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I am currently reading the trilogy for the third time due to the upcoming release of the movie adaptation 'The Golden Compass.' I am incredibly excited about the film release because even if it merely touches upon some of Phillip Pullman's magic it is in no doubt to be a masterpiece.

A long time ago now I commenced reading and subsequently began the journey of the first installment The Northern Lights' (UK title) and everything that I came across amidst Phillip Pullman's meticulous description I fell in love with. Tolkien captured fantasy with hobbits and a ring of power, Rowling captured fantasy with magic and wizards and Pullman has captured that same fantasy with parallel universes and talking souls. Above everything though, it is not just the stunning ideas such as above that have progressed the fantasy genre, but the way they have been made so believable that when each reader sinks into a world so unlike their own they become part of it.

His Dark Materials' awards us with characters of giant personality counting the boisterous Lyra, the valiant Will, the scheming Mrs. Coulter, the ruthless Lord Asriel, the powerful Iorek Byrnison, the graceful Serafina Pekkala, the humble Lee Scoresby and the warm Dr. Mary Malone. We join up with and part from them along the way rooting for the good and abhorring the bad.

Although controversial in terms of religion; a strong premise throughout you are awed by the scale and coinciding themes such as the church, multiple sciences, coming of age and nature. It is an idea to familiarise yourself with the works of William Blake particularly his Songs of Innocence and Experience' and John Milton's Paradise Lost' where both famous works convey among much other the proposal that the devil played a part in creating the universe. Without this proposal taking over the fundamental thing to remember is why we must, in the vein of Lyra, try to do the right thing and always try to conquer evil in the hope of conquering it for good.

I have never encountered such detailed description, which alongside the planned sentence rhythm becomes highly influential. The Emotion is dominant throughout with laughter as well as tears. Prepare yourself.

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