His Dark Materials discussion

Perhaps this is a bit late to add since most members who are active know eachother already and this group is.. (omg is this a year old already? damn.)
But I thought we should have a place for any new people to say hi and introduce themselves since they don't really have a place to do that right now except existing threads.

Anyway, feel free to say what you want and we look forward to seeing new people! =D

*grins* well, im NOT new, but... I'm Snowsong, and... *thinks* what othr pertinent info is there... oh yeah, im CRAZY! lol

hi, i'm ivy...um...i agree with snow. on saying that she's craaaazy. :P but yeah...

lol, THANKS ivy... ^^ isnt the pot calling the kettle black there though? ^^ we ALL crazy! :D

calling the kettle black...?

u know, ppl in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, pot calling the kettle black... its like... *thinks* me being crazy and then calling sumone else crazy. ^^ my mom uses those expressions all the time

why would someone live in a glass house..? that seems so... dangerous. what if it breaks? you'd get cut! and what if a storm came!? it would smash your house and kill you!! that sounds way too dangerous for me.

it would sound cool tho...shattering glass...kinda...sorta...you'd need a smaller house made of like stone in the middle tho...but you could draw on all the glass and make it look shnazzy!!! i'm coming over with colorful sharpiiiies!

lol ivy! and pan, its a figure of speech... "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" means that if you're something, you shouldnt go around making fun of other people because they're that thing

well.. what are you?

crazy ^^

crazy is cool

crrrrrrazy crazy crazy ...

rrrawr! crrrrrrrrAZY DUCKS!

Hello! I'm Charlene. Nice to meet you all! I didn't know that goodreads.com had groups until fairly recently. My cousin introduced me to goodreads.com and I've used it to keep track on books that I've read, want to read, and about to read. It's a really cool site to reflect on the things I've read.

Anyway, more about me... I'm from San Francisco, California. I will more than likely purchase a book I'd like to read rather than loan it from the library. I have too many bills in several libraries due to overdue fines. :) Anyone else like this? And where is everyone from?

And again, nice to meet you all!

I have recently finished both The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. I am currently reading The Amber Spyglass, and cannot get enough of this series. I am blown away at how well written and intelligent His Dark Materials are.

People have warned me that The Amber Spyglass is a big let down, are they right?

Please let me know without spoiling the plot. A simple: "people are wrong!" will suffice.

Haha, welcome Charlene and Marco!
Charlene;
I love san francisco! I'm from las vegas, but am living in a canyon in idaho right now. (how'd that happen?)
I like to buy books better than renting them too. Mostly 'cause I like to have them for reference and it's fun to get a big collection =P Plus I like to read them whenever I want and not have to worry about overdue books.

Marco;
I love the amber spyglass the best of the series. I was so sad when it ended, but I don't think it was a let down at all. I don't think it could've been any better.

huzzah for new people! :D

i was born in sf but now live in oregon (which is rather snowy at the moment).

*sigh* im on the othr side of the country... GO MICHIGAN! lol. now that we all know where Snow lives... ^^ ANYWAY. i loved ALL the His Dark Materials books. and yeah, book 3 had a saddening ending, but... I LOVED IT ANYWAY. and charlene, im the same way w/ my library... fines r draggin me down... *thinks* i think i shall pay them off on saturday, when i go to the library...

Pan: I have family from Las Vegas and they said it was snowing over there! I would think it would snow here first than there... but seems very cool.

I would love to have one white Christmas... :)

Snowsong: I have not paid any of my fines. Do you think they might arrest me for it? :)

no, i dont think they'll arrest you for unpaid fines... though it could depend on the amount that you owe. i dunno. plus, we're in diff states, so that could make a diff too. but i doubt u'll get in trouble w/ the law for not paying them. ^^ i hvnt yet, and ive had outrageous amounts of fines b4. and i hvnt paid mine yet ^^

Hi, I'm Helene and I live in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. My favourite books are Harry Potter and His Dark Materials but I'm open to any suggestions of other good books to read.
It's good to meet so many people with an interest in books. In my 6th form, there doesn't seem to be very many people who are interested in reading.

greetings Helene!! where r u from? and YAY BOOKWORMS!!!

Hi, I'm Pandy. (Well, it isn't my real name.) I'm from Phoenix, Arizona. I love reading, but I havn't read anything new in a long time. I can't wait for the semester to be over.

wow! all these new people! *gets excited over new people*

it's like a flood! =D

i know! it's amazing! :P
maximum ride is a good series if you're interested in a bit of sci fi. :D

hey Pandy, if my name were really Snowsong, i think i might hv to hurt my parents ^^ but about books... Try Scott Westerfield and Tamora Pierce as authors.

ooo and anything written by george orwell! (SUPER big orwell fan)
or if you like classics, Outlaws of the marsh is a really good book. it's like 2400 pages or somethin' though. I'm almost finished with it =D

I havn't read too many books just for fun lately.. =(
I spent yesterday reading a military first aid manual from 1983.. that's alot of fun.

lol, why were u reading a military aid manual pan? and i LOVE george orwell! well... i liked Animal Farm, wen i read it. and thats the only book by him that ive read, so... but i still loved it!

