His Dark Materials - trilogy of novels by Phillip Pullman

Books Books: Chat / Discussions
1

Has anyone read this trilogy of novels by Phillip Pullman?

I recorded the film “The Golden Compass” (2007) based on the first novel, and, having just begun to watch it, decided to read the Wiki page on it. It would seem that changes made to the film post-production have succeeded in infuriating factions loyal to the tenets of the original novel and religious groups simultaneously! (See below *)

No mean feat.

Before I proceed with the film, I thought it might be interesting to get the views of anyone who has read the trilogy, particularly if they have also watched the film, as I have done neither.

(* Quote from Wikipedia:
"Before its release, the film received criticism from secularist organisations and fans of the His Dark Materials trilogy for the dilution of elements of the story which were critical of religion, as well as from some religious organisations for the source material’s anti-religious themes.
The studio ordered significant changes late in post-production, which Weitz [the Director] later called a “terrible” experience.[4] ")

1 Like
2

I have read most, not all of the books & I saw the film.
The latter was OK but not as good as the book it was taken from. It also only told part of the story, it was the first book I think from my memory. It was a while ago.
I didn’t finish the trilogy. The books were a good read if you like Fantasy.

3

Thank you. That’s useful.

4

Thanks, I think they intended to make sequels of the original film, but possibly due to low box office or whatever never made any more. I still have the DVD of the film.

5

I had a bit of a read in Wiki, and I think the producers chickened out of it, due to the religion thing. Given that they apparently watered down the first film, I’m not surprised.

Interesting, isn’t it?

I dare say the whole trilogy will get made into films one day, but it might take braver producers!:mrgreen:

6

The books are, as ever, better than the film. The film is just the first book which in the UK is known as the Northern Lights.

Then comes The Subtle Knife and the Amber Spyglass.

All three are very readable although quirky in their own way.

A far far better set of books are those by Terry Goodkind called the Sword Of Truth series which start with:

Wizard’s First Rule
The Stone Of Tears
Blood Of The Fold
Temple Of The Winds

and so on

7

I really enjoyed the Dark Materials books but didn’t particularly like the movie. I second the comments about The Sword of Truth series although it rather goes on into numerous books … I also loved The Liveship Traders trilogy and subsequent connected series by Robin Hobb.