About

The books

"His Dark Materials" is a trilogy of novels by the fantasy fiction author Philip Pullman, comprising "Northern Lights" (released as "The Golden Compass" in North America), "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass". The trilogy has also been published as a single-volume omnibus in the United Kingdom, titled simply "His Dark Materials".
The trilogy follows the coming of age of two main characters, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a multiverse of parallel universes and a backdrop of epic events. The story begins in Northern Lights with fantasy elements such as witches and armoured bears. As the trilogy progresses, it acquires allegorical layers of meaning, introducing a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics (quantum physics), philosophy (metaphysics, philosophy of religion and, arguably, a degree of hylopathism), and theology (biblical symbolism).

Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946), is a British writer, educated at Exeter College, Oxford, who is the best-selling author of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy of fantasy novels and a number of other books, purportedly for children, but attracting increasing attention by adult readers. In addition to writing, Pullman also began teaching Master level courses in English at his alma mater, Exeter College, Oxford, in 2004. Pullman was awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours list in 2004 and, in 2005, he was announced as joint winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's literature.


Bibliography

• The Haunted Storm (1972)
• Galatea (1976)
• Ancient Civilisations (1978 or 1981), non-fiction
• Using the Oxford Junior Dictionary, (1979), non-fiction
• The White Mercedes (1981) (later renamed The Butterfly Tattoo)
• Count Karlstein (1982)
• Detective Stories (1985 or 1998)
• How to be Cool (1987)
• Spring-Heeled Jack: A Story of Bravery and Evil (1989)
• The Broken Bridge (1990)
• Frankenstein (1990)
• The Firework-Maker's Daughter (1995)
• Clockwork or All Wound Up (1996)
• Mossycoat, retold by Philip Pullman (1998)
• I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers (1999)
• Puss in Boots: The Adventures of That Most Enterprising Feline (2001)
• The New-Cut Gang:
  • Thunderbolt's Waxwork (1994)
  • The Gasfitter's Ball (1995)
• Sally Lockhart series: modern "penny dreadfuls"
  • The Ruby in the Smoke (1985)
  • The Shadow in the North (first published as The Shadow in the Plate) (1986)
  • The Tiger in the Well (1991)
  • The Tin Princess (1994)
• His Dark Materials trilogy and related works:
  • Northern Lights, retitled The Golden Compass in the US (1995)
  • The Subtle Knife (1997)
  • The Amber Spyglass (2000)
  • Lyra's Oxford (2003): postcards, a map of Oxford, and a short story from the His Dark Materialsuniverse.
  • The Book of Dust (not yet published). A companion to His Dark Materials.
• The Scarecrow and his Servant (2004)

A recorded version of His Dark Materials has Pullman reading as narrator, with dialogue performed by a cast of voice actors.