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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 and published in 1995), The Subtle Knife (published in 1997) and The Amber Spyglass (published in 2000). 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 (especially quantum physics), philosophy (especially metaphysics, philosophy of religion and, arguably, a degree of hylopathism), and theology (especially biblical symbolism).

Although the series is marketed to young adults, the audience includes many adult readers. Pullman has said:

“

If I think about the audience I’d like to have, I don’t think about a particular age group, or a particular gender, or a particular class or ethnic group or anything specific at all. ... I’d like to think that I’m telling the sort of story that holdeth children from play and old men from the chimney corner, in the old phrase of Sir Philip Sidney. Everyone is welcome, and no one is shut out, and I hope each reader will find a tale worth spending time with.[1]

”

Contents 1 Setting 2 Plot summary 2.1 Northern Lights 2.2 The Subtle Knife 2.3 The Amber Spyglass 3 Characters 4 Influences and criticism 5 Awards 6 Adaptations 7 Terminology 7.1 Esoteric renaming 7.2 Pronunciation 8 See also 9 Further reading 10 References 11 External links

The trilogy takes place across a multiverse, moving between many alternate worlds. In Northern Lights, the story takes place in a world much like our own, though with a number of subtle differences; its society seems to resemble the 19th century. 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 Cittagazze, and in The Amber Spyglass it crosses through an array of diverse worlds.

One defining aspect of Pullman's story is his concept of dæmons. 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, devoid of conveniences such as cars, 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. In our contemporary world, this is implausible as there would be an infinite number of individuals with the same genotype as the target, each in a different world, but the bomb can target the exact person the sample was taken from. One explanation is that as people cannot survive for long outside their own universe, an individual must bear a unique non-genetic signature that can be traced. Some fans believe that the implausibly varied technological levels of Lyra's world are due to the church's control of the planet; the church monitors all scientific development and is quick to stamp out any heretical developments. Others believe that Lyra's world is as advanced as or more advanced than ours, but the church has suppressed any technology which violates its beliefs from being released to the public.

Main article: Northern Lights

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 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. Lyra, dæmon in tow, and Lord Asriel journey through it separately in search of the source of Dust, unaware that they both mean to prevent the Church from destroying it.

Main article: The Subtle Knife

In The Subtle Knife, Lyra journeys through the Aurora to Cittàgazze, an otherworldly city who discovered a clean path through the worlds at a far earlier point in time than others in the storyline. Cittàgazze's reckless use of the technology has released soul-eating Spectres, 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, capable of cutting through the barriers between the worlds with one edge and literally anything with the other. 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, 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.

Main article: The Amber Spyglass

In The Amber Spyglass, Will ignores the angels and with the help of a local girl named Ama 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.

Lyra Belacqua is a wild, tomboyish 12-year-old girl who was brought up in the fictional Jordan College, Oxford. She prides herself on her capacity for mischief, especially her ability to lie with "bare-faced conviction". Because of this ability, she was given the surname Silvertongue by Iorek Byrnison. Her constant companion is her dæmon Pantalaimon, who settles upon the pine marten as his final form at the series' conclusion.

Will Parry is a sensible, morally conscious, highly assertive 12-year-old boy from our world who serves as the bearer of the Subtle Knife. He is very independent and responsible for his age, having looked after his mentally unstable mother for many years. He is strong for his age, and knows how to remain inconspicuous. At the end of his adventures he discovers the name and form of his dæmon, Kirjava, a cat.

Lord Asriel is the father of Lyra, although she initially knew him as her 'uncle'. He opens a rift between the worlds in his pursuit of Dust. His dream of establishing a Republic of Heaven to rival The Authority's Kingdom leads him to use his considerable power and force of will to raise a grand army from across the multiverse to rise up in rebellion. In the end, he sacrifices himself to destroy the Regent Metatron, together with his estranged lover, Mrs. Coulter. Stelmaria the snow leopard is his dæmon.

Mrs. Coulter is the coldly beautiful, highly manipulative mother of Lyra and former lover of Lord Asriel, who serves the Church in kidnapping children for research into the nature of Dust. She has black hair, a thin build, and looks younger than she is. She later captures Lyra and secludes her away, perhaps seeking to protect her. Later in the story Mrs. Coulter switches sides regularly between the Authority and Lord Asriel's Republic. Her maternal instincts finally win out in the end, as she uses her duplicitous core to deceive the Regent Metatron, working together with her former lover to pull him down into the abyss. Her dæmon (named Ozymandias in the BBC Radio adaptations but never named in the books), is a golden monkey with a cruel, abusive streak. Though he often communicates with Mrs. Coulter, he is rarely heard to speak.

Mary Malone is a physicist and former nun from the same world as Will whose studies of Dust (referred to as Shadows in her world) draw her into Lyra's adventures. She lives for a time amongst the mulefa, and constructs the Amber Spyglass in an effort to discern why Dust appears to be leaving the universe. Mary relates a story of a lost love to Will and Lyra, serving as the catalyst for their coming of age and the halting of Dust's exodus. With effort, she discovers that she too has a dæmon, which, though unnamed, takes the shape of an Alpine Chough

Iorek Byrnison is a massive armoured bear who regains his armour, his dignity, and his kingship over the Panserbjørne with Lyra's help. In gratitude, and impressed by her cunning, he dubs her "Lyra Silvertongue". A powerful warrior and armoursmith, Iorek repairs the Subtle Knife when it shatters and goes to war against The Authority when Lyra and Will are threatened. As a bear instead of a human, he has no dæmon; instead, his soul constitutes his armour, which he himself shapes.

John Faa and Farder Coram are leaders of the community of river gyptians. When the gyptians' children are kidnapped by the Church to serve as experiments in the frozen outpost of Bolvangar, they mount a rescue expedition, bringing Lyra along. John Faa is also the name of several historical Gypsies and a romantic hero in a ballad about Gypsies.

Lee Scoresby is a rangy Texan aeronaut who pilots a balloon for Lyra and the gyptians in their expedition North; he is also a friend of Iorek Byrnison, and comes to aid Lyra in a number of her battles. His loyal dæmon Hester takes the form of a hare. He dies while fending off enemy soldiers in an effort to save Stanislaus Grumman.

Stanislaus Grumman, also known as John Parry, or Jopari. He is Will Parry's father, an explorer, and a former officer in the Navy. He leaves our world on an expedition into the far North, in which he finds one of the many trans-dimensional windows, leading to the world from which Lyra Belacqua originates. When he gets there, he becomes a shaman, and receives a ceremonial hole in his skull. Lee Scoresby gives his life to save him, and, eventually, he meets up with his son, but he is shot down by a vengeful witch and would-be lover. Grumman's pseudonym is a possible allusion to Stanislaw Ulam, the renowned nuclear physicist.

Serafina Pekkala is the beautiful queen of a clan of Northern witches. Like all witches, her snow goose dæmon Kaisa can travel much farther apart from her than the dæmons of normal humans. She comes to the aid of Lyra and her friends on a number of occasions. She is several hundred years old, but due to the fact that she is not a human, she will live many hundreds more.

Roger Parslow is a young boy, Lyra's best friend and loyal follower at Jordan College. His death at the hands of Lord Asriel tears open a bridge between the worlds, through which Lyra and Asriel travel in a search for the origins of Dust. Guilt-stricken over Roger's death, Lyra determines to travel through the Land of Dead to apologize and release him; in doing so, she and Will succeed in liberating the lost souls of the dead, allowing their essence to merge with the particles of Dust that permeate the universe. His dæmon was Salcilia, who frequently took the form of a terrier.

The Authority is God himself. in Pullman's books, the Authority was not the Creator but the first of the angels. The Authority is quite weak, having given most of his power to his regent, Metatron, and has spent most of his existence retired to "comprehend deeper mysteries". He is extremely aged, and is shown as fragile, kind, and naїve. He eventually dies by being exposed to a gust of wind, his weak form unable to resist it.

The three major literary influences on His Dark Materials acknowledged by Pullman himself are the essay On the Marionette Theatre by Heinrich von Kleist (which can be found here), the works of William Blake, and, most importantly, John Milton's Paradise Lost, from which the trilogy derives its title as well as many of its basic ideas. Pullman's stated intention was to invert Milton's story of a war between heaven and hell.^{[citation needed]} 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 certain Christian groups.^{[weasel words]} The verse from Paradise Lost in which the phrase "his dark materials" is used follows:

…Into this wilde Abyss,

The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave,

Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire,

But all these in thir pregnant causes mix't

Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,

Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain

His dark materials to create more Worlds,

Into this wilde Abyss the warie fiend

Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while,

Pondering his Voyage...