The only Orwell book I've read is Animal Farm too. I also really liked it, so I guess I should read more books by him. About Tamora Pierce...I tried to read one of her books. I think it was called The Will of the Empress or something, but I couldn't get into it. (I only read around twenty pages I think.) Which ones of her books are the best?

im so sad. I only have half a book of essays and two books left written by orwell. then i'll have read everything he's published!! (cries) man.. seriously crying here. =( 1984 is my favorite book ever.. but I hate reading it. it makes me depressed. lol

I think Animal Farm is a required reading for everyone in the public school system in the United States... hehe...

actually, i didnt HV to read Animal Farm... it was summer reading that we didnt really have to do. i didnt actually read it till christmas or so last yr, cuz wen i tried to read it ovr the summer, i tried doing that thing where you write down your thoughts as you read. that ruins books for me, so i read it a second time /wo trying to do that. hey Pandy, the Will of the Empress was like, book nine in a series, i THINK... umm... try Sandry's Book or... Wild Magic. Those were both pretty good, AND the first in their set. Will of the Empress was like, the last book in the set w/ Sandry's Book. Circle of Magic ROCKED! lol, course, i started with the 5th one in that set, then went back to the 1st one, lol!

I'm from Cullercoats, near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne - way in the North!! It's freezing cold here!

Yeah, Animal Farm was summer reading for me too. I read it at the beginning of the summer, so I had to read it again in the middle of the school year for the tests and essays.

Thanks for telling me about the Will of the Empress Snowsong. I really don't like starting at the end of a series. I'll try one of the other ones that are the first in their set.

lol, no prob at all. i had to think of which one that was b4 i could set u on the right set of books there. i prefer starting at the beginning too, so i figured u would too ^^

Hi Everyone,

First off I am new here and I have to admit my fantasy reading has been taken up with Mr. Martin, Mr. Tolkien and a lot of horror.
So, as a newly- minted "retiree" I'm attempting to broaden my fantasy horizons (former teacher that I am!)

So my first thoughts went to Mr. Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. (Mainly because I really enjoyed the film!)
Any thoughts as to what I might expect from Mr. Pullman's work?

(I've also been considering "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb.)

I know this is a rather broad question, but any opinions and realistic input would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your consideration.

Bob

Bob wrote: "Hi Everyone,

First off I am new here and I have to admit my fantasy reading has been taken up with Mr. Martin, Mr. Tolkien and a lot of horror.
So, as a newly- minted "retiree" I'm attempting..."

Hey there Bob.

First off, keep in mind that the books are not about "killing god", which is the first thing most people say.

Be ready for a very though-provoking journey. Be ready for characters that you may fall in love with. And ultimately be ready for the heart-crushing, beautiful ending. It took me years to come to terms with the ending of the story, I grew up reading these novels, but now as an adult I can see that Pullman couldn't have ended the story in any other way.

Also the film, while not horrible, did not do the story justice. So if you enjoyed the film, you are probably going to love the books.

Pullman also has a fantastic writing style and I guess literary voice might be the way to put it.

Hi Drew,

Thank you for your input.
Yes, I've heard many people say the same thing about the film version, but for me there was just enough of that un-nameable "something" in the story that has sparked my interest in this story for a few years now. (Finally getting around to purchasing these books.)

I've searched Goodreads and Mr. Pullman does not seem to have many discussion threads. Am I missing something? I'd enjoy reading a variety of opinions once I finish his work.

The lack of discussions could just be a result of the complexity of the story. His Dark Materials hits a lot of major themes, which makes it worthy of discussion, but also somewhat difficult to interpret, at least in my opinion. There are discussion threads across the internet though. I believe there's a forum specifically for it.

Hi All, new to Philip Pulman, I know a lot of you will be jealous that I have never read any of the books, so I get to read the first time.

I have aquestion however .. I have started with la belle Sauvage.. should I have or should I go back to the previous series to get a better understanding .. not sure what the demons are all about ...

Hi! I’m Ewa pronounced Eva 😃 so is any one even active here anymore?

Ewa wrote: "Hi! I’m Ewa pronounced Eva 😃 so is any one even active here anymore?"

Nice to meet you, Ewa. I would say that is unfortunately probably mostly a no to your question, but somehow I happened to be on here (for the first time in 5 years) nearly the same day you posted. So that's pretty cool! I'll probably be on goodreads a lot more this year so maybe I'll stop by now and then to see what's up.

I started this group back in 2008 and I stop in from time to time out of curiosity. I'm happy that there's still interest in the series. Phillip Pullman is awesome and we're FINALLY getting the book of dust. (that was such a long wait!)

Dan wrote: "Hi All, new to Philip Pulman, I know a lot of you will be jealous that I have never read any of the books, so I get to read the first time.

I have aquestion however .. I have started with la bell..."

Nice to meet you too, Dan. I would recommend starting with Northern Lights/Golden Compass and reading that trilogy first. They go into a lot of the world building and explaining things such as the daemons as well as introducing a lot of the characters in probably a less confusing way. There are also two short novels that are connected, Lyra's Oxford and Once upon a time in the north. Lyra's oxford is a kind of epilogue to the original trilogy.

I'd recommend reading those two after the first 3 and then the book of dust trilogy last.

Welcome to this ancient group. Haha. I'm genuinely happy to see new posts and faces after all this time.

Hi, I'm glad there's a group for Pullman here!

I have been working on a podcast commentary on His Dark Materials for quite a while. I'm partway through The Amber Spyglass, but I feel like I'm running out of steam. I'm always looking for people to interview to help liven up the discussion. Mostly I try to talk to people who have published essays on the books, but I managed to meet one of the moderators of the Pullman Fandom wiki, too, and had a couple of great conversations come out of that.

I'm hoping someone here might be willing to give the podcast a listen, and maybe even record an episode with me sometime! Please feel free to send me a message if you're interested.

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