Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    His Dark Materials Omnibus: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass
    Unavailable
    His Dark Materials Omnibus: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass
    Unavailable
    His Dark Materials Omnibus: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass
    Ebook1,404 pages22 hours

    His Dark Materials Omnibus: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass

    By Philip Pullman

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass are available together in one volume perfect for any fan or newcomer to this modern fantasy classic series that has graced the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Book Sense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

    These thrilling adventures tell the story of Lyra and Will—two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They will meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them.

    Phillip Pullman’s spellbinding His Dark Materials trilogy has captivated readers for over twenty years and won acclaim at every turn. It will have you questioning everything you know about your world and wondering what really lies just out of reach.

    Honors and Praise for His Dark Materials:
    An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel
    A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time

    "Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past twenty years." —The Washington Post
     
    "Very grand indeed." —The New York Times

    “Pullman is quite possibly a genius.” —Newsweek

    Don't miss Philip Pullman's epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials!
    ** THE BOOK OF DUST **
    La Belle Sauvage
    The Secret Commonwealth
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateJan 25, 2012
    ISBN9780307808202
    Unavailable
    His Dark Materials Omnibus: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass
    Author

    Philip Pullman

    Philip Pullman (b. 1946) is one of the world’s most acclaimed children’s authors, his bold, brilliant books having set new parameters for what children’s writing can say and do. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, installments of which have won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. In 2003, the trilogy came third in the BBC’s Big Read competition to find the nation’s favorite book, and in 2005 he was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize for children’s literature. In 2007, Northern Lights became a major Hollywood film, The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Pullman has published nearly twenty books, and when he’s not writing he likes to play the piano (badly), draw, and make things out of wood.

    Related to His Dark Materials Omnibus

    Related ebooks

    Children's Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Brimming with Curiosity: On Philip Pullman’s ‘La Belle Sauvage’

      Nov 16, 2017

      Pullman is first and foremost an extremely skillful storyteller—the warmest, fuzziest kind that takes readers by the hand and guides them with sharp prose and a fast moving plot. The post Brimming with Curiosity: On Philip Pullman’s ‘La Belle S

      9 min read

    • Article

      Brimming with Curiosity: On Philip Pullman’s ‘La Belle Sauvage’

      Nov 16, 2017

      Pullman is first and foremost an extremely skillful storyteller—the warmest, fuzziest kind that takes readers by the hand and guides them with sharp prose and a fast moving plot. The post Brimming with Curiosity: On Philip Pullman’s ‘La Belle S

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Good Servant

      Aug 8, 2022

      Windsor, March 1932 “Good evening, Miss Crawford.” A smart young man in uniform was waiting on the platform when she stepped off the train. She was startled. “Aye. That’s me. How did you know?” “Easy.” He smiled. “There aren’t that many young ladies

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Kevin Barry

      Dec 18, 2020

      Rattling around the house in the County Sligo hills, swinging from bouts of paranoia to moments of strange, demented hilarity, a 900-page doorstopper was just what I needed to stay grounded. The post A Year in Reading: Kevin Barry appeared first on T

      2 min read

    • Article

      Piranesi

      Sep 9, 2020

      Piranesi
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Very Big House

      Sep 9, 2020

      A Very Big House
      2 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Jun 16, 2021

      Great Read
      4 min read

    • Article

      Once Upon A Time...

      Sep 1, 2022

      Back in 1992, folklorist, writer and poet Neil Philip published a book called The Penguin Book of English Folktales. Meticulously researched, it was a treasure trove of English folk stories, featuring versions of more than 100 folktales told as they

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Governess

      Dec 27, 2020

      The Governess
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Governess

      Dec 30, 2020

      The Governess
      10 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 15, 2024

      While its garden is well-trodden, Prospect Cottage’s interiors remained largely private after Derek Jarman, the artist and gay activist, died aged 52 in 1994 from an Aids-related illness. The photographs and essays in my book explain my experience of

      3 min read

    • Article

      The New Arrival

      Oct 1, 2020

      Maya had never visited the public library before, and at this rate it looked like she never would. She knew it was around here somewhere, but the fog was so thick she could barely see her sneakers. Putting off her homework had been a mistake, but get

      6 min read

    • Article

      Tessa Castro

      Feb 9, 2022

      IN COMPETITION No 276, you were invited to write a poem called The Carpet. Dan Rubinstein told of a rock band’s drummer stopping on a tour to buy some carpet to stop his bass drum wandering. Dorothy Pope’s poem was about being ‘coventrated’, carpet-b

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Scarlet PEBBLE

      Feb 28, 2024

      The Scarlet PEBBLE
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Funny Tome