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.^[2] This image has been reinforced by Pullman making public statements accusing Lewis of being "blatantly racist" and "monumentally disparaging of women" in his novels.^[3]

Christianity and the Church are criticized by the characters. For example, Ruta Skadi, a witch and friend of Lyra's calling for war against the Magisterium in Lyra's world, says that "For all of [the Church's] history...it's tried to suppress and control every natural impulse. And when it can't control them, it cuts them out." (see intercision.) Skadi later extends her criticism to all organized religion: "That's what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling." (By this part of the book, the witches have made reference to how they are treated criminally by the church in their worlds.) Mary Malone, 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.^{[original research?]}

On the otherhand, 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.^{[original research?]} Moreover, no distinction is made between negative and positive Christian practice^{[original research?]} — 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.^{[original research?]} The "good" Christian characters are only supporting characters.^{[original research?]}

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."^[4]

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 dogmatism and the use of religion to oppress, not on Christianity itself.^{[citation needed]} Pullman himself has said in interviews and appearances^[2][5] that his argument can be extended to all religions. However, no criticisms of any other religious traditions appear anywhere in the books.^{[original research?]}

In terms of popularity, the trilogy is sometimes compared with fantasy books like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle,^{[citation needed]} Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling^[6] and the Narnia books themselves.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[7]

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"; he is to receive the Swedish government's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's and youth literature. In Sweden, the prize is second only to the Nobel Prize in Literature and is worth £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.

• His Dark Materials has been 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.
• A film adaptation, titled His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, 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.^[8] 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. As of late 2006, the film is in production and post-production work is beginning. Principal filming is finished as of late January 2007.

This section (esoteric renaming) may contain original research or unattributed claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details. This article has been tagged since April 2007.

To enhance the feeling of being in a parallel universe, Pullman renames various common objects of our world with historic terms or new words of his own, often reflecting the power of the Church in Lyra's world. The alternative names he chooses often follow alternate etymologies, while making it possible to guess what everyday object or person he is referring to. Below are some of the significant renamings.

• Anbaric: Electric. From amber, which the ancient Greeks in our world thought was the source of electricity. The English word "electric" is based on the Greek "électros", meaning "amber".
• Anglia: England.
• Atomcraft: Research into particle physics, specifically using uranium.
• Brytain: A phonetically identical respelling of the region of Britain.
• Cauchuc: Rubber and possibly also plastic, from the Native American word cauchuc or caoutchouc meaning the sap of the rubber tree.
• Celestial Geography: Celestial navigation.
• Chapel: A scientific laboratory.
• Chaplain: The head of a scientific laboratory.
• Chocolatl: Sometimes hot chocolate, sometimes "a bar of chocolatl" (a chocolate bar). From the nahuatl (Aztec) word for chocolate.
• Chthonic Railway Station: A tube-station (subway station). "Chthonic" is from Greek χθονιος, meaning pertaining to the earth; earthy.
• Coal-silk: Nylon, a synthetic fiber made from coal, was invented as a substitute for natural silk.
• Corea: A phonetically identical respelling of the country Korea, which was formerly used.
• Dust: Dark Matter or Dark Energy; basically particles which make up most of the mass of the universe, but which are not yet fully understood, for non-physics majors.
• Eireland: Ireland, as referred to in the Cittàgazze universe. Presumably a mixture of Ireland's Irish-language (Éire) and English-language names.
• Electrum: An occasionally used Latin word for Amber; see "anbaric" above.
• (Experimental) Theologian: A physicist. From "Natural Theology" meaning science.
• Gyropter: a helicopter.
• Gyptians: Boat-dwelling "Gypsies". In reality, the word "Gypsy" is most likely derived from "Egypt". Gypsies were once thought by "native" Britons to have come from Egypt due to their darker skin. Pullman is clearly referencing this etymological heritage.
• Lascar: An East Indian. This is a real, though archaic, English word.
• Marchpane: Marzipan. In reality, "Marchpane" is an archaic word for "marzipan".
• Muscovite: A Russian, a reference to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
• Naphtha: Oil (as in oil-lamp, rather than naphtha-lamp), named after a petrochemical like kerosene.
• New France: Quebec, or possibly Canada. A reference to the 17th and 18th century, during which the area around the St-Lawrence River was called New France.
• Nipponese: Japanese. From Nippon, a Japanese-language name for Japan, which is generally used when the speaker is feeling patriotic. The name Nihon is more commonly used.
• Norroway: Norway.
• Oratory: An individual church.
• Peacable Ocean: The Pacific Ocean, from the Latin.
• Philosophical: Having to do with the study of physics. In our own world, physics was once a part of philosophy and the physics undergraduate degree at Oxford University is still formally referred to as 'Natural Philosophy'.
• Roman: Specifically, the Latin language.
• Shadow (particle): See Dust
• Skraeling: A Native American/First Nations (Inuit) person, particularly one from Greenland. Natives of Greenland were once named similarly by the Vikings of our world (see Skræling).
• Tartar: A Mongol.

