Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. NY: Knopf, 1995. 399 pages. (Fantasy Series)Lyra is a precocious, silver-tongued, orphaned 12 year-old girl who enjoys nothing more than stealing apples from the market and getting into trouble with her daemon (soul), Pan. In Lyra’s world, a person’s soul is not hidden inside them as it is in our world; their souls take the form of an animal that represents their personality. She lives in Oxford, England and is under the care of the Scholars at the university. When her best friend is kidnapped by “Gobblers” and her uncle is imprisoned in the far north, Lyra takes it upon herself to set out, find them, and return them home. Once there she meets a wide array of characters, both friend and foe, before learning the horrifying truth about the “Gobblers” and the experiments they are running on the kidnapped children’s souls. Come into the pages of The Golden Compass and meet Lyra: thief, companion, liar, friend—one of the best characters you’ll meet between the pages of any book.
Reviewed by: Disreputable Dog
