Adult fans of young-adult fiction have had something of a Garden of Eden lately, with such wonderful novels as the Harry Potter series, Artemis Fowl etc. crossing the line between the genres of young adult and adult. Somewhat less well-known (and, in my opinion, more deserving of credit and praise than either Harry or Artemis) is this series of books by hitherto-unknown Philip Pullman - the 'His Dark Materials Trilogy', the first book of which is this, 'The Northern Lights'.
To synopsise: Lyra is a strange orphan girl living in a version of London not-unlike our own. She accidentally uncovers a plot to rid people of their Daemons (spirit-like creatures that accompany everyone everywhere, like an extension of one's soul) and sets out to rescue her friends from the clutches of a sinister church-based organisation. Along the way she makes some unusual friends and discovers that her ultimate goal will take her far beyond the reaches of her own world.
What I can't praise enough about this book is the imagination and originality with which it is written. A comparable revalation in terms of ingenuity would have been the original release of the JRR Tolkien novels. However, unlike Tolkien, Pullman has imbued his characters and worlds with such a lack of pretension and sense of dry wit that we can't help but become totally enthralled by the events that shape their lives. For the first fifty pages you won't understand what's happening, so different is Lyra's world from our own - but then all becomes much, much clearer, and quite unapologetically, Pullman uses insanely clever puns and vivid imaginative descriptions to force us to draw our own conclusions about the strange world occupying this book.
His characters are wonderfully-realised. Lyra is a tough, spare little thing, but the clever inclusion of Daemons is Pullman's unique way of illustrating her humanity and little-girlness to us. Mrs. Coulter is menacing and terribly cold, the Gyptians are a beautifully-concieved and su[erbly-executed race of people. It's impossible to touch on each amazing character, suffice it to say that Pullman's imagination is given free reign, tempered with his uncanny knack to edit his own ramblings into something convincing and captivating.
The first in a trilogy of books, I can only advise you to buy all three together, as each one finishes rather abruptly, leaving you gasping for more. You won't be able to escape Pullman's imagination, and more importantly, you won't want to. 'Harry Potter' is the paste-jewelry, 'Northern Lights' is the Hope Diamond. I can't recommend this highly enough.
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Top reviews from other countries
Jacob Walsh
As good as 'they' say.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2015
Merlin
His Dark Materials hardback
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2015