with the lyrical elements of fantasy - the epic adventure of good vs. evil. He does this by using scientific facts and logical premises and weaves his heroic tale around them. For instance, the idea of parallel universes is not only old but very much in vogue with physicists these days. Check out the May 2003 issue of Scientific American for a good summary on this topic. While Pullman borrows His Dark Materials title from Milton, he also takes the concept of dark matter from real science. Dark matter is some form of matter theorized to exist that cannot be observed by radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray or gamma-ray telescopes and is theorized to be MACHOS, WIMPS, or GAS (see http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/dark_matter3.html for more info on this incredible particle).
I suppose I was spell-bound by Pullman's imaginative worlds, his sensuous descriptions and his creatively bold use of scientific concepts but it was his complex and passionate characters who captured and still live in my heart. His main character, Lyra, has learned to spin the tallest tales to get by yet she possesses the most sincere and brave heart, and her interactions with her daemen (an alter-ego, part of her soul embodied in an animal bonded with her) are touching and humorous. It is her paradoxical combination of traits that makes her both charming and sweet: she is brave yet vulnerable; enveigling yet genuine; innocent yet crafty; naive yet wise. She personifies the child in all of us, the child who must grow up and lose something to gain something else. So we laugh with her and we cry for her.
The ending of the third book, which is bitter-sweet but provides excellent closure, leaves the reader - as all good fiction should - fulfilled yet drained, and wondering about both our own personal destinies and how we fit in with the larger questions of our universe. This is a must read for those seeking compelling adventure that does not compromise intelligence for action, character and setting for pace, heart for thrill, depth for speed; and imagination for story.
Great Books. Very Pleased. June 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am very pleased with my order. The books were in excellent condition and were swiftly delivered.
Thanks!
great June 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (His Dark Materials)
WONDERFUL!! June 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an amazing collection, I originaly purchased these books after watching the movie "The Golden Compass" which is the first book in this collection. The way the movie was written is leaves you up in the air at the end of the movie wanting more so when I found out the movie was based on a book and there was a series I purchased them immediatly.
I am a new mother and I do not read much but of coarse if I want my daughter to read I need to show her it is fun so I was looking for a fun and easy to read story and this is it.
These books keep me turning the page, I would compair the type of story to "The lord of the rings" the writer has a great imagination. I feel like I really know the characters.
The story begins in a world similar to ours but different, the largest difference is that the characters spirit or soul is not inside their body but it portraid as an animal that talks and travels with them, adults "demon" (which is what they are called in the book) stay the same but childrens demon change based upon how they feel or the circumstances. This demon like a spirit or a soul determins your personality, and if the demon hurts the person hurts.
I am trying to be very careful not to tell you too much but my parents told me about the story and that is what made me so interisted.
The first book is basicaly about an experiment where the seperate the demon from the child in order to maintain control of their adult behavior. I will stop there because I can go on all day.
I would recomend this series to anyone adult or child with an imagination, it is easy reading and is a wonderful story, bravo to the writer he has made me LOVE reading again.
 mass market paperbacks - not trade paperbacks June 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I ordered this under the impression that these were trade paperbacks, not mass market paperbacks. (In the list of similar items, this set is listed separately from the specific "mass market paperback boxset".)
I guess I didn't pay close enough attention, because indeed these are mass market paperbacks. (If you take the time to look over the full listings for His Dark Materials, you can see that the covers are the same as the individual mass market volumes.)
It's a fairly nice set, for mass market, and a good value -- just not what I was expecting. If you want to buy the series as separate volumes and on the cheap, it's a good choice.
|
|
|
 Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |
