Four-five rocks!

Book Review One

Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman


Summary:
The protagonist of this complex fantasy is young Lyra Belacqua, a precocious orphan growing up within the precincts of Oxford University. But it quickly becomes clear that Lyra's Oxford is not precisely like our own--nor is her world. For one thing, people there each have a personal daemon, the manifestation of their souls in animal form. For another, hers is a universe in which science, theology, and magic are closely allied:
As for what experimental theology was, Lyra had no more idea than the urchins. She had formed the notion that it was concerned with magic, with the movements of the stars and planets, with tiny particles of matter, but that was guesswork, really. Probably the stars had daemons just as humans did, and experimental theology involved talking to them.
Not that Lyra spends much time worrying about it; what she likes best is "clambering over the College roofs with Roger the kitchen boy who was her particular friend, to spit plum stones on the heads of passing Scholars or to hoot like owls outside a window where a tutorial was going on, or racing through the narrow streets, or stealing apples from the market, or waging war." But Lyra's carefree existence changes forever when she and her daemon, Pantalaimon, first prevent an assassination attempt against her uncle, the powerful Lord Asriel, and then overhear a secret discussion about a mysterious entity known as Dust. Soon she and Pan are swept up in a dangerous game involving disappearing children, a beautiful woman with a golden monkey daemon, a trip to the far north, and a set of allies ranging from "gyptians" to witches to an armor-clad polar bear.

Reflection:
This is the book I pick up after a long time not reading and I fall in love with it. The storyline is great as personally I love fantasy combined with mystery and of cause it is best that the main character is only a child which will hook me on the book and not let it go till I finish it. The author describes scenery very deeply and I can picture out the scene. The characters especially Lyra left me a deep impression as she is a extraordinary girl, probably too mature at her ages, together with her deamon they go through obstacles to go on a ship to the north with a beautiful woman with a golden monkey deamon. But soon Lyra realizes that this beautiful woman she admires so much has something to do with a vicious organization that separate people from their deamon. With the help of her golden compass, pan and polar bear she went out far to save her very best friend who was being captured and on the verge on being separated from his deamon but in the end she indirectly cause the death of her friend. She then only realizes the man she trusted so much had caused her to lose her best friend. Yet, she remained calm and went on exploring another world carrying with her all the dark secrets that her father is doing. She impresses me with her bravery and wits as she solves things calmly and not go crazy when things go the wrong way. I think everyone should read this book as the story is not as simple as it seems on the movie and improve on their vocabulary as this book really provides a wide range of profound words!
Shao Ying