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I've been a fan of His Dark Materials for a long time now, despite having only read the first book so far. I was obsessed with the Golden Compass movie as a kid, and recently that fixation re-surfaced with me watching the movie and Netflix series all over again. So when I got a chance to pick up another copy of this book (I got rid of my first one), I obviously took it. Does it still hold up after years of me not reading it? Let's see. Spoilers ahead.
We follow Lyra and her daemon (an animal spirit containing one's soul) Pantalaimon in their world, which is ruled by the strict Magisterium. Lyra dreams of adventure, and one day gets her wish a woman named Mrs. Coulter shows up and takes her in as her assistant. Lyra is overjoyed at first, but it soon seems that there is more to Mrs. Coulter than meets the eye. Children, including Lyra's best friend Roger, have also been going missing left and right, and horrible things are said to have happened to them. With the help of a group of people called the Gyptians, a aeronaut named Lee Scoresby, an armored bear and a mysterious device called the alethiometer, Lyra sets out to hopefully rescue the children from their dark fates.
Quite a summary, because a lot happens in this book. It's not just your straight "rescue the children" plot; there's so, so much more going on in the background.
What I love about this book? Pretty much everything. The world I'm just totally sold on. This is the type of steampunk-esque world building I love. It has supernatural elements, but it is in many ways more "grounded" than in your common fantasy setting. The concept of daemons is just genius and I keep wondering what mine would be. I'd like to say a fox or a tarantula. The way the witches are described is also quite unique, and the race of sentient bears is of course awesome, too. The church (particularly a form of Catholicism) is still present here, and it seems to pretty much rule the world.
The character, too, make the book for me. Lyra is a great main character I didn't need to wait on an attachment to. She is wild, uncontrolled, a bit selfish, but just a very well rounded and flawed character. She isn't perfect, and that's exactly what I like about her. Her relationship to her more careful daemon Pan is also great. Of course, there's many more. The Gyptians feel very welcoming, Lee and Iorek are some of my favorites. There's also great villains or at least antagonists, such as the Magisterium and of course Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter. You really hate them by the end, but at the same time you can't help but be engaged by them.
The book has a lot going on, and yes, it does take its time, but that's absolutely for the better if you ask me. If you were to rush it all out or cut some of it (like they did in the movie adaptation), it'd be confusing and just go too fast. It took the right amount of time it needed for this story. I also like how it doesn't just end with them freeing the children, the underlying threat of Mrs. Coulter, what Lord Asriel is doing, the bear fight, etc. all still need to happen. The ending is devastating, but by no means bad.
Just an overall awesome book I fail to see anything really wrong with. Will religious people (particularly Catholics) like it? Probably not, but I personally find so, so much joy in reading this book. I hope to finally (after all these years) obtain book two sometime soon!
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