His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

This series was set in a wonderful fantasy world full of intriguing characters, adventures, self-discovery and pure magic. I didn’t want the story to end and it is now definitely one of my favorite series to date.

In "The Golden Compass”, we meet Lyra, a headstrong girl that has a way of lying and searching for adventures. Along with Lyra is her daemon, Pantalaimon, or Pan. I loved the world building and explanations regarding the daemons that everyone has in this world, animals that are an external physical manifestation of a person’s inner-self or soul and can speak. Daemons can keep changing their animal form when their person is a child, but has a fixed form when they are adults. This story begins as a rescue mission but Lyra becomes involved with a search for so much more. It is wonderfully written and there are multiple plot turns that kept you engaged.

The second installment, “The Subtle Knife” introduces a new character, Will, in our own modern world. This was a great addition as Will and Lyra learn to trust each other on their journeys and develop a tentative truce as Will is outed to Lyra as a murderer. There are new dark twists in this book and Will and Lyra have a lot of adventures, not all of them positive. Once again, this book was wonderfully written and exciting the whole way through.

The final novel of the series, “The Amber Spyglass”, has Lyra and Will fighting together to save the world. It is an epic fight of good versus evil but also a question of who is truly good or evil and what makes them bear that title? This ending was wonderful and heartbreaking and just made the series an overall amazing story.

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The Golden Compass Synopsis: Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

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The Subtle Knife Synopsis: She had asked: What is he? A friend or an enemy? The alethiometer answered: He is a murderer.
When she saw the answer, she relaxed at once.
Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld – Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power, and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

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The Amber Spyglass Synopsis: Will is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel - by the command of his dying father. But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him.

The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead...