The Golden Compass (Mini-Review)

The Golden Compass is the first installment in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. In it we are introduced to Lyra Belacqua who tasks herself with freeing her friend Roger from the Gobblers and giving a precious item to her uncle Lord Asriel. Along the way she finds that things are much more complicated than she could have ever imagined.

This is my third time re-reading the trilogy and the second reading it in order. Basically when I was a teen I found the second book and didn't realize it was a sequel. I recently watched His Dark Materials on HBO so I felt more than compelled to read this series yet again.

Some say this book is about the evils of religions. It isn't and is merely a look at the dangers of organized religion. Lyra's world is a theocracy which means the Church controls everything. The main thing I'll talk about in this spoiler free review is that the Church limits what people can learn and teach. This makes Lord Asriel instantly appealing as he doesn't care what anyone says he can or can't do.

The book deals with Dust and people's reaction to it. The Church believes it's a bad thing and is enacting a plan to make sure it becomes a thing of the past. Though I have no doubt certain people, most likely men, will be allowed to keep their Dust. Readers will have a basic understanding of Dust once the book is over and yet still have more questions about it.

When Lyra reads the alethiometer I'm reminded how I read tarot cards. In both cases you have to learn how to read them and you can't simply read either the first time. While the alethiometer has levels of meanings and how many times the fourth hand turns helps in the readings, when reading tarot cards you have to feel for the meaning. And the meaning of, say, The Emperor can change slightly depending on the deck. So if you're a spiritual person and want to read your very own alethiometer, pick up a tarot deck.

One chapter of the book is called Mortal Combat. As this book was published in 1995 and the first Mortal Kombat game was released in 1992, it could be that Philip Pullman was making a joke with the chapter title. Even if that's not the case, I hope you also hear Mortal Kombat game music when reading that chapter.

I would recommend The Golden Compass to those who love fantasy and a book with a female lead. I would also recommend giving this book to teenagers as it will be a fun way to learn interesting concepts.