''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel by

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. He is best known for the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. The first volume, ''Northern Lights'' (1995), won the Carnegie Medal

, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of

Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua ( ), later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the heroine of Philip Pullman's trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. In ''His Dark Materials'' Lyra is a young girl who inhabits a universe parallel to our own. Brought up in the cloistered wo ...

to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle,

Lord Asriel Lord Asriel is a character in Philip Pullman's '' His Dark Materials'' trilogy. Asriel is a member of the aristocracy in a parallel universe dominated by the Church. Possessed of enormous determination and willpower, he is fierce in nature and ...

, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "

Dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

". ''Northern Lights'' is the first book of the trilogy, ''

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...

'' (1995 to 2000).

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

published the first US edition April 1996, under the name ''The Golden Compass'', under which title it was adapted as a 2007 feature film and as a companion video game. The book has also been adapted as the first part of the 2019 TV series ''His Dark Materials''. Pullman won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...

, recognising the year's outstanding British children's book. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal, it was named one of the top ten winning works by a panel, composing the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. ''Northern Lights'' won the public vote from that shortlist and was thus named the all-time " Carnegie of Carnegies" on 21 June 2007.

Synopsis

Setting

The

setting Setting or Settings may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative tec ...

is a

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

dominated by the Magisterium (commonly called "the Church"), an international

theocracy Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's ...

which actively suppresses

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

. In this world, humans' souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of

sentient Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations. It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as awareness, reasoning, or complex thought processes. Some writers define sentience exclusively as the capacity for ''v ...

" dæmons" in animal form which accompany, aid, and comfort their humans. An important plot device is the

alethiometer In Philip Pullman's ''His Dark Materials'' and '' The Book of Dust'' trilogies, Dust or Rusakov particles are particles associated with consciousness that are integral to the plot. In the multiverse in which these trilogies are set, Dust is at ...

, a truth-telling symbol reader. By setting the alethiometer's hands to point to symbols around a dial a skilled practitioner can pose questions, which are answered by the movement of a further hand.

Plot

Twelve-year-old

runs wild with her dæmon Pantalaimon around

Jordan College, Oxford This article covers the fictional locations in the ''His Dark Materials'' trilogy and related works by Philip Pullman. Locations Jordan College Jordan College is a fictional college. It exists in Oxford in a universe parallel to our own and is ...

, under the guardianship of the college's

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

. One day, she witnesses the Master poison wine intended for

. She warns Asriel, whom she believes is her uncle, not to drink the wine, then spies on his lecture about "Dust", mysterious

elementary particle In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. The Standard Model presently recognizes seventeen distinct particles—twelve fermions and five bosons. As a c ...

s attracted to adults more than to children. Asriel shows the college scholars images of a parallel universe seen through the

Northern Lights Northern lights most commonly refers to the aurora borealis, a natural light display in Earth's sky. (The) Northern Light(s) may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Northern Lights'' (1978 film), about the Nonpartisan League in Nort ...

amidst a concentration of Dust. The scholars agree to fund his controversial research, which is considered heretical by the oppressive Church. Lyra's best friend Roger goes missing, presumed kidnapped by child abductors known as the "Gobblers". Mrs Coulter takes Lyra to her home in London, but before Lyra leaves Jordan, the Master entrusts her with an

, a strange truth-telling device, which she quickly learns to use intuitively. After several weeks, Lyra discovers that Coulter is the head of the Gobblers, or "General Oblation Board", a secret Church-funded project. Horrified, Lyra flees into London and is found by the

Gyptians ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995) (published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). This is a l ...

, canal-faring

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

s, many of whose children have also been abducted. They reveal to Lyra that Asriel and Coulter are her parents. The Gyptians form an expedition to the Arctic with Lyra, where they believe the Gobblers are holding their children. They stop in Trollesund, where Lyra meets

Iorek Byrnison This is a list of characters from the two Philip Pullman trilogies ''His Dark Materials'' and '' The Book of Dust''. Introduced in ''Northern Lights'' Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the central character o ...

, the dispossessed royal heir of the ''

panserbjørne ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995) (published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), ''The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). This is a lis ...

'' (armoured bears). Lyra uses her alethiometer to locate Iorek's missing armour; in return, he and his human

aeronaut Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

friend,

Lee Scoresby This is a list of characters from the two Philip Pullman trilogies ''His Dark Materials'' and '' The Book of Dust''. Introduced in ''Northern Lights'' Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the central character o ...

, join her group. She also learns that Lord Asriel has been exiled, guarded by the ''panserbjørne'' on

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

. Trollesund's witch

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

tells the Gyptians of a prophecy about Lyra which she must not know, and that the witch clans are choosing sides for an upcoming war. The search party continues towards Bolvangar, the Gobbler research station. Guided by the alethiometer, Lyra detours at a village and discovers an abandoned child who has been cut from his dæmon and who soon dies. She realises the Gobblers are experimenting on children by severing the bond between human and dæmon, a soul-splitting process called intercision. Lyra and her companions are attacked by

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

s, and Lyra is captured and taken to Bolvangar, where she is briefly reunited with Roger before being sent to be separated from Pantalaimon. Just before this can occur, Coulter arrives and halts the intercision process. She tells Lyra that intercision prevents the onset of troubling adult emotions, though it has not yet been perfected. Lyra activates Bolvangar's emergency alarm, sets the station on fire, and evacuates the children, where they are rescued by Scoresby, Iorek, the Gyptians, and the witch clan of

Serafina Pekkala This is a list of characters from the two Philip Pullman trilogies ''His Dark Materials'' and '' The Book of Dust''. Introduced in ''Northern Lights'' Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the central character o ...

, who battle the station attendants as Lyra, Roger, and Iorek flee in Scoresby's hot air balloon. Lyra directs the witches to tow the balloon towards Asriel in Svalbard, but she falls out and is taken by the ''panserbjørne'' to the castle of their usurping king,

Iofur Raknison This is a list of characters from the two Philip Pullman trilogies ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Book of Dust''. Introduced in ''Northern Lights'' Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the central character of ...

. She tricks Iofur into fighting Iorek, who arrives with Roger to rescue Lyra. Iorek kills Iofur and regains his place as the rightful king. Lyra, Iorek, and Roger continue onwards to Svalbard, where Asriel has continued his Dust research in exile. He tells Lyra all he knows of Dust: that it has spawned parallel universes, it is somehow connected to death and misery, and that the Church believes it is the physical basis of

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

. Lord Asriel travels with Roger through the snow, Lyra and Iorek follow using the tracks of Asriel's sled. Asriel ascends a mountain with Roger as Lyra and Iorek and his squadron of bears battle the witches that are allied with Asriel. Mrs Coulter and the Tartars arrive in a military airship and attack the bears. During the battle, Mrs Coulter follows Lyra to the top of the mountain, where Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter embrace at the peak of the mountain where Asriel has set up his equipment. Suddenly, Lord Asriel severs Roger from his dæmon, killing Roger but releasing an enormous amount of energy that tears a hole in the Northern Lights into a parallel universe, through which he walks. Devastated, Lyra and Pantalaimon also pass through the opening in the sky.

Characters

All humans in ''Northern Lights'', as well as witches, have a dæmon (pronounced "demon"), which is the physical manifestation of a person's "inner being", soul, or spirit. It takes the form of a creature (such as a moth, bird, dog, monkey, or snake) and is usually the opposite sex to its human counterpart. The dæmons of children have the ability to change form from one creature to another. However, near the end of a child's puberty, their dæmon "settles" into a permanent form, which reflects the person's personality. When a person dies, the dæmon dies too. Armoured bears, cliff ghasts and other creatures do not have dæmons. An armoured bear's armour is his soul. *

and

Pantalaimon Lyra Belacqua ( ), later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the heroine of Philip Pullman's trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. In ''His Dark Materials'' Lyra is a young girl who inhabits a universe parallel to our own. Brought up in the cloistered worl ...

: The principal characters. Lyra is described as having blue eyes and blond hair, along with being short for her age and quite thin. She is also brave, curious, and crafty. Her dæmon is Pantalaimon, nicknamed Pan. Because Lyra is still a child, Pan is still capable of changing into any shape he wishes ''(often a brown moth, a wildcat, a white ermine, or a mouse)''. *

Roger Parslow This is a list of characters from the two Philip Pullman trilogies ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Book of Dust''. Introduced in ''Northern Lights'' Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the central character of ...

: Lyra's friend, an orphan who works at Jordan College. When he is kidnapped and taken north, Lyra pursues him in hopes of rescuing him, meeting up with him again at Bolvangar. *

: Ostensibly Lyra's uncle, he is actually her father. His dæmon is Stelmaria, a snow leopard. *

Marisa Coulter Marisa Coulter (née Delamare), known simply as Mrs. Coulter, is a character in Philip Pullman's ''His Dark Materials'' trilogy and one of the main antagonists of '' Northern Lights'': the former lover of Lord Asriel and biological mother of Lyr ...

: An agent of the Magisterium, who does not hesitate to manipulate the Church. She is intelligent and beautiful, but also ruthless and callous. She is actually Lyra's mother and is unexpectedly kind to her. Her dæmon is a golden monkey who, unusually, is not named. *

: Rightful king of the

, armoured bears with human-level intelligence, Iorek has been tricked out of his armour and reduced to a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

of the human village Trollesund. After Lyra helps him recover his armour, he becomes very protective of her and joins the expedition to find the children seized by Gobblers. *

: A panserbjørn who has usurped Iorek Byrnison's authority as king. *

: A witch who closely follows Lyra on her travels. She is aware of Lyra's destiny. Serafina's dæmon is Kaisa, a snow goose, who is capable of physically moving separately from Serafina over long distances, a quality that only witches' dæmons possess innately. *

: A Texan aeronaut who transports Lyra in his balloon. He and Iorek Byrnison are good friends and Lee comes to see Lyra as a surrogate daughter. His dæmon is Hester, an arctic snow hare. * Ma Costa: A Gyptian woman whose son, Billy Costa has been abducted by the "Gobblers". She rescues Lyra from Mrs Coulter and takes her to John Faa. *

John Faa John Faa (fl. 1540–1553), the ''King of the Gypsies'', was a historical character from Scotland, a contemporary of King James V. Although historical sources place him in Dunbar, in the east of Scotland, much folklore associates him with the Gal ...

: The King of all Gyptian people. He travels with Lyra to the North with his companion

Farder Coram This is a list of characters from the two Philip Pullman trilogies ''His Dark Materials'' and '' The Book of Dust''. Introduced in ''Northern Lights'' Lyra Belacqua Lyra Belacqua, later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is the central character o ...

Title

During pre-publication of the novel, the prospective trilogy was known in Britain as ''The Golden Compasses'', an allusion to God's poetic delineation of the world. The term is from a line in Milton's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

'', where it denotes the drafting compass God used to establish and set a circular boundary of all creation:

Then staid the fervid wheels, and in his hand He took the golden compasses, prepared In God's eternal store, to circumscribe This universe, and all created things: One foot he centred, and the other turned Round through the vast profundity obscure — Book 7, lines 224–229

In the US, publisher Knopf had been calling the first book ''The Golden Compass'' (singular), which it mistakenly understood as a reference to Lyra's

(depicted on the front cover shown at the head of this article), because of the device's resemblance to a

navigational compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ma ...

. By the time Pullman had replaced ''The Golden Compasses'' with ''His Dark Materials'' as the name of the trilogy, the US publisher had become so attached to the original title that it insisted on publishing the first book as ''The Golden Compass'' rather than as ''Northern Lights'', the title used in Britain and Australia.

Critical reception

Awards

Pullman won both the annual Carnegie Medal for British children's books and the annual

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annually recognised one fiction book written for Children's literature, children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conf ...

for ''Northern Lights'', an award which authors can only win once in their lifetime. Six books have won both awards in 45 years through 2011. In the US, ''The Golden Compass'' was named ''Booklist'' Editors Choice – Top of the List, ''Publishers Weekly'' Book of the Year, a ''Horn Book'' Fanfare Honor Book, and a ''Bulletin'' Blue Ribbon Book in 1996.

Religion

Some critics have asserted that the trilogy and the movie portray organised churches and religion negatively, while others – notably Dr

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, formerly

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

– have argued that Pullman's works should be included in religious-education courses. Journalist

Peter Hitchens Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 1951) is an English Conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a Foreign correspondent (journalism), foreign cor ...

views the series ''His Dark Materials'' as a direct rebuttal of ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

'' by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

. Literary critic Alan Jacobs of Wheaton College in Illinois suggested that Pullman had recast the Narnia series, replacing a

theist Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of at least one deity. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the philosophical conception of God that is found in classical theism—or the conc ...

world-view A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. However, when two parties view the sa ...

with a Rousseauist one.

Adaptations

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

released a feature-film adaptation of the novel named ''The Golden Compass'' in December 2007.

Chris Weitz Christopher John Weitz (; born November 30, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his work with his brother Paul on the comedy films '' American Pie'' and '' About a Boy''; the latter earned ...

adapted the novel and also directed the film.

Dakota Blue Richards Dakota Blue Richards (born 11 April 1994) is an English actress. Her film debut at the age of 13 was in '' The Golden Compass'', as the lead character Lyra Belacqua. Other lead roles include the wayward teenager April in '' Dustbin Baby'' and ...

, in her film debut, played Lyra. The cast included

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. His accolades include two National Board of Review Awards, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. ...

Eva Green Eva Gaëlle Green (; ; born ) is a French British-based actress, known for appearing in blockbuster and independent films, in which she often portrays eccentric, villainous, and complex characters. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she ...

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades of film and television, he is recognized for his deep sonorous voice. Elliott has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors ...

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen as well as for his work at the Royal National Theatre, he has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, two ...

, and

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

. In 1996

Natasha Richardson Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was a British actress. A part of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgr ...

narrated an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

version of ''Northern Lights''. The trilogy, ''His Dark Materials'', was abridged in a dramatisation by BBC Worldwide, published on 1 January 2003. It was also adapted unabridged and released by

BBC Audiobooks AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a British publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased ...

, narrated by Philip Pullman. The cast includes: Joanna Wyatt as Lyra,

Alison Dowling This is a list of many of the characters from the long-running British radio soap ''The Archers''. The Archer family tree The Archer family Jill Archer Patterson (born 3 October 1930) (Patricia Greene) is the ...

as Mrs Coulter, Seán Barrett as Lord Asriel and Iorek Byrnison, and

Stephen Thorne Stephen John Thorne (2 March 1935 – 26 May 2019) was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular BBC Radio 4 work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of a few ''Doctor Who'' villains, ...

as the Master and Farder Coram. An audiobook version narrated by Pullman and featuring a full cast was released in 1999. The National Theatre in London staged a two-part adaptation of the trilogy in 2003–2004.

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

released a video game of the movie adaptation of the book, titled ''The Golden Compass'' and developed by

Shiny Entertainment Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, California. Founded in October 1993 by David Perry, Shiny was the creator of video games such as ''Earthworm Jim'', '' MDK'' and ''Enter the Matrix''. Perry ...

, on 4 December 2007. Players assume the role of Lyra as she travels through the frozen wastes of the North in an attempt to rescue her friend kidnapped by a mysterious organisation known as the Gobblers. Travelling with her are an armoured polar bear and her dæmon Pantalaimon (Pan). Together, they must use a truth-telling alethiometer and other items to explore the land and fight their way through confrontations to help Lyra's friend. ''The Golden Compass'' features a mix of fighting and puzzle-solving with three characters. Review of the video game. On 3 November 2019,

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

began broadcast of their TV adaptation of ''His Dark Materials''. This first series mainly covers events from ''Northern Lights''. It premiered on HBO on 4 November 2019 in the United States. The series was produced by

Bad Wolf "Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived Doctor Who series 1, first series of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is ...

and

and directed by

Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Known for his work in film and television he has received numerous accolades includ ...

. Cast members included

Dafne Keen Dafne Keen Fernández (born 4 January 2005) is a Spanish and British actress. Keen made her debut as a child actor on the series '' The Refugees'' (2015). Her breakthrough role was as Laura, in the ''X-Men'' superhero film '' Logan'' (2017) w ...

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor and director. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work inclu ...

Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She has played the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama '' Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), Alison Lockhart in the Showtime dram ...

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...

Ian Gelder Ian Denbigh White (3 June 1949 – 6 May 2024), known professionally as Ian Gelder, was a British actor. He was known for his numerous stage and screen roles, including Mr. Dekker in '' Torchwood: Children of Earth'' (2009) and Kevan Lanniste ...

, and

Ruta Gedmintas Ruta Gedmintas is a British actress known for her work on television. Her credits include ''The Innocence Project'' (2006–2007), ''The Tudors'' (2007), '' Spooks: Code 9'' (2008), '' The Borgias'' (2011), '' Lip Service'' (2010–2012), ''The ...

Notes

References

Citations

External links

* —immediately, first US edition
Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials
dedicated website at publisher Random House * *
Philip Pullman
Author's website

UK publisher's website
BBC Radio 4's ''His Dark Materials'' site inc. Dictionary of His Dark Materials and web Q&A with Philip Pullman
{{Authority control 1995 British novels 1995 science fiction novels 1995 fantasy novels 1995 children's books British science fiction novels British fantasy novels British steampunk novels British children's novels British young adult novels Science fantasy novels Children's science fiction novels Children's fantasy novels Young adult science fiction novels Young adult fantasy novels Religion in science fiction Novels set in the Arctic Novels set in Oxford Novels about religion Novels about parallel universes Novels about orphans British novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films Fantasy novels adapted into films Children's books adapted into films British novels adapted into television shows Children's books adapted into television shows British novels adapted into plays Novels adapted into video games Guardian Children's Fiction Prize–winning works Carnegie Medal in Literature–winning works British Book Award–winning works His Dark Materials books Novels by Philip Pullman Scholastic Corporation books