Discovering the Golden Compass

VOYA Review

The New Line Cinema film adaptation of Philip Pullman's masterpiece, The Golden Compass (Knopf, 1995/VOYA June 1998) is scheduled for release in December. Fortunately for those who have not yet experienced the joy of entering Lyra"s world, this accessible guide to the author and His Dark Materials trilogy is the perfect passport to Pullman's imaginative universe. Fans will appreciate the information provided about the author and his world in all formats: books (including the sequel Lyra's Oxford [2003/VOYA June 2004], and the forthcoming companion novel, The Book of Dust), plays, audio books, and the upcoming movie. Beahm is the author of pop-culture works on subjects that range from Stephen King to Harry Potter, Narnia, and pirates.  Kirk is a five-time Hugo award-winning illustrator who worked for Disney's famed Imagineering division. The attractive cover of their seventh collaboration engages the reader, and the text follows through with a work that's not too academic and not at all boring. In addition to diverse facts and figures about Pullman and the universe of His Dark Materials, the contents includes a color photo essay of Oxford, England, black-and-white illustrations and photos of memorabilia, quotes by and about Pullman, comments from actors and studio heads, an autobiographical essay, a lecture that Pullman gave about the upcoming movie, and helpful Web sites and resources.

This introduction to a controversial work that Pullman has called fantastical rather than a fantasy, his "Paradise Lost for teenagers,” is fascinating and well-written.
---Bonnie Kunzel, VOYA, August 2007