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His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) | 
| Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Category: Book
List Price: $22.50
Buy New: $13.91
You Save: $8.59 (38%)
New (32) Used (14) Collectible (1) from $13.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  1042 reviews
Sales Rank: 217
Format: Box Set
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 4.4 x 3.1
ISBN: 0440238609
EAN: 9780440238607
ASIN: 0440238609
Publication Date: September 23, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Amazon.com
In the epic trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman unlocks the door to worlds parallel to our own. Daemons and winged creatures live side by side with humans, and a mysterious entity called Dust just might have the power to unite the universes--if it isn't destroyed first. The three books in Pullman's heroic fantasy series, published as mass-market paperbacks with new covers, are united here in one boxed set that includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Join Lyra, Pantalaimon, Will, and the rest as they embark on the most breathtaking, heartbreaking adventure of their lives. The fate of the universe is in their hands. (Ages 13 and older)
Book Description
Now, for the first time, the HIS DARK MATERIALS Trilogy is available in a trade paperback edition. All three books in the His Dark Materials trilogy-- THE GOLDEN COMPASS, THE SUBTLE KNIFE, and THE AMBER SPYGLASS--are available in a new complete boxed set featuring the trade paperbacks. New material is available in all three books: The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife feature black-and-white chapter-opening art by Philip Pullman himself; The Amber Spyglass features chapter-opening quotes from the likes of Milton, Donne, Blake, Byron and the Bible, which did not appear in hardcover.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1037 more reviews...
 Do not miss this wonderful adventure! May 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I initially learned of this series after hearing it compared to the Harry Potter books. I adored Harry's adventures with his friends and wanted more of the same British magic. After reading both I realized that Phillip Pullman's work can in no way be compared to J.K. Rowling. Both authors are spectacular in their storytelling, but are so different in their styles and objectives for their works that comparing and contrasting them would do neither justice.
Philllip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy is a complex work of courage, love and betrayal, and conveys to the readers a wide diapason of human emotions and personalities. My initial impression of The Golden Compass (book 1 in the series) was that it was an anti-religious book and the propaganda behind it almost turned me off the entire series. I have to admit that I was utterly wrong in making such a conclusion so soon and am glad that I made myself suspend my skepticism and read to the end. True believers in a cause, be it eternal salvation or something entirely different, are sometimes blind to reason since they see nothing but the burning beacon of their faith directing their paths of righteousness. Their deeds might appear wicked in the eyes of the atheists among us, but are they truly so? Can you compare the actions of Father Gomez in his mission to kill Lyra and spare Will, who is in his eyes an innocent, to a common murderer? Does his unwavering belief absolve him of sin or condemn him even more? What about Ms. Coulter, who did unspeakable things in her life until she finally found the bliss that is maternal love? Does her final sacrifice make all the other deeds accidental?
There are so many questions of human nature that this series raises and manages to avoid giving free answers that don't encourage thought and reflection. It shows that not everything in life is black and white and there are as many shades of gray as there are misconceptions, deceptions and misunderstandings within human character. And with all that, the purity of spirit and love shine through in both Will and Lyra as they undertake the most perilous tasks and continuously find themselves battling for the greater good that children should never have to do. Then again, may be it can only take the innocence and ingenuity of a child to accomplish what they managed without loosing themselves in the process.
I will not spoil the ending of the series, but will say that it was as powerfully and beautifully written as the rest of the tale. All three books were fast paced and captivated my interest completely. I would personally not recommend this trilogy to children and in my opinion they were quite a bit darker then the Harry Potter books. On the other hand, the original Brothers Grimm stories are a lot more gruesome and I've read them as a child myself. Whatever you do, don't miss this phenomenal read.
Good books! May 15, 2008
If you Keep with the first book, you discover a great set of books. Also, this set is very durable, more so than other paperbacks!
A far cry from Harry Potter. Children's book? Hah! May 13, 2008
Of course, I have never read Harry Potter. So basing my comparison with the first 3 movies of HP, I would say that this goes beyond the Harry Potter genre. Almost everybody reads Harry Potter. But His Dark Materials is not for everyone. To label this as a children's book is a grieve mistake for I am sure the little ones will miss the central message of the author. But as for adventure, it is non-stop and most people from all ages will absolutely enjoy it.
After watching the movie, "The Golden Compass" my sister bought the set. The movie had instilled an interest in me. The bear fight scene "Bears! Who is your King?" cheesed me out, which made me realize how OLD I am. So thinking that the book is targeted towards children, it took me a while to pick this up and finally after 4 months, I continued on with Lyra's adventure. But when I did, my whole week is automatically committed. For five days, my sister saw me flipping book after book after book.
THE GOLDEN COMPASS: I decided that I would start from the beginning. It is a general agreement that the book is always better than the movie, no? Except this time, I think the movie handled some of the scenes in the book much better. The movie moved and switched some of the scenes around but it still worked. Book fans bashed the movie because it left a big chunk of the book's ending. I wouldn't worry about it though because if they included the real ending, then it'll be much more of an excruciating cliff hanger. I don't think I could wait 3 more years to see next sequel. Still, several scenes has been skipped - important scenes and that's why in retrospect, the book is still better. But to put the movie in a better light, when I imagine the daemons and dust and those flying machines, I could refer back to the movie. Nicole Kidman is the perfect Mrs. Coultier! So in essence, the movie gives us a small peek of what goes on inside Philip Pullman's head.
THE AMBER SPYGLASS: Since I've watched the movie, the first book was not as exciting as the second one. The Amber Spyglass made me stay up the whole night. Lyra's new friend and another main character, Will, started off as an annoying character but proved to be as courageous, as smart, as likeable (if not more likeable) as Lyra. Looking back, this book was so jam-packed and I felt like I flew through the pages so quickly.
THE SUBTLE KNIFE: Finally, I think the series' tandem faltered a tiny bit in this last installment of Pullman's epic adventure. After building up so much intrigue and mystery, I was disappointed at the sloppy ending. He easily convinced me of the existence of the imaginary worlds he created but the most human and normal twist in the story fell out flat and forced. For twelve year olds, okay...sure, it's possible...but why can't I believe it? Well, I'm not spoiling anything.
Albeit the weak ending, this series will definitely one of those books I'll keep recommending throughout my lifetime.
His Dark Materials May 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked up these books out of morbid fascination after seeing the movie and hearing a coworker talk about the book. I borrowed the first one from her and found my self intrigued so I bought the series and waited anxiously for the post man to deliver it. I found that I love these books! They are together a great work of fiction. They carried me to worlds I had never imagined through perils I would never have known. The characters are engraved in my heart. Each cut and bump and soul wrenching tear made me love them all the more. I wanted so badly for true love to win and triumph over evil and In the end I could barley see through my tears and with no truly happy ending in sight I love these books all the more.
His dark materials trilogy Phillip Pullman May 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent trilogy. Once you start reading it you will not want to put them down.
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