The Golden Compass
Known as Northern Lights outside America, the first installment of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy opens with a quote from John Milton’s Paradise Lost that inspired the name of the series, and a note by the author that the first entry occurs in a universe like ours, but different; the second in the universe we know; and the third in alternating universes. The first part of the book occurs in Oxford in the franchise’s equivalent of Britain, with the protagonist Lyra traversing halls with her dæmon Pantalaimon, capable of shapeshifting.
An individual known as the Master anticipates her uncle, Lord Asriel, and in the first chapter, it is noted that the Tartars invaded Muscovy, surging northward to St. Petersburg, whence they would be able to dominate the Baltic Sea and the entire west of Europe. Asriel himself ultimately comes into focus, and has something special to present the Master. Scholars gather, along with the Librarian, the Sub-Rector, the Enquirer, and others, whom Lyra knew all her life and basically raised her, and discuss Asriel’s mission for the King of Lapland.
Whilst Lyra overhears this gathering, a slideshow is demonstrated, with the young girl impatient to hear more about scalping, the Northern Lights, and a mysterious substance known as Dust, wanting to go north with her uncle. The Holy Church teaches that there are two worlds: that of everything we can see, hear, and touch, and the spiritual world of heaven and hell. Jordan College, where she resides, is among the grandest of colleges in Oxford, with Lyra and her uncle left together, and Lord Asriel demanding his niece tell of what she had learned since his last visit.
Lyra regards female Scholars disdainfully, and the Master agrees she should head north, discussing a device known as an alethiometer, with her uncle having presented it to Jordan College, and she promises to keep it secret from Mrs. Coulter, who serves as the book’s main antagonist. This device is like a clock, or compass, although with a circle of pictographs. Lyra spends significant time with Mrs. Coulter, and eventually hears of Gobblers, who have Lord Asriel held in the fortress of Svalbard. Lyra goes to the Royal Arctic Institute, and meets John Faa, who leads the gyptians.
Mrs. Coulter and the Oblation Board search everywhere for Lyra, who hears about the experiments conducted upon children by the Gobblers. Lyra eventually goes on a voyage to the north, and befriends a bear named Iorek Byrnison, with she and Farder Coram visiting the house of a witch consul. Farder Coram’s witch friend, the clan queen Serafina Pekkala, witness an Aurora, and a Texan named Lee Scoresby comes into the novel. A boy named Tony Makarios is rescued, his dæmon taken away by the Gobblers, and he substitutes for it a dead fish named Ratter.
Lyra eventually finds herself at an Experimental Station, where she goes by the name Lizzie and hears about Mrs. Coulter being cruel to children. In the hands of the Oblation Board, Lyra hears about their captives getting special operations, and escapes during an emergency drill, continuing north towards Svalbard. An armed pursuit follows, with Lyra safekeeping the alethiometer, although she finds herself the captive of bears, with Iorek Byrnison battling another named Iofur Raknison for ursine kingship. There are several twists throughout the story, with the first entry naturally leaving room for the sequels.
Overall, this was an enjoyable start to Pullman’s acclaimed trilogy, with a bit of sociopolitical commentary, largely directed at the Catholic Church, although some of it can come across as ham-fisted at times. The animal characters, particularly the intelligent dæmons and bears, are definitely welcome to those such as I involved in the furry fandom, and the parallel world is definitely convincing. Granted, some of the twists are somewhat spoiled due to the fact that I read stories in the series chronologically occurring before it, but I still enjoyed this story and would easily recommend it. However, adults would be sure to get the most out of its themes.