The pronunciations given here are those used in the radio plays and the audio book readings of the trilogy (by Pullman himself).^[9] The transcriptions surrounded by square brackets are in the International Phonetic Alphabet, as spoken in Received Pronunciation.

• Alethiometer: al-eeth-ee-OM-et-er [ˌæliːθɪˈɒmɪtə]
• Æsahættr: AS-hatter [ˈæshætə]
• Aurora Borealis: uh-ROR-uh bor-ee-AH-lis [əˈɹɔːɹə ˌbɔːɹɪˈɑːlɪs]
• Chthonic (see above): kuh-THON-ick orTHON-ick [k(ə)ˈθɒnɪk] or [ˈθɒnɪk]. See chthonic for details.
• Cittàgazze: chee-tuh-GAHT-s(z)ay (as Italian) [ˌtʃitaˈgatse]
• Dæmon: DEE-mon [ˈdiːmən] (pronounced as "demon")
• Iorek: YOR-ick [ˈjɔːɹɪk]
• Iofur: YO-fur [ˈjəʊfʊə]
• Kirjava: KEER-yah-vuh [ˌkiːrˈjɑːvə]
• Lyra: LIE-ruh [ˈlaɪɹə]
• Mulefa: moo-LAY-fuh [ˌmuːˈleɪfə]
• Panserbjørne: PAN-ser-byurn-eh [ˈpænsə(r)bjɜː(r)nə] (written "Panserbørne" in early UK editions)
• Pantalaimon: pan-tuh-LIE-mon [ˌpæntəˈlaɪmən]
• Quantum: KWON-tum [ˈkwɒntəm]
• Salmakia: sal-MACK-ee-uh [ˌsælˈmækɪə]
• Serafina Pekkala: SEH-ra-fee-nuh PEK-ka-luh ['sɛɹəfiːnə 'pɛkələ]
• Tialys: tee-AH-lis [tɪˈɑːlɪs]
• Torre degli Angeli: TOR-ay DAI-(y)-lee an-JEL-ee (as Italian) [ˈtɔrːe delɪ an'dʒelɪ]
• Xaphania: za-FA-nee-uh [zəˈfeɪnɪə]

• Sally Lockhart, another series by Philip Pullman
• The Doctor Who episode Doomsday has many plot similarities.
• "Dust" and "Shadows" are arguably related to a philosophical position called hylopathism.

• Gribbin, John and Mary (2005). The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Knopf Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-375-83144-4. 
• Lenz, Millicent (2005). His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3207-2. 
• Squires, Claire (2003). Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy: A Reader's Guide. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-1479-6. 
• Yeffeth, Glenn (2005). Navigating the Golden Compass: Religion, Science and Daemonology in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Benbella Books. ISBN 1-932100-52-0. 
• Frost, Laurie (2006). The Elements of His Dark Materials: A Guide to Phillip Pullman's trilogy. Fell Press. ISBN 0-9759430-1-4. 

• Why Their Dark Materials Might Not Be Your Dark Materials, essay about the films including interview with New Line
• Scholastic: His Dark Materials, the UK publisher's website
• Randomhouse: His Dark Materials, the U.S. publisher's website
• The BBC's His Dark Materials pages
• Philip Pullman, author's website
• The Archbishop of Canterbury and Philip Pullman in conversation, from "The Daily Telegraph"
• BridgetotheStars' Interview with Chris Weitz and a report on this interview from "The Times", December 2004
• Production images from the 2003-4 National Theatre stage adaptation
• BridgeToTheStars.net, His Dark Materials fansite
• HisDarkMaterials.org, a fansite

Part of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series
Books
Northern Lights/The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass Lyra's Oxford - The Book of Dust
Films
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass
Games
The Golden Compass
Characters
Lyra Belacqua and Pantalaimon - Will Parry - Lord Asriel - Marisa Coulter - Iorek Byrnison - John Faa - Farder Coram - Serafina Pekkala - Lee Scoresby - Iofur Raknison - The Authority - Balthamos - Baruch - Mary Malone - Xaphania - Roger Parslow - Metatron
Other
Alethiometer - Dust - Æsahættr - Locations - Dæmons - Panserbjørne This box: view • talk • edit

Preceded by Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3rd place in the Big Read Britain's Best-loved Books

Succeeded by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book) by Douglas Adams