109 of 111 people found the following review helpful:
ALSO KNOWN AS: Northern Lights!!!
If, like myself, you think you've just discovered a hitherto unheard of book in the Dark Materials Saga. Sorry ... you haven't. This is in fact'Northern Lights' with an alternate title. So, why has this book been called something else? Well, when overseas publishers buy publication/distribution rights, they occasionally change a book's title if they feel this will work...
176 of 182 people found the following review helpful:
The Golden Compass
BEWARE BEWARE
I love Philip Pulman books. So much so I had bought this one already except when I bought it it was called NORTHERN LIGHTS. Don't get cought out like I was. Amazon Post a warning this is Northern Lights
If, like myself, you think you've just discovered a hitherto unheard of book in the Dark Materials Saga. Sorry ... you haven't. This is in fact'Northern Lights' with an alternate title. So, why has this book been called something else? Well, when overseas publishers buy publication/distribution rights, they occasionally change a book's title if they feel this will work better for their target audience. Remember how 'Harry Potter & the Philosopher'sStone' became 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' when released in America. This particular edition of 'Northern Lights' is the same kind of thing. That being said ... if you haven't read 'Northern Lights' A.K.A. 'The Golden Compass' ... then why not? It's a jolly exciting read! The first part of a hugely successful trilogy, the adventure starts on page one and never lets up. However, if you're new to Pullman's books, and intend to start reading them, begin with 'Northern Lights;' or better still, why not chose one of the compilation editions containing all three books together.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
WARNING Please be aware that this book was previously sold as 'Northern Lights' and is the first book of the trilogy and NOT a new book. I was very excited when I saw this as I had hoped that it was. I would recommend the trilogy to anyone as it has an easy reading style while at the same time appealing to adults. Something that is rare.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
If you are a Phillip Pullman fan you will not be disappointed. This is a very exciting read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. But you will be disappointed if you think this is a brand new book, it is actually The Northern Lights - I assume given a different name for the American/Canadian market.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
If you've already got a copy of 'Northern Lights,' then you needn't buy a copy of 'The Golden Compass,' as they are the same book with alternate titles.
The question you may be asking is: why has this book been called something else? Is this some ploy to prise hard-earned cash out of the unwary public?
Well, when overseas publishers buy publication/distribution rights, they occasionally change a book's title if they feel this will work better for their target audience. Remember how J K Rowling's 'Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone' became 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' when released in America? Another example is 'Charlie Bone and the Blue Boa' also published as 'Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.' This particular edition of 'Northern Lights' is precisely the same kind of thing.
That being said ... if you haven't read 'Northern Lights' A.K.A. 'The Golden Compass' ... then why not? It's a jolly exciting read! The first part of a hugely successful trilogy, the adventure starts on page one and never lets up. However, if you're new to Pullman's books, and intend to start reading them, begin with 'Northern Lights;' or better still, why not chose one of the compilation editions containing all three books together. They're great value ... and after reading the first instalment, you'd simply have to read the other two!
Alternate titles can be very confusing - but hopefully, by reading the Amazon reviews carefully, you should be able to avoid buying the same book twice!
Enjoy your reading!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
I love Philip Pulman books. So much so I had bought this one already except when I bought it it was called NORTHERN LIGHTS. Don't get cought out like I was. Amazon Post a warning this is Northern Lights
Glenn Atherton
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Firstly, I am tired of reviewers 'comparing' this trilogy to JK Rowlings Potter Series. Secondly, There is no comparison. Meaning you may as well compare Chocolate with Steak. Both have their place at a well planned dinner table! We need to be reading a balanced meal.
I love The HP books equally as I do the 'His dark Materials' Trilogy.If you're looking to replace the 'Potter' rush with the Pullman books, it won't happen, this is a deeper and darker league. You will find yourself drawn into places and plots, lives and ideas almost impossible for many an imagination. Perfectly written and a great main course after the 'Potter' starter, however, I will be returning to the be-specticaled one for dessert. (The lighter option) Again, I say... No Comparison, maybe complimentary.
