His Dark Materials

A magical realism fantasy adventure about kids using their intuition, knowledge through observation and agency to solve big global problems. It's fantastic. It's a book that speaks to the human capacity to use creativity to solve crisis.

Pullman’s trilogy about parallel worlds gripped me after reading the first novel in the series The Northern Lights. As he has said, that like myself, he is not a scientist, but since childhood he has been an avid reader of popular science and the many good books linked to the subject.

When I discovered that his trilogy, like my own and many others, dealt with the mystery of a parallel universe and another world. I was hooked to find out more. He has two young people, a boy and a girl, and a host of other exciting characters throughout… show more.

Like so many others, my imagination was ignited by these books. Pullman created a solid world, so like our own in past times that it evokes wistful nostalgia, but so unique that it awakens an awed wonder. I adored the steampunk setting and all the time spent in academic environs. At the centre of it is a scrappy, young heroine who, for all her flaws, we fall in love with, and we enter wholeheartedly into her troubled journey. If that weren’t enough, the books explore deep, philosophical issues of relationships, power structures, and the very nature of being. When you… show more.

So many reasons why this book made the list. The enchanting concept of a world where humans have their own personal daemons, souls that take on the form of an animal and accompany the person through their life, is just brilliant. Pullman’s epic trilogy is full of weird and wonderful creatures and characters, from warrior bears, to angels and witches. Aside from the grand adventures and mysteries, there are deeper philosophical, religious, and transformative ideas, which examine the relationship of the inner self to the outer world in an almost Jungian way. I absolutely loved the vast amount of mythology… show more.

Pullman has written an extraordinary trilogy. Pullman’s introduction quotes Milton’s Paradise Lost. All human souls have an animal daemon that can morph during childhood and adolescence but which becomes fixed in adulthood. The young heroine, Lyra, and her daemon, Pan, have riddles to unravel with a magical (truth-telling) “alethiometer” compass and are challenged to discern friend from foe in parallel worlds. Lyra’s parents, Lord Asriel and the captivating Marisa Coulter, represent opposing factions to Church authority and the essential nature of Dust. Lyra gains allies in the witches, Will Parry, the aeronaut Lee Scoresby and an armored bear, Lorek Byrnison.… show more.

This is another one of those books that changed my life, influencing how I view the world. It made me learn to question the things I take for granted and examine what is said, and what is done. It taught me to look deeper at the undercurrents of politics and religious doctrine, and to think for myself. The magical setting both enchanted me and taught me so much about scientific breakthroughs I most certainly wasn’t learning about in science class.

The three books of His Dark Materials are a grand example of an author tweaking our existing world in such a way that the familiar becomes bewitching and the every day is magicked-up into a glittering alt-version of itself. Drawing readers into the coming-of-age adventures of two uniquely relatable kids, Lyra and Will, the trilogy makes immersive world building look deceptively easy as Pullman transports us from a slightly strange Brit-like reality to a somewhat stranger place to a wildly new realm across the course of the three books. So, if you’re ready to take flight with some wayward witches,… show more.

This children's classic had a huge effect on me. It’s one of those stories I read a long time ago but has always stuck with me. First, it’s the daemons, our souls that live outside our bodies as animals that best reflect who we are, that captured me. That concept alone was enough to make me love this story. But I think ultimately the reason this story still lives in me after all this time is because it’s really about children being able to view the world differently from adults, a concept I firmly believe in as a teacher.

Lyra is an inspiring character. “Just” an orphan living in Oxford, she uses her cleverness to find out what her uncle and other adults are hiding (Dust). In addition, she is brave and never loses sight of what’s right. Her love for missing children and compassion for the armored bear bring her allies in her rescue mission. Also, I loved her relationship with Pan. Sweet, tender, and heart-warming, just as animal friends can be. Lyra’s story reminds me that keeping one’s eyes open to the truth, with a brave and loving heart, can lead to positive changes.

Just the world that Mr. Pullman created pulled me in. The magic, the whole idea of daemons and that each of us has a soul animal always beside us as we grow and become better people. The idea of three magic items that guide our main heroine Lyra is just fascinating and blows my mind. I loved these books so much that in my series, which consists of three books so far, I took that concept of magic items and placed them in my books. Just like in Pullman’s trilogy the items play a major role in my books. Right… show more.