Intense, brilliant and cruel, they can be both frightening and loving, and their systematic ambiguity thwarts any typical parental attitude. Coulter, who turn out to be Lyra’s father and mother. Her investigation into the mysterious disappearance of numerous children will lead her to the heart of a cosmic plot pitting Lord Asriel against Mrs. Intrepid Lyra is being raised as an orphan in a college at Oxford University. There are also some physical distortions, like the existence of animal civilisations (polar bears) and, most importantly, “dæmons:” each person’s inseparable totem animal, like a physical manifestation of their inner self.

The first volume, Northern Lights, is, in the author’s words, “set in a universe like ours,” (with geographical and cultural landmarks in common) “but different in many ways.” It is actually a uchronic variation that is entirely dominated by an ecclesiastical hierarchy. His reputation is such that the long-anticipated 2017 publication of the first volume of the Book of Dust series, a new prequel trilogy providing Lyra’s back story, was saluted as a major event. He was notably the first “children’s-book” author to win the prestigious Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year Award in the overall category. He has won countless prizes, both for his Dark Materials trilogy and for his entire body of work. Prior to the trilogy, Pullman had written the Sally Lockhart adventure series, and he is extremely knowledgeable about the history of magical literature: in 2012, he released his own version of dozens of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

After an attempted film adaptation (2007), it was eventually made into a television series (BBC One, 2019). The trilogy actually preceded the success of Harry Potter (from 1997). With its complex heroine, Lyra, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy – Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (1995-2000) – stands out for both the quality of the writing and the originality it displays amidst a plethoric production of children’s and young adult literature. An Oeuvre Acclaimed Above and Beyond Its Intended Audience

Philip pullman northern lights trilogy