The His Dark Materials trilogy is a group of fantasy books about parallel worlds, religion and spirituality. Aimed at young adults the books were released between 1995 and 2000. It is a coming of age story about a girl named Lyra who finds herself in embroiled in the dangerous world of child trafficking and the mysterious Dust.

The books won several prizes upon their release, including the Carnegie Medal and the prestigious Whitbred Book of the Year Award (now known as the Costa Book of the Year Award). The Amber Spyglass was the first children’s book ever to receive this honour.

The first of these books is named The Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass in North America) which centres around Lyra and her dangerous journey into the wintery North in order to rescue her best friend Roger, the kitchen boy of Jordon College, Oxford. It is a world much like our own, but for the presence of an animal shaped daemon that accompanies every human and represents their innermost personalities and emotions.

The second book, The Subtle Knife, tells the story of Will Parry, a 12 year old boy fleeing our world in search of his missing father. He finds himself in a strange universe, populated by orphaned children whose parents have been consumed by spectres. Whilst there Will meets Lyra and finds himself the owner of a magical knife which can cut doorways between different universes.

The third book, The Amber Spyglass tells the tale of Will and Lyra’s final adventure together, in a beautiful and exotic story where she and Will must both learn to face their impending adulthood and growing feelings, whilst caught in a tragic and tumultuous world where souls and spirits are trapped.

The books have all caused controversy around it’s theme of religion and spirituality. Hailed as the counter argument to C.S Lewis’ Narnia series the books discourage many of the traditional beliefs of christianly and Catholicism. Much like Lewis’ Narnia the books involve talking animals and children who must discern right from wrong in a parallel world where they encounter both God and evil in varying guises.

The books were incredibly popular upon their original released: largely because their stories are so in depth and intriguing, with a complex world and likeable characters whilst thematically they deal with subjects almost too intense to sit comfortably in children’s fiction. Pullman addresses almost every conceivable aspect of religious philosophy in the trilogy, ranging from fallen angels and original sin to Creation and eternal life.

The trilogies theme is easily its strongest point; holding all three stories together and driving the characters forward. It progresses in it’s complexity with each book, as more and more detail is poured into the readers understanding of the alternate worlds and opposing thematic arguments.

The books deal with these complex and often very personal philosophies in a tender manner, raising many questions but leaving their answers open to interpretation. However for most young readers of these books some levels of this will go unnoticed and they will simply find themselves drawn into the beauty and detail of the narrative. The story itself manages to be both heart warming and heart breaking, on the surface it deals with the most important aspects of childhood and puberty: friendship, love and self expression. All of which are investigated through the characters of Will and Lyra and the choices they make as they grow up passing between realities.

Ultimately the books are encouraging children, as they pass from the awkward uncertain age of puberty into adulthood, to make their own philosophical decisions about what is right and wrong. In many ways this is the most heart breaking aspect of the trilogy, as it is in this idea that the strength of character and moral fibre of the main characters is truly tested, and the final outcome is fittingly beautiful and tragic.

The books biggest downfall however is its strong coming-of-age ideology. As a teen reading this book is moving and personal, whilst as an adult you find yourself awoken to the various thematic levels of the novel. Now however, it lacks the emotion and tenderness previous experienced, the writing seems somehow stunted, the speech patronizing and forced. As an adult you cannot help but become aware of the fact that this is an adults vision of childhood, innocent and curious, which ultimately makes it seem over enthusiastic and verging on irritating. It is hard to bypass this effect, which leaves your interpretation of the books souly on a mental level.

It is almost as though the trilogies best aspect is also its worst enemy, as the themes seem pretentious and more the thoughts of lofty intellectuals than the integral musings of every living person. The fantasy element of the book is also shrouded by this cloud of over eager pretension, ultimately diluting the beauty of Pullman’s original vision.

This all contributes to the books somehow lacking in personality, being too preoccupied with themes and morals has left them feeling somewhat old fashioned and lacking in the spark and fun of more recent fiction that has surpassed the age gap.

Having said all this, the narrative of the book is so compelling you find yourself flying through the series, unable to put the books down. The magic and mystery of the story is so strong that the arrogance and annoyance of the book almost seems worth the irritation in order that you may follow Will and Lyra on their journey. The final book is surely worth the work as the writing here surpasses the first two greatly and is much easier to sink into. It takes a fair amount of determination to get past the books surface flaws however its beauty is clear upon completion and the praise and recognition it originally garnered is all well deserved.

This is a book that many will have loved as teens, but I would suggest that you not revisit it as an adult. In many ways you will find yourself disappointed as you read it and it is enough to put you off seeing it through. It is only on reflection of all three books that you find yourself truly able to appreciate how much enjoyment an adult can in fact take in these stories.

Share and Enjoy

Random Posts

Tags: christian fantasy, His Dark Materials, phillip pullman, the golden compass