Blog Tour: Top 5 Reasons to Read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Genre:	Young Adult, Science Fiction
Publication Date:	May 22, 2001
Pages:	399 (paperback)
Published By:	Yearling Fantasy
Website:	Philip Pullman
	The Golden Compass on Goodreads
My review copy:	Received from the publisher in exchange for my honest review

Where to get:

Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jodan College, with her daemon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle—a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears. And as she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle. 

Philip Pullman's award-winning The Golden Compass is a masterwork of storytelling and suspense, critically acclaimed and hailed as a modern fantasy classic.

This Yearling paperback edition includes 15 pages of bonus material: some found letters of Lord Asriel, his scientific notes and other archival documents. This edition also features artwork by Philip Pullman at the opening of each chapter.

A New York Times Bestseller
A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time
An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel
Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

"Very grand indeed." --The New York Times
"Superb . . . all-stops-out thrilling." --The Washington Post
"A shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred

"The Golden Compass is one of the best fantasy / adventure stories that I have read. This is a book no one should miss." --Terry Brooks

(Goodreads)

You cannot change what you are, only what you do.

'That's the duty of the old,' said the Librarian, 'to be anxious on the behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.'

They sat for a while longer, and then parted, for it was late, and they were old and anxious.

We are all subject to the fates. But we must act as if we are not, or die of despair. 

Top 5 Reasons to Read The Golden Compass ASAP

1. It is set in the most unique, dazzling, wildly imaginative alternate universe you could hope for in a fantasy novel. From page one, you'll be mesmerized by its richness and complexity. We are talking a world in which every person has its daemon, the manifestation of their souls in animal form. A world filled with magic, dark secrets, politics, loyalty, treason, and danger. Pullman invented an entire cosmos -- a world that is similar enough to outs, but at the same time, so different! 

2. The relatable orphaned girl at the center of it all. Lyra Belacqua is such a wonderful character - she's incredibly brave, loyal, ready to sacrifice her own safety (even life) for those she cares about. A girl with so many admirable qualities, including a strong moral compass and a very big heart, that is not afraid to fight for what she believes in. She's a character you will immediately connect with and root for until the end.

3. Memorable, beautiful thoughts and reflections - quotes that you'll jot down and come back to over and over again. Pullman's writing is like a flowing river of golden dust, his words wrap around your heart like a warm blanket, bringing you comfort and inspiring reflection. 

Here's a couple of my favorite quotes:

"You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but I shall tell you anyway and you'll understand it later: men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that our hearts are continually racked with pain. We bear their children, who are witches if they are female, human if not; and then in the blink of an eye they are gone, felled, slain, lost. Our sons, too. When a little boy is growing, he thinks he is immortal. His mother knows he isn't. Each time becomes more painful, until finally your heart is broken. Perhaps that is when Yambe-Akka comes for you. She is older than the tundra. Perhaps, for her, witches' lives are as brief as men's are to us."

"Being a practiced liar doesn't mean you have a powerful imagination. Many good liars have no imagination at all; it's that which gives their lies such wide-eyed conviction."

"We feel cold, but we don't mind it, because we will not come to harm. And if we wrapped up against the cold, we wouldn't feel other things, like the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the aurora, or best of all the silky feeling of moonlight on our skin. It's worth being cold for that."

4. The Golden Compass movie - which, as far as book-to-movie adaptations go, isn't the best, but is far from the worst, too. And isn't it always so nice to read a book and then compare it with its adaptation? Plus, Nicole Kidman stars in the movie, and I don't know about you, but in my book, it's always one more reason to watch it!

5. And last, but not least, the long-anticipated new work from Mr. Pullman, THE BOOK OF DUST, will be published as a work in three parts, with the first volume to arrive in October 2017! (PS. It's available for pre-order now!)

More information from the official press release:

Two decades after The Golden Compass (1996)—the first book of Pullman’s world-famous His Dark Materials trilogy, which has sold more than 17.5 million copies in over 40 languages—THE BOOK OF DUST (#BookofDust) will return to the parallel world that has enthralled readers young and old. The plot will remain under wraps until publication in October, but it can be revealed that the book is set ten years before The Golden Compass and centers on the much-beloved Lyra Belacqua. Alethiometers, daemons, and the Magisterium return to play their part, and Pullman also introduces a host of new characters.

Pullman says: “I know from their letters and tweets that my readers have been waiting patiently (mostly) for THE BOOK OF DUST for a long time. It gives me great pleasure and some excitement at last to satisfy their curiosity (and mine) about this book. So, is it a prequel? Is it a sequel? It’s neither. In fact, THE BOOK OF DUST is . . . an ‘equel’. It doesn’t stand before or after His Dark Materials, but beside it. It’s a different story, but there are settings that readers of His Dark Materials will recognize, and characters they’ve met before. Also, of course, there are some characters who are new to us, including an ordinary boy (a boy we have seen in an earlier part of Lyra’s story, if we were paying attention) who, with Lyra, is caught up in a terrifying adventure that takes him into a new world.”