Once upon a time in the North by Philip Pullman
Once upon a time in the North
by Philip Pullman
(Audio)
Lee Scoresby has got to be one of my favorite characters in the His Dark materials series. In fact, Iorek Byrnison is another of my favorites. So I really liked having this "missing story" help fill in the gaps about how they met. I also like the moment when Lee discovers what his daemon is. It's a nice, heroic adventure befitting these brave characters.
The writing was not nearly as good as the main three books in the series. It seemed to drag in some places and it seemed too quick in others. It was definitely a quick & dirty good vs evil and the reader didn't need to spend too much time thinking about the story itself. But, then, I would always want Lee & Iorek on the side of good, fighting and being noble... so I'm not terribly disappointed by the lack of a complex plot. It was just a fun addition to the books. And I liked it more than the Lyra's Oxford book.
Now I want to track down a copy of this in paper (non-audio) version because apparently there's a pull-out board game included! :-)