Book Review |
| Northern Lights |
By Philip Pullman |
| This exciting
book takes you on a journey through a different world which is similar to ours. Lyra and
her friends take you on a voyage of discovery where their only guide is the curious
'Alethiometer'! Find out about the evil Oblation Board and their plans, and how Lyra
attempts to put a stop to them in this wonderful novel! Lyra and her daemon named Pantalaimon are the main characters in this book. Lyra, a stubborn young girl who lives in Jordan Collage, loves to explore. One time, when she hides in a cupboard in a room where an important meeting is being held, she learns of a substance called 'dust', a substance quite different from the dust we know. When she later hears about the 'gobblers' who kidnap children she also discovers that she is to be taken out of the collage. She soon realises that she is deeply involved in a serious incident ! The book is very well written but could do with better punctuation. The sentences are sometimes overly long and complicated and they do not lend themselves to being read aloud. There are many difficult words in it because the book is aimed at older children but most words are easy to work out by using the context, though there is always the dictionary! I really liked the idea of setting this fantasy-SCI-FI-adventure genre in another world. The book never gets boring and when you think the book is coming to its peak, the hidden element of the fact that the people are in another world just nudges up the excitement one step further. Phillip Pullman builds up the character relationship between the readers, Lyra and Pantalaimon throughout the whole book. This relationship is carried on through the sequel to Northern Lights - The Subtle knife. This is a wonderful book providing a good read and I am sure that anyone over nine years old should read it. May 2001 |