Northern Lights: The Golden Compass (English, Paperback, Philip Pullman)

Northern Lights is the first novel in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials fantasy fiction series. This movie-tie-in edition is entitled The Golden Compass after the movie.

Summary of the Book

In an alternate universe, Lyra is an 11 year old student at Jordan College, Oxford. In her world, humans are accompanied by a dæmon which takes on the form of animals. Lyra’s dæmon, Pantalaimon is her sole companion after her parents’ death in an airship crash. She has been raised by the scholars and residents of the college, and her uncle, Lord Asriel, is a respectable man. Lyra fears and respects her uncle, but a conversation she overhears sends her on an adventure which will put her powers, both magical and mental, to the test. If she fails, all the children she knows will be used in deadly experiments to separate them from their dæmons.

About Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman is a British writer, best known for his fantasy novels, and the fictionalized biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

The above title was adapted into a movie entitled The Golden Compass, starring Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Lee, Nicole Kidman and Sam Elliot, winning a BAFTA and an Academy Award for visual effects.

Series Reading Order

This story continues in The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.