Enjoy your time with His Dark Materials,lose yourself in the questions the books will awaken and be prepared to miss your stop if you read it on the bus! I just hope the up-coming film does Pullman justice.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
I bought this book for my 10 year old son but found myself absorbed by the strange world that Philip Pullman had invented. Was this book based in our past? Was it in our future? What were Daemons, the strange creatures that all humans possessed? As you read on you realise that the world that they live in is our world only strange and different, then as you read on further, that it is in anothr dimension. The story is nailbiting throughout and ends in a fantastic climax which leaves you hungry for more....which is why I went out and bought the second book 'The Subtle Knife' the very next day! I finished the second book in two days and will be buying the third book today. If you are passively interested in space, time, quantum physics etc. you will love these books. Very clever. Maybe my son will get a look in later!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This book is un-put-down-able; when you start reading, you can barely put it down. I read it in about a week reading two or three chapters on a school day and five chapters on a weekend. The book has 23 chapters of approximately 15 - 30 pages. Every page is exciting and adventurous and not one page is badly written - this book is brilliant! It is among my favourite books; I look forward to reading the other two books in the `His Dark Materials' trilogy. Phillip Pullman has written many books, a lot of which, I have read but this book is 10 times better than all of them (I am not saying those books are bad). The story is about a girl called Lyra whose friend, Roger, gets caught by Gobblers. She has many adventures on her way to finding him and when she does, she finds out he is not the only one to be rescued...
This book has been turned into a movie called `the Golden Compass' - that was the book's original title.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
As a massive Harry Potter fan and a student of theology and religious studies I have put off reading Philip Pullman for years. Firstly, on the grounds that surely nothing can compete with Harry potter and secondly because I didn't want to read some quasi-theological, anti-establishment piece of heresy, which is what several reviewers have portrayed 'Northern Lights' as being. Having just finished reading it however, my only regret is that I didn't do it years ago.
It's hard to escape the Harry Potter analogies as it is the seires of the moment, so let me do a quick comparison for you. Harry Potter is well written, with good dialogue, a realistic fantasy world and solid archetypes. It's of a good level for its target audience (lets say 8-12 year old kids) and offers enough escapism and wry humour to entertain adults as well. Compared to 'Northern Lights' however it is very lightweight.
Without giving away too much about either plot 'Northern Lights' is far tighter, its universe is much more plausible than Harry Potter's and there is a far greater sense of unity in Pullman's world and Lyra's purpose in it. J. K. Rowling's philosophy is by her own admission patchy and pilfered, Pullman presents an intelligent extrapolation of our history and theology and shows it working in the world, something on which Rowling has always been rather weak.
As for the theology, which one reviewer on this page has suggested is rather fantastical, I've read a lot of theologians and they frequently come up with suggestions about the world based on scripture that seem so bizzare that you would laugh at them if they came out of anyone else's mouth. That's the nature of the beast and Pullman portrays well the fact that religious doctrine and the church is not about fixed universal truths at all but political machinations and human interpretation. Pullman's world is in this respect, as in many others, profoundly realistic. He sees the way things are and isn't afraid to say so. That's not heresy, that's fact.
The atmosphere of 'Northern Lights' is all together more sinister than Potter at it's darkest. The characters are enhanced by a level of moral ambiguity that Rowling's lack and although the dialogue isn't as smooth as that in the Potter books it's all the more realistic for it. The plotting is very tight and the writing pared down whereas increasingly in the Potter franchise the books are growing and the content isn't kepping up. There isn't a single page of 'Northern Lights' that isn't relevant to the plot or establishing the setting an characters. Not only does it make for a better read but also keeps the pace cranked up.
This is a brilliant, fast paced and intelligent novel. I did find myself wondering when reading it exactly how much of it a twelve year old child would understand, but I think that the straightforward parts of the narrative are so compelling that they'd be prompted to work out ar research the rest, and anything that gets youngsters to think and read is a good thing! My grandfather loves the books, as does my mother and my twelve eyar old cousin. They'll appeal with anyone with an eye for adventure and a curious mind.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Amazon Home
