Northern Lights Classic Art Edition (His Dark Materials, #1)

by Philip Pullman

The first volume in Philip Pullman's groundbreaking
His Dark Materials trilogy, re-published in hardback
with a stunning fine art cover.
"Without
this child, we shall all die."


Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree
among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford.

The destiny that
awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where
witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight.

Her extraordinary
journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own
world...






This classic art edition featuring Jeune Fille
en Vert et Rouge, painted by Balthus in 1944, is destined to
become a collectors' item.

he perfect companion to the Classic Art Edition of The Subtle
Knife

The smash-hit, critically adored first season of BBC/HBO television
series was based on the story of Northern Lights.

• ISBN13: 9780702313998
• Publish Date: 4 November 2021 (first published 21 July 1995)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Scholastic
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[zarahoffman]

Lyra Belaqua is curious, and brave, and defiant. Bored with her classes at Jordan College, Lyra sneaks into the Board Room and hides in the closet to watch her uncle, Lord Asriel's, presentation where she learns about a strange substance named Dust.


Lyra's World
Lyra doesn't live in our world. She lives in a parallel universe. According to Lord Asriel, all parallel universes coexist and are connected by the Dust in the Northern Lights (The Golden Compass's original title).
And in Lyra's world the totalitarian organization called the Magisterium rules with an iron fist, eradicating any "traitorous" thoughts.
Creatures
In Lyra's world, people have daemons: animals who represent human souls in an exterior form. Holding a person's daemon affects the human and vice versa. A child's daemon can shapeshift, but starting in puberty, it begins to "settle" into it's adult form, from which it cannot change.
There are also panserbjørn or "armored bears" who wear their souls in the armor they make from Sky Iron. On her adventure, Lyra meets one named Iorek Byrnison under strange circumstances.
Lyra also encounters the witches of the North on her adventure, including the leader, Serafina Pekkala. Witches, like normal humans have daemons, but they can be separated by large distances unlike humans who can't stray more than a few feet from their daemons.
The Alethiometer (Golden Compass)
The Alethiometer is a "truth measure" and operates on the mystical Dust. By asking a question in your mind and moving the three red needles to three corresponding images on the rim, the reader will receive an answer when the blue needle points to three other symbols. Very few people can read the se Golden Compasses.
Many of the Alethiometers have been destroyed by the Magisterium because they interfered with their rule. Lyra, however, is one of the remaining few who can read one.
Style
Philip Pullman creates an amazingly rich world populated with majestic creatures and minute details that bring Lyra's world to life. The first few chapters are a little slow and read almost like a textbook that you would find at Lyra's Jordan College, but the action begins very quickly–and once it does, you can't put the book down.
Movie
The 2007 movie directed by Chris Weitz starring Dakota Blue Richards (Lyra), Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, and other does not deserve the bad reputation it's been given. Illustrated and acted very faithfully to the books (in my opinion), I would definitely watch the movie after you've read the book. In the movie, Serafina Pekkala (played by Eva Green) serves as a sort of omniscient narrator.