full title The His Dark Materials trilogy, consisting
of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife,
and The Amber Spyglass
author Philip Pullman
type of work Novels
genre Fantasy; young adult
language English
time and place written 1990s; Oxford, England
date of first publication
· 1995 (The Golden Compass)
· 1997 (The Subtle Knife)
· 2000 (The Amber Spyglass)
publisher Scholastic Children’s Books
narrator Omniscient third person
point of view In The Golden Compass, the narrator
focuses primarily on what Lyra is thinking and doing. In The
Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, the
narrator describes the thoughts of several characters.
tone Serious, sympathetic
tense Past
setting (time) Present day
setting (place) Many different worlds, including our own, the world
of the dead, the world of the mulefa, the world of Ci’gazze, and
Lyra’s world
protagonist Lyra Belacqua
major conflict The attempts of the Church to subjugate all conscious
beings
rising action Lord Asriel kills Roger and opens a window into another
world; Lyra escapes into the other world; Lyra and Will meet; Lyra meets
Mary Malone; Will meets his father; the Church discovers that Lyra
is the new Eve; Will and Lyra free the dead
climax Lord Asriel’s forces battle Metatron’s forces
falling action Lyra and Will escape into the world of the mulefa and
discover that they are in love
themes Will and grace; freedom through knowledge; the importance
of sex to maturation
motifs Destiny; innocence; physical pleasure
symbols Daemons; feeding; the aurora borealis
foreshadowing Throughout the books, characters refer to Lyra’s mysterious destiny.
