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His Dark Materials (novel) (view source)
Revision as of 04:27, December 8, 2007
, 04:27, December 8, 2007Undo revision 348451 by Special:Contributions/JesusGoesToOrpington (User talk:JesusGoesToOrpington)
'''''His Dark Materials''''' is a trilogy of children's [[fantasy]] novels written by [[Britain|British]] author Philip Pullman. It has caused controversy due to themes of anti-theism and the author's [[atheist]] and [[secularist]] beliefs.
'''''His Dark Materials''''' is a trilogy of children's [[fantasy]] novels written by [[Britain|British]] author Philip Pullman. It has caused controversy due to themes of anti-theism and the author's [[atheist]] and [[secularist]] beliefs.
The trilogy consists of ''The Golden Compass'' (originally published as ''Northern Lights'' in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1995), ''The Subtle Knife'' (published in 1997) and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (published in 2000). The title of the trilogy refers to a line from the 17th century poem ''Paradise Lost'' by [[John Milton]], [http://www.kirkcenter.org/bookman/44-1-bernthal.html], a line that is stated at the start of ''The Golden Compass''.
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==Plot==
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The main action of the trilogy centers around Lyra Belacqua, an 11-year old girl raised in [[England]] in another universe, and Will Parry, a 12-year old boy from London in our [[universe]].
===The Golden Compass===
The first novel is primarily concerned with Lyra, a girl living in [[Oxford]]. In Lyra's world, a person's [[soul]] is represented as an animal known as a "daemon". Children's daemons can change their shape at will, but once a person reaches maturity their daemon becomes "fixed" and stays in one shape for the rest of its life. Lyra's world is ruled by "The Church", a [[religion|religious]] organization that wields immense power. The Church worships a powerful being known as "The Authority"
The story follows Lyra as she travels across the North to rescue her friend Roger, a servant at the college in which she lives, who has been kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers. She is also on a mission to rescue Lord Asriel, her father and an explorer, who has been imprisoned at a castle ruled by talking bears. Her primary assistance on this journey is a golden, compass-like object called an alethiometer, which can tell the future. Along the way, she encounters allies like flying witches, aeronauts (balloon operators), and tribes of seafarers called Gyptians.
Eventually, she is captured by the Gobblers and learn that they are a branch of The Church known as the General Oblation Board. The Board is led by Lyra's mother, Mrs. Marisa Coulter. Their goal is to separate children from their daemons to prevent a mysterious, invisible substance known as "Dust" from settling on them. This Dust is believed to be [[Original sin]] by the Church. Unfortunately, the separation of a child and their daemon always results in the death of both. With the aid of her allies, Lyra escapes the Oblation Board with Roger, freeing the other prisoners in the process.
She ends up in Svalbard, the kingdom of talking, armored bears known as ''panserbjorne''. With her bear ally Iorek Byrnison, she topples the corrupt bear king and frees Lord Asriel. However, Asriel betrays her and uses Roger's daemon to open a massive portal to another world. The process of opening this portal results in Roger's death. Lyra vows to find the source and identity of Dust, and enters the portal.
She ends up in Svalbard, the kingdom of talking, armored bears known as ''panserbjorne''. With her bear ally Iorek Byrnison, she topples the corrupt bear king and frees Lord Asriel. However, Asriel betrays her and uses Roger's daemon to open a massive portal to another world. The process of opening this portal results in Roger's death. Lyra vows to find the source and identity of Dust, and enters the portal.