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Northern Lights (His Dark Materials) | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Scholastic
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £0.01
You Save: £6.98 (100%)
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 6909
Media: Paperback
Edition: classic edition
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.3
ISBN: 043995178X
EAN: 9780439951784
ASIN: 043995178X
Publication Date: March 5, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Next day despatch from UK
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Dazzling colours... September 16, 2008
G. Munday (London, UK)
A young and independent girl called Lyra is forced into adventure when her close friend is kidnapped. As the story unfolds, the reader is drawn into this parallel universe of mysterious creatures and soul daemons, tracking the progress of typical Pullman anti-heroes. Through drawing upon aspects of the real world (the gypsy culture that live on barges, for instance, were based on the travellers of Oxford's Jericho canal), Northern Lights is heavily doused in the politics of Christianity and authority figures of the real world.
Suitable for later KS2 Years (certainly 5 and 6, and possibly able Year 4 readers). His Dark Materials trilogy is a great opportunity to increase the interest of reading for enjoyment, and has opportunity for cross-curricular studies in RE. Similar to the Harry Potter phenomenon, His Dark Materials Trilogy could be also used to spark interest in history, mythology and geography, fuelled by the existing passion that many children already hold for these novels or film adaptations. The book could also be used in terms of self-esteem, where children could have activities such as drawing and creating their own daemon is order to project their personality and, in some cases, give the child a visual means of harnessing inner strength and confidence.
One of the all-time greats August 15, 2008
M (London, UK)
I truly believe that in years to come, this will be regarded as one of the great children's classics, right up at the top with Alice in Wonderland.
 Not really for grown-ups June 16, 2008
Lendrick (London)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
His Dark Materials is being touted as being 'for all ages', having made my way through 'Northern Lights' this 40 something has to disagree. My 10 year old daughter loved it, and I'm sure it is a good read for that age group.
However, I found myself slightly bored and irritated with it. Northern Lights is just too simplistic to stand up as a novel for grown-ups. The basic problem is that the world Lyra lives in never fully comes to life. We only get told what is needed for the plot, there isn't enough background detail to turn a sketch into something more substantial. Similarly the supporting characters are one dimensional archetypes rather than fully developed individuals.
All of which leaves a lot to be delivered by Lyra and the plot. I didn't really believe in Lyra - everything comes just a little to easily to her, and her tendency to drop into a mockney accent for no apparent reason didn't help.
The plot starts intriguingly but after a slightly dull middle turns into a series of grandstand action events, perhaps to take the readers mind off the lack of coherence in the story. Finally we get a series of lengthy and dull expositions from Lord Asriel & Mrs Coulter to try and make some sense of what has gone before. To be fair the ending does have sufficient `hook' to make we slightly curious about what happens next, but I won't be rushing to find out.
All in all judged as an adult book this is distinctly average steampunk/fantasy not worthy of the plaudits it has received.
Fascinating Read June 12, 2008
Ms. L. Hart (South West, England)
I believe, from a fifteen year-old girl's point of view (this is my mother's account), that this book was reasonably exquisite.
Pullman immerses the reader into Lyra's extraordinary world, that is little but a twist of our own, well. The detail is great and tie that binds Lyra's Daemon to her is made clear immeadiately (which I believe is lacked in it's film).
I find, every character are much more than two-dimensional. Mrs Coulter is devious in her own right; Lord Asriel remains elusive, despite how much the reader thinks they know and Lyra is consistantly changing in attitude and belief as the tail is told. These aspects aid in the narrative hook that is placed upon the reader from early in novel.
The plot itself is fairly complex, but simple enough to follow so this book is suited to all ages that read in this genre. It follows twists and trials beyond the imagination and Pullman has successfully conveyed said plot with enough detail to keep the reader gripped.
Conclusively, I gave this book four stars instead of five as I believe the end was rushed a little; the sudden joining of Lyra's parents and the quick demise of Lyra's Oxford friend and seemed all to rushed. Also, I believe that a few a few areas could perhaps be more detailed. All-in-all though, I reccomend this book to anyone willing to read it.
Extraordinarily good April 11, 2008
sartori (UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had wanted to start this series of novels for quite some time now and having just read this first installment I can honestly say that I'm very impressed! It's a wonderful book and one that I highly recommend to adults and young adults alike. Great storytelling, great characters, it's all here in abundance.
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