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''His Dark Materials'' is a Trilogy of Novel s by the Fantasy Fiction author Philip Pullman , comprising '' Northern Lights '' (released as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and published in 1995 ), '' The Subtle Knife '' ( 1997 ) and '' The Amber Spyglass '' ( 2000 ). The trilogy has also been published as a single-volume omnibus in the United Kingdom and North America, 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 ). Although the series is marketed to Young Adults , the audience includes many adult readers. Pullman has said: SETTING The trilogy takes place across a Multiverse , moving between many alternate worlds. In ''Northern Lights'', the story takes place in a world with some similarities to our own; its society seems to resemble the 19th century with Victorian Era dress style and Steampunk technology level. It could also be speculated that in this world The Reformation never took place. The church (referred to as the "Magisterium") controls all of the western world (and probably the entire planet). In ''The Subtle Knife'', the story takes place in our world and the world of Cittàgazze , and in ''The Amber Spyglass'' it crosses through an array of diverse worlds. One defining aspect of Pullman's story is his concept of Dæmon s. In several universes in the trilogy's world, including that where the story's protagonist Lyra Belacqua is born, the human soul is manifested throughout life as an animal-shaped dæmon that always stays near its human counterpart. Witches and some humans have entered areas where dæmons cannot physically enter; as such, their dæmons can move as far away from their humans as desired. Dæmons can talk to their humans and to each other. During childhood, the dæmon can change its shape at will, but upon adolescence it settles into one form. The final form reveals the person's true nature and personality, implying that these stabilize after adolescence. Spectres prey upon the dæmons of adolescents and adults, consuming them and rendering said dæmon's human essentially catatonic; they lose all thought and eventually fade away and die. Dæmons and their humans can also be separated by Intercision , a process involving cutting the dæmon away from the human. This process can be conducted in a medical setting, such as the Titanium and Manganese Guillotine used at Bolvangar , or as a form of torture used by the Skraelings . This separation has a high mortality rate and renders both human and dæmon little more than obedient zombies. Severing the link using the silver guillotine method releases tremendous amounts of unnamed energy which can be converted to anbaric, or electric, power. The universe of ''Northern Lights'' has interesting technology; at a glance, it appears to be considerably behind our own world, but in many fields it is equal or superior to ours. As evidence, it is revealed that Lyra's world has the same knowledge of particle physics, referred to as experimental theology, as we do. In ''The Amber Spyglass'', an advanced interdimensional weapon is discussed which, when aimed using a sample of the target's DNA, can track the target to any universe and disrupt the very fabric of space-time to form a bottomless abyss into nothing, forcing the target to suffer a fate far worse than normal death. Other advanced devices include the Intention Craft , which carries an extremely potent Energy Weapon amongst other things (Though this craft is first seen and used outside Lyra's universe, and may be the invention of engineers from other universes) PLOT SUMMARY ''Northern Lights/The Golden Compass'' See Also: Northern Lights (novel) In ''Northern Lights'' (released in the United States and Canada as ''The Golden Compass''), the heroine, Lyra Belacqua , a young girl brought up in the cloistered world of Jordan College, Oxford , and her Dæmon Pantalaimon learn of the existence of Dust , a strange elementary particle believed by the Church to be evidence for Original Sin . Dust appears to be less attracted to the innocence of children, and this gives rise to grisly experiments being carried out by Church-controlled scientists on kidnapped children in the icy wastelands of the distant North. Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, journey to save their best friend Roger Parslow and other kidnapped children from this peril, with the aid of the '' Panserbjørne '' (armoured bear) Iorek Byrnison , John Faa and Farder Coram , leaders of the Gyptians, the Aeronaut Lee Scoresby , and the witch Serafina Pekkala . After dealings with armoured bears and witches and success in many arenas, Roger is killed by Lyra's father Lord Asriel in his own successful experiment to create a bridge into another world. Lord Asriel, followed by Lyra and Pantalaimon, journey through it separately in search of the source of Dust, unaware that they both mean to prevent the Church from destroying it. ''The Subtle Knife'' See Also: The Subtle Knife In ''The Subtle Knife'', Lyra journeys through the Aurora to Cittàgazze , an otherworldly city whose denizens have discovered a clean path between worlds at a far earlier point in time than others in the storyline. Cittàgazze's reckless use of the technology has released soul-eating Spectre s, rendering the world incapable of transit by post-adolescents. Here, Lyra meets Will Parry , a twelve-year-old boy from our own world who has stumbled into Cittàgazze after recently killing a man to protect his ailing mother in an effort to locate his long-lost father. Will becomes the bearer of the titular Subtle Knife, a tool forged 300 years ago by Cittàgazze's scientists of the same materials as the silver guillotine. One edge of the knife is capable of creating portals between worlds and the other edge easily cuts through any form of matter. After meeting with witches from Lyra's world, they journey on. Will finds his father, who has been lost in Lyra's world under the assumed name of Stanislaus Grumman, only to watch him murdered soon after, and Lyra is kidnapped by her mother, Mrs. Coulter , an agent of the Magisterium who has learned of the prophecy that Lyra is to be the next Eve . Will is then instructed by a pair of angelic lovers, Balthamos and Baruch, that he must travel with them to give the Subtle Knife to Lyra's father, Lord Asriel , as a weapon against The Authority . ''The Amber Spyglass'' See Also: The Amber Spyglass In ''The Amber Spyglass'', Will ignores the angels and with the help of a local girl named Ama, the Bear King Iorek Byrnison, and Lord Asriel 's Gallivespian spies, the Chevalier Tialys and the Lady Salmakia , rescues Lyra from the cave she has been hidden in. They journey to the Land of the Dead to release the ghosts from their captivity imposed by the oppressive God, The Authority . Mary Malone , a scientist of our world interested in Dust (or Shadows, as she knows them), travels to a land populated by strange sentient creatures called Mulefa . There she learns of the true nature of Dust, existing as panpsychic particle of self-awareness. Lord Asriel and a reformed Mrs. Coulter team up to destroy The Authority's Regent, Metatron , but are killed in the process, taking Metatron down with them. The Authority himself dies of his own frailty amongst a massive battle between the rebels and his servants. CHARACTERS
INFLUENCES AND CRITICISM The three major literary influences on ''His Dark Materials'' acknowledged by Pullman himself are the essay '', and, most importantly, John Milton's '' Paradise Lost '', from which the trilogy derives its title as well as many of its basic ideas.2 Pullman's stated intention was to invert Milton's story of a war between Heaven and Hell .3 In his introduction, he adapts Blake's line to quip that he (Pullman) "is of the Devil's party and ''does'' know it." The novels also draw heavily on Gnostic Ideas , and ''His Dark Materials'' has been a subject of controversy, especially with Christian groups.45 The verse from ''Paradise Lost'' in which the phrase "his dark materials" is used follows:
''His Dark Materials'' can be seen as the Antithesis of '' The Chronicles Of Narnia '', the seven-book fantasy series by C. S. Lewis , although Pullman denies any conscious connection. This image has been reinforced by Pullman making public statements accusing Lewis of being "blatantly racist" and "monumentally disparaging of women" in his novels.6 Christianity and the Church are criticized by some of the characters. For example, , one of Pullman's main characters, states that "''the Christian religion…is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all''", which reflects her agnostic scientist nature. Pullman portrays the Christian Heaven to be a lie, and the books' real afterlife is a bleak place where people are tormented by "harpies" (only somewhat similar to the Greek Harpies ). Pullman's "Authority" is a weak, false god. It is presented to be the Christian God (but more similar to the Gnostic idea of Demiurge ), as opposed to a dictatorial impostor.7 Moreover, no distinction is made between negative and positive Christian practice.89 Nearly all the Christian characters are portrayed as bad individuals, or are portrayed in a more positive light only after they give up their affiliation with the Church. Cynthia Grenier, in the ''Catholic Culture'', has said: "''In the world of Pullman, God Himself (the Authority) is a merciless tyrant, His Church is an instrument of oppression, and true heroism consists of overthrowing both.''"10 Pullman has, however, also found support from other Christians, most notably Rowan Williams , the Archbishop Of Canterbury , who argues that Pullman's attacks are