      Nov 14, 2019

      Everyone loves a doggy painting. My preference lies with hounds but labradors and terriers also clutter the walls. On noticing Susie Green’s book one imagines it stuffed with lovely canine portraits, an echo of that on the cover. It is (there are mor

      2 min read

    • Article

      The World Of Writing

      Jun 2, 2022

      The World Of Writing
      3 min read

    • Article

      Meet the Writer

      May 27, 2023

      Meet the Writer
      4 min read

    Reviews for His Dark Materials Omnibus

    4/5

    109 ratings113 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      "The Golden Compass" is the first in a trilogy of books about a world much like our own, but with key differences. For one thing, no human is ever completely alone because each one has a daemon -- an animal companion that is a part of them, like a soul. The main character, Lyra Belacqua, is an 11 year-old who finds herself at the center of a growing confrontation between the forces of evil and good. There are similarities with the Harry Potter books, though Pullman's book comes off as more profound than Rowling's series. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
    • 4/5
      If these are children’s books, then I’m not the intended audience. Still, I found them very interesting as the quantum mechanics and religious philosophy wandered in. The main character/characters are believable despite the settings, and they behave as the reader would wish to behave himself. The blend of fairy tale, fantasy, and sermon does not quite smooth itself out, however. Some of the descriptions of the setting, to make things realistic, are a bit too simplistic and stock, especially in the midst of the fantastic events. One section stood out awkwardly for me, the description of a character climbing a giant tree. It seemed like a recollection of the author’s own mountain climbing adventure, not the character’s. Also, the final battle scene was weak, not because any possible creature or weapon was left out, but because describing such a Ragnarok/Armageddon is difficult. However, the end of the book recovers its style and resolved the fate of the characters nicely. Overall, its obvious why these books are such a success.
    • 5/5
      Read this years ago ... loved it.
    • 5/5
      For young readers and old, I recommend this book to all. Through Pullman's story, I found the words I needed to form my personal philosophical views. I started to think of the world differently due to the symbolism and effective storytelling of the author. Instead of looking out, I looked in. I thought small as well as big. In some ways, it was similar to the first time I took psychedelics; the concepts of the soul, deities, reality were redefined during the reading of this trilogy. I can only look back on these books and smile because while the story was wonderful, the impact was everlasting.
    • 4/5
      I agree with Kurtis that the trilogy runs out of steam in the middle, and gets down right confusing at the end, but the first book is so compelling and different, I had to rate them highly.
    • 5/5
      Philip Pullman's dazzling trilogy is a dark adventure story on one level; on another, it is an epic tale of rebellion, vengeance, religious repression and the power of destiny. While the first book is better than your average children's fantasy adventure, that is still the category it fits into most comfortably. The second book allows Pullman to play with some of the myriad alternative universes on offer, while also setting in motion the drama that unfolds in the complex, daring third book. Pullman's scope is magnificent and the trilogy has a final battle to rival anything we've seen in the cinema. Powerful, philosophical and deeply satisfying.
    • 5/5
      As someone who has never favored fantasy as a genre, I was pleasantly surprised at this trilogy, which is imaginative, entertaining, and does a lot mroe to get the science right (or at least rational) than most other books of this ilk. The heroine is a feisty young girl who is rendered more likeable by her lack of perfection and her stubborn nature. The twisting of the plot and the shifting of the characters until you can't tell who is the good guy, who is the bad guy, keeps you guessing all the time...much as in life. The depiction of the Catholic Church (the Magesterium) is delicious.
    • 5/5
      This trilogy is still outstanding all these years later!
    • 4/5
      Why does the author call attention to sleep so often? Re-read; originally so long ago it all seemed like new. Took a little bit longer to take off. Writing style rather pedestrian, but seemed richer than C.S. Lewis, Pullman's diametric opposite.
    • 4/5
      An exciting and bittersweet conclusion to the trilogy. Pullman laid out some interesting concepts. I found that this novel was more YA than the previous two and a few things didn't quite flow very well, but I still enjoyed it. Here's to the Republic of Heaven versus the Kingdom of Heaven!
    • 5/5
      Excellent series - my reviews are included at the individual book titles
    • 1/5
      Absolutely horrible.
    • 5/5
      Basically, the universe is layer upon layer of parallel universes. Lyra can read the Golden Compass which is a highly effective means of answering life's most difficult questions. She goes on Adventures. Will has found the Subtle Knife, which slices apart the universes and allows you travel between them, they go on Adventures together. Dr. Mary -Something- has the Amber Spyglass which allows you to see Dust, which is Dark Matter, which is everywhere, attracts evil spectors and flows between the universes. The entire series is dark, as you have the Church of something or other lording over, evil research facilities, and generally bad people. The heroes are young, but the story only shies away from sex, really, and that only directly. Allusions to various dark deeds are not hidden. Good. Really Good.
    • 5/5
      Philip K. Pullman did not like CS Lewis' Chronicals of Narnia. He had issues with the romanticizing of childhood and the sexism. He also, as an atheist, struggled with the heavy "religious" message. All of which went over my head when I read Lewis' books in the 5th and 6th grade.

