[Books] His Dark Materials #1: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

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Finished on: Oct 27 2013

Synopsis 
Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however,nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved

Review

In a world where each person has their very own dæmon, and where there are witches, armored bears and a great amusement for "dust". The book revolves around it's protagonist; an 11 year old girl, Lyra. She sets out to find her friend Roger who has mysteriously gone missing. In the process, she meets new people and discovers that children everywhere are getting taken away from their families to be used for experiments. Lyra sets out to find out more about these "experiments" and tries to find a way to stop them.

Now that I read the summary for the first time, I don't think I would've read this book if it wasn't for the movie and how awesome it looked. The idea of having your very own dæmon that is connected to your and will always be by your side is what drew me into this series.

I really enjoyed this book from the very beginning, until I started to get a little uninterested. I wasn't bored, it was very exciting, but it just suddenly felt uninteresting to me, until the pace went back up again and my interest grew back up towards the ending of the book.

The characters were alright, but favorite was Serafina Pekkala and most of the witches. My least favorite after Ms Coulter was Lord Asreal. I honestly didn't expect him to act that way towards his own daughter. Okay I won't say more.

The story line was fantastic, it was a whole new world that I think everyone should experience with an open mind. I recommend this trilogy to those who enjoy reading about different worlds that is filled with loads of action. I'm looking forward to starting the next book.