focused on the constraints and dangers of Dogma tism and the use of religion to Oppress , not on Christianity itself.11 Pullman himself has said in interviews and appearances1213 that his argument can be extended to all religions. In terms of popularity, the trilogy is sometimes compared with fantasy books like '' A Wrinkle In Time '' by Madeleine L'Engle ,14 the ''Harry Potter'' Series by J. K. Rowling 15 and the ''Narnia'' Books themselves.16 AWARDS ''The Amber Spyglass'' won the 2001 Whitbread Book Of The Year award, a prestigious British literature award. This is the first time that such an award has been bestowed on a book from their "children's literature" category. The first volume, ''Northern Lights'', won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in the UK in 1995 .17 In 2007 it was selected by judges of the CILIP Carnegie Medal for children's literature as one of the ten most important children's novels of the past 70 years. On May 19 , 2005 , Pullman was invited to the British Library in London to be formally congratulated for his work by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell "on behalf of the government"; and shortly afterwards received the Swedish government's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's and youth literature (sharing it with Japanese illustrator Ryôji Arai ). In Sweden, the prize is second only to the Nobel Prize In Literature and is worth 5 million Swedish Kronor or approximately £385,000. The trilogy came third in the 2003 BBC 's '' Big Read '', a national poll of viewers' favourite books, after '' The Lord Of The Rings '' and '' Pride And Prejudice ''. It was one of only two books in the top five not to have had a screen adaptation at that time (the film version of '' Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire '', which came fifth, was not released until 2005 ), and those two books were the only entries in the top ten to have been written in the last twenty-five years. ADAPTATIONS ''His Dark Materials'' has been adapted for radio, theatre and film. It was made into a Radio Drama on BBC Radio 4 starring Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel and Lulu Popplewell as Lyra. The play was broadcast in 2003 and is now published by the BBC on CD and Cassette . In the same year, a radio drama of ''Northern Lights'' was made by RTÉ ( Irish Public Radio ). A theatrical version of the books was directed by Nicholas Hytner as a two-part, six-hour performance for London 's Royal National Theatre in December 2003, running until March 2004. It starred Anna Maxwell-Martin as Lyra, Dominic Cooper as Will, Timothy Dalton as Lord Asriel and Patricia Hodge as Mrs Coulter with dæmon puppets designed by Michael Curry . The play was enormously successful and was revived (with a different cast and a revised script) for a second run between November 2004 and April 2005. It has since been staged by several amateur theatres in the UK, notably at the Playbox Theatre in Warwick. The play had its Irish Premiere at the O'Reilly Theatre in Dublin when it was staged by the dramatic society of Belvedere College . A film adaptation, titled '''', is to be released in December 2007 by New Line Cinema , the company behind The Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy . The film was to be directed by Chris Weitz , who also acts as Screenwriter . Weitz felt himself unable to deal with the "technical challenges" of the film, and so was replaced for a time by Anand Tucker , but Tucker ultimately left the project due to creative differences and Weitz returned. The production hopes to stay as true to the book as possible. Prior to his initial departure from the project, Weitz suggested that its Film Treatment might minimize the explicitly Religious character of The Authority so as to avoid offending some viewers. This suggestion sparked a fan backlash that some believe was the real reason for Weitz's leaving. Pullman has since stated that "All the important scenes are there and will have their full value." On March 14 , 2006 , open auditions for the role of Lyra were announced.18 Dakota Blue Richards has been cast as Lyra. Nicole Kidman has been cast as Mrs. Coulter, Daniel Craig has signed to play Lord Asriel, and Eva Green will play Serafina Pekkala throughout the trilogy. It is not known how the most recent reversal of directors will alter the course of the auditions that have already taken place. Principal filming is finished as of late January 2007. REFERENCES IN POPULAR CULTURE: In the second series of television's '' Waterloo Road '', an American Christian comes to sponsor the school and encourages pupils to burn books - Philip Pullman's works are clearly seen and mentioned by name as evil. TERMINOLOGY See Also: His Dark Materials terminology SEE ALSO
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