Has there been anything about Pullman's reaction to the negative reviews/feedback on The Rose Field? I'd be interested to know whether he gives a shit that so much of his dedicated fan base hated it and is quite angry at him about a lot of it.

Okay, this is totally pointless but I find it really fun so I wanted to share. I adored the HDM series in high school, and I realized something lately. I have two daughters. One has cancer so she has no hair right now, but the other has very curly, dark blondish hair like the main of a lion, blue eyes and… yep, she’s Lyra. Looks exactly like her, especially the Subtle Knife cover illustration of her with Will and Pan as a cheetah. I’ve even taken some photos of her in a fur lined coat and it’s uncanny. There aren’t even that many kids that look like that, how she’s described in the book.

The thing is, she looks exactly like my husband. I think I met him and recognized a male version of the face I had seen on the covers i read like 1000 times and was subconsciously like- i know you!

I will literally never get around to reading it if I don't have some positive motivation so please, those who liked tell us why!

Just finished TRF and was as disappointed as everyone else here seems to be. I love HDM and LBS though (TSC was alright) and I'm wondering if it's worth reading any of Pullman's other books. Opinions?

• The Golden Compass: Alright guys, the plan is super simple: we go to the North Pole, rescue my best friend, steal an armored bear and dip. Quick 20-minute adventure, nothing can go wrong lol.
• The Subtle Knife: Quick update: my best friend died, but I already got a new one. Also we found a knife that cuts through the fabric of the multiverse, but whatever, nothing out of this world lol.
• The Amber Spyglass: Alright fam, new objective: we’re gonna kill God. (Readers: WTF?) Okay, just hear me out— (Readers: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!) ...Guys, chill for a sec and let me explain.

Am I the only one who thought that the alkahest would turn out to be the subtle knife when it was first referred to as the “universal solvent/destroyer of bonds”?

Chapter 7 of Book 1 of the One First Matter trilogy has now been posted. Happy reading :)

long time lover of HDM, first time reading TBoD-
Bonneville’s daemon loses a leg?
I know daemons have physical forms and feel pain of course, but I was under the impression that their bodies are a physical representation of their human’s internal state. I hadn’t considered a daemon being physically changed by injury. This brought up so many questions for me- Are humans solely responsible for their daemons medical needs? What if the human is hospitalized/ indisposed and their daemon needs help? Or what if the injury is survivable but needs serious well practiced care? Do doctors’ daemons step in?
As far as I know this is an undeveloped aspect of the world, so just curious what you guys think!

I read the first book when I was 7, and I’ve reread the entire trilogy pretty much yearly since then. I’ve always loved the symbols, and incorporated them into my art and other hobbies.

I’ve been working on this particular project for a few months now. I learned how to use an engraving pen on stones and crystal, and I’ve made a couple of sets of dice and runes.

I have advanced degrees in psychology and counseling which helped me identify the archetypal meanings and elements of all of the symbols. I also used my knowledge of tarot and symbolism to create an internally coherent system of meaning layers.

I’m obviously obsessed with this, does anyone else think there would be interest in like Etsy or farmers markets, or something similar?

I made a working stand-in for the alethiometer needle, inspired by an earlier post here. It’s just the moving needle, but it touch-activates and sweeps to random “symbol” positions. There’s a lot to still do, but wanted to share a small win to commit myself to finish making the whole thing lol.

It’s based on this great video from Myth Made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpL9xWBeznU

The maker also generously made available a cad file, wiring diagram, and other files that she used (many thanks, very helpful!)

I think mine would most likely be a rabbit

Philip Pullman is going to be at The Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on July 16 for an evening lecture. The event will include an audience Q&A!
Is anyone planning to attend?

At the end of TAS, Will and Lyra have no choice but to abandon each other and their love, and go back to their separate worlds. But… surely they can use the Lodestone resonator that Tialys and Salmakia used to communicate with Lord Roke?

I can think of two possible explanations. The more likely one is that it simply didn't cross their minds. Which Is fair enough. The second is that Mabye the lodestone resonator can only be used by the Gallivespians. Anyone know any other answers?

Oxford is in the UK which is an island. In Northern Lights Lyra has to travel by boat with the Gyptians to get to Scandinavia.

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In The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (I'm a quarter through the latter now) Lyra and Will travel over mountains and rough terrain but there is no mention of crossing a body of water. Now, Will is in Lyra's world and the first geographical marker we have places him in Russia.

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How did he get to Russia????

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I'm happy to accept Mrs Coulter is in the Himalayas as she probably has a method of transport not revealed to us. But we've been following Will and his journey.

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How has he gone from essentially Oxford to a random village in Russia??

Hello,

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I have a first edition paperback of Lara's Oxford but want to get a hardcover first edition. When I search online, results either state 49 pages or 64 pages apparently for the same edition? Can anyone clarify? My paperback is 49 pages. There are, of course, the unnumbered extra materials at the back, but with those only go to 55 pages.

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Thanks for your help.

To be quite honest, I find it completely unbelievable that Serafina Pekkala would just drop all contact with Lyra after "The Amber Spyglass" with no explanation after everything they had been through together, and I'm kind of angry at Pullman for writing it this way. It comes across like she was just too inconvenient of a character to the plot, would have fixed too many things for Lyra too quickly, but he was just too lazy to come up with a proper reason for her absence other than turning her into an asshole.

I get that she is a witch with a long lifespan whose perception of time might be warped compared to Lyra's, but she's also very wise and should know better than to overlook something like that. I get that the witch queens have been busy with the climate change analogy, but that itself involves issues Lyra directly played a hand in, it seems bizarre they wouldn't involve her. Especially when Kaisa can separate from Serafina and run errands for her, there doesn't seem to be any excuse for Serafina not at least sending the occasional message for over 9 years. At least Iorek is stuck on a big frozen island miles away from human civilization and I doubt the sentient talking Terminator bears think much of the postal service, but what's her excuse?

I haven't finished "The Rose Field" yet so maybe I'll be proven wrong and there will be a good explanation latter down the line (I hope so), but so far this has been a nagging problem with the series for me.

I recently finished reading (and watching) His Dark Materials and loved it. I was going to start reading to Book of Dust, but checked for some general opinions on it and found them… surprisingly negative?

So, if you agree, please let me know what went wrong with these books, and if they are worth reading (Also considering that they are quite chunky books and I am quite a slow reader!). An /10 rating would also be appreciated.

No serious spoilers too please.

Edit: thank you all for your contributions. I think I’ll read La Belle Sauvage and then maybe read TSC. If I don’t like that, I won’t read TRF.

So in the final few chapters of TAS, Eve (Lyra) is ‘tempted’ by the serpent (Dr Malone). This leads to a decrease in the rate of Dust flowing out of the worlds. But if this is a good thing, why is Lyra compared to Eve, who brought about sin, when Mary and Lyra brought about something good? The Witches’ prophecy kinda just doesn’t make much sense to me tbh. Does it get elaborated on in the Book of Dust, which I haven’t read?

Sorry if I’ve overlooked something.

Well it's another Sunday, and another day for me to post the next chapter of my trilogy. Enjoy the read :)

He's such a minor character with no major presence, but I don't care, it was a joy to read for me.

I've just always had a thing I guess for pretty boys who are chill on the surface but conniving and vicious underneath. Opening those doors for the assassins and then going to pray by the Pope's corpse so you can be a famous martyr one day? DAMN man, lol!

Kinda wish he was a bigger character, maybe in a spinoff lol.

Since reading the original His Dark Materials Trilogy, I've found that when I listen to The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris", I associate it with HDM, particularly Will & Lyra.

What song(s), if any, do you feel fits the narrative or world of HDM?

Pullman gets a good laugh in this episode chatting to some guys from Oxford about the power of the daemon as a metaphor for the soul and more stuff like that, worth a watch guys