Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials Triology"

View books by Claire Squires.

Good intro to Northern Lights - Rated
This is a good introduction to Northern Lights etc. I'm a big Pullman fan and although nothing beats reading the novels themselves I thought this gave me lots more to think about when I was doing a school project on His Dark Materials. It's very easy to read and find references in it.

A very poor attempt at an essay - Rated
There is quite a spate of books discussing the dark materials trilogy of Phillip Pullman. Many of them are serious academic articles concerned with how the book delves deeply into religious, and philosophical arguments.
This book is at the cheaper end of the market, but in terms of what you get for your money I would consider that I have paid dearly for it.
It is without doubt at the lighter end of the spectrum academically also, while I can understand that not everyone wants to read a thesis, I also think that they should be treated with a little more respect than this book shows.
I was significantly disappointed with this book, it deals very, very lightly indeed with the issues it brings up from the trilogy. For me it presents little more than a commentary on what happens to the characters overall, and if you've devoured the books as thoroughly as I have, then you'll find this irrelevent re-hashing.
It was also poorly written, although you won't find 'mistakes' or weak structure as such, I found it blandly presented; comment, reference, comment, reference and so on. It had no style or personality, and could have been written by anyone with a passing interest (though not a great one) in the dark materials.
I kept searching for instances of greater analysis and depth within the book (which doesn't take long - it is a very short text) but to no avail. There are chapters on Phillip Pullman himself, and on the book's reception, but these are a couple of pages long between them and certainly don't make up for the dearth of interest in the other chapters.
If, perhaps, you are new to the books, or just thinking about the myriad of concepts, as well as the intertextual facets of the trilogy, then this book will be useful. But it is at best a starting point, I would advise searching the site for other, better written articles or books; there are certainly many to be found.

An excellent introduction to His Dark Materials - Rated
This is an excellent introduction for anybody wanting to learn more about "His Dark Materials". The book is not overly long but gives good back ground knowledge of Pullman's works and there is an interesting section on how the books have been received. Further reading and discussion topics are also thought provoking for any one interested in learning more.
I would reccommend this for any one who likes Pullman's work, teachers, and students of literature.

Review by His Dark Materials fansite director - Rated
The book is divided into five chapters: The Novelist, The Novels, The Novels’ Reception, The Novels’ Performance, and Further Reading and Discussion Questions. The first chapter is a 13-page biography of Philip Pullman, and a compact analysis of Pullman’s works. The chapter “The Novels” gives a complete analysis of His Dark Materials, reviewing the many different aspects of the books, from Dust to Politics to Religion and The Church, and even Environmentalism. Mrs. Squires also analyses the roles Lyra, Will, Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter, and Mary Malone play in His Dark Materials. The third chapter is, as the title suggests, solely about the novels’ reception, and the author describes and quotes the reactions to the novels by different parties, commendable here is the fact that Mrs. Squires notes the positive reception as well as the negative reception of the books, which makes for a very informative read. The chapter “The Novels’ Performance” is a small 3-page chapter that covers the fame of His Dark Materials. The final chapter: “Further Reading and Discussion Questions”, gives a list of questions about: Storytelling, Daemons, Gender, Innocence and Experience, Religion and The Church, Realism and Fantasy, Intertextuality, and Children’s Literature. It also contains a vast Bibliography, and a list of useful websites.

My Opinion: This book offers all that a reader’s guide should. It contains extensive information about Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials, and their reception and performance. Mrs. Squires manages to give a very complete overview of all these points, also due to the fact that she constantly utilizes quotes from articles, reviews, interviews, and other His Dark Materials-related texts. The book's style makes for a very pleasant read, so that this book is not one of those strict and dull reference guides.

I’m a very critical reviewer. When I review a book I usually spend at least a whole page highlighting the book’s faults and flaws, and draw the inevitable conclusion: A nice concept, but due to a flawed execution ultimately a failure. However, this time I was denied this pleasure. Mrs. Squires’ book is indeed a reader’s guide, so it will only be of real value to those who have either read or are adequately acquainted with the His Dark Materials. That is, together with the slightly steep price (In the UK £5, in de US $10 for this 95-page book), the only bad points of the book, and I believe them to be minor faults. Mrs. Squires manages to capture the very essence of His Dark Materials that we fans are well acquainted with, and that has made us love the books.

My Verdict: If you’ve read His Dark Materials, buy this reader’s guide. If you haven’t read His Dark Materials, read them, and then buy this book.