The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials, Book 1
by Philip Pullman
Fantasy, Young-Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Middle-Grade, Science-Fiction
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.
Recommendations from Common Sense Media
Age Recommendation: 12+
What Parents Need to Know:
Parents need to know that The Golden Compass is the first book in the highly acclaimed His Dark Materials series. A mediocre movie was made of the book in 2007, and a better HBO miniseries began airing in 2019. This book is often banned because of author Philip Pullman‘s take on religion, though it’s quite specific to more dogmatic religious thought, and this plays much more of a role in the third book in the series, The Amber Spyglass, and the companion Book of Dust series. Most readers, young adult and adult, will be more focused on this stunning world where humans each have a daemon (animal companion that’s part of their soul). Expect some scary and gory scenes. Many children are kidnapped and experimented on, and some die after the experiments. Two of those deaths are very sad for the main character, Lyra, who fears that she will also be experimented on. Gory moments in skirmishes and battles include a heart ripped out and eaten, a jaw torn off, an arrow through the neck, gushing blood, and more. There’s also underage drinking and smoking, and a bear drinks to drunkenness. Lyra finds trouble easily and lies often, but much of it is to protect herself and others. In the course of The Golden Compass, Lyra discovers her powerful intuition and her own bravery.
Educational Value: 2/5
Lots of social science, exploration of what makes us human encompassed in the daemon lore of this series. Part of every human’s soul is outside of their body in the form of a daemon, which is an animal that talks to their human and feels what they feel. Throughout the book, readers learn social rules about interaction with other people’s daemons, how daemons interact with each other, how children’s daemons take many forms until they “settle” in puberty, how painful it is to be separated from this vital part of the self. Adam and Eve story from the Bible is retold.
Positive Messages: 4/5
Bravery, cunning, mastering fear, and intuition (a key to using the golden compass). Harming the innocent for the pursuit of knowledge and ambition is the ultimate evil here. The good side fiercely protects others.
Positive Role Models: 4/5
Lyra gets into trouble and lies a lot, but it’s mostly to protect herself and others. She discovers her powerful sense of intuition using the alethiometer (golden compass) and then discovers her bravery on a rescue mission. She is abandoned more than once by both her parents and builds unlikely but fierce friendships that sustain her. She also has a real sense of adventure.
Violence & Scariness: 3/5
Many children are kidnapped, experimented on; some die. Two deaths are very sad for the main character, who fears that she will also be experimented on. Gory moments in skirmishes and battles include a heart ripped out and eaten, a jaw torn off, an arrow through the neck, gushing blood. A frozen severed head is brought to a meeting, shown off. Kids are threatened by dogs and guns in a skirmish as they try to flee. A fire is set and more fire launched in a catapult weapon. A machine gun firing, an exploding airship. Story of a man killed with a gun, his brains dashed out.
Sex, Romance & Nudity: 1/5
A passionate kiss.
Language: 1/5
“Hell,” “arse,” “bloody,” and “damn,” but not often.
Products & Purchases: n/a
n/a
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking: 3/5
Story of Lyra and her friend Roger trying alcohol at a young age; Roger vomits. They also try smoking. Lyra, at age 12, is given wine to drink more than once. A man smokes a pipe, another a cigar. Scholars drink liquor, smoke cigars. A bear often drinks to drunkenness.
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