      His Dark Materials is Pullman's answer to Lewis. And they are to a degree brilliant works. Satirical and layered, they act as a critique of organized religions, specifically Catholicism and religions with political heirarchy. The book also acts as a rigorous coming of age tale, featuring a feisty and sharp heroine at its center. And Pullman examines what it means to have a soul and a what soul is.

      In some respects Pullman's books are better than Lewis' - because Pullman unlike Lewis, has more questions than he has answers.
    • 1/5
      I meant this as a re-read of a childhood favorite only to realize that I never made it past the Golden Compass as a kid. I cannot express how much I disliked The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. From this moment on I choose to believe they were never written, Philip Pullman having sworn off writing after an editor dared tell him that just because Tolkien and Lewis were friends, this didn't mean you should try to write cross over fan fiction.
    • 3/5
      I gave this trilogy 3 stars because whilst the first two books are excellent the 3rd book is terrible. It is a morass of plot holes so large, ocean liners could get lost in it. It seemed that Pullman completely ignored writing a decent story just so he could get to his 'message'

      1.In Ci'gazze we are told that spectres attack any adult, it happens to the witches hunting Lyra yet when Mrs Coulter turns up, they leave her alone and not just alone, they follow her orders. We are not told why this happens, except some allusion to Mrs Coulter's force of will. Then Mary Malone manages to walk from the spectre haunted city and up the mountains without being bothered once. So too does the assassin priest. If you are going to come up with a set up like this, use it or at least explain why it's suddenly not working.

      2, Mrs Coulter sudden transformation into mother of the year. Why? No actual reason save that Pullman wanted her and Azriel to sacrifice themselves for Lyra.

      3. Lyra and Will being told that sex is nice. Well forgive me if I'm wrong, but sex is part of human nature and no one needs to 'tell' you about sexual feelings. They just happen. The most you need to know is how babies are made. No one needs someone else to tell you to suddenly feel attracted to people. Given how much was made of Lyra's choice, I thought it'd be something ground shattering and not whether she should fall in love with Will. It also felt false and forced. Also for those who insist that it's about their first kiss and not sex, at one point it is mentioned that they are lovers. That's a phrase used to describe people who have had sex not just a snog.

      4. Mary Malone's reasons for not being a christian. Sorry but given her words about how good a christian she was, it does not follow that she would lose her faith, simply because she wanted to have sex. She would have stopped being a nun, but why would she suddenly lose a deep faith just like that. Seemed lazy and unbelievable.

      5. How does Azriel manage to build up this 'rebellion against god' in a matter of weeks. Because that's how long it feels. If it were supposed to be set over a year, then okay, but that's not the timeframe and it makes no sense.

      6. So what was the effect of Azriel splitting open the heavens? None apparently apart from global devastation on Lyra's world. But if there were so many doorways to other worlds, why did he have to split open the heavens. Not explained, made no sense.

      7. Will's father. How did he become a shaman? Not explained, he just is and we have to accept it. Yet Will and Lyra can't be full witches with magic, so how could his father have power?

      These are just the glaring holes in the plot that I picked up and possibly why I hated the series the first time I read it. My advice, read the first two books and make up what happens next, it's bound to be better than the book on it's own
    • 4/5
      I got the three volume paperback set in a simple slipcase with The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

      After you have read the books, you will see just how silly the critics are regarding Pullman's so-called attack against religion. This three volume set explores the adventures of Lyra and Will as she attempts to thwart her uncle, Lord Asrael's vision of a world without a Heaven. But not the heaven as we know it, but of a heaven that is run by a bad guy. But I digress.

      Briefly:

      **
      The Golden Compass introduces us to Lyra, the girl who is a bit of a brat, who lives in a pampered existence with her uncle. She overhears rumors of Dust and an experiment in the Arctic. Soon, her playmates start disappearing! Mrs. Coulter takes Lyra under her wing, but she is much more than she seems. The book is much better than the movie, Golden Compass, so don't confuse the two!

      **
      The Subtle Knife: Great characterization in Lyra, the little girl lost, who meets a boy and a gang in a very unlikely dimensional hole in search of her uncle and discovering more about Dust and what it has to do with life.

      The Subtle Knife is an instrument that can cut between dimensions. However, there has been a lot of "cutting" in the last century or two and this is having a destabilizing influence on the worlds affected.

      I like Lyra in these stories. Phillip Pullman has been criticized for his apparent anti-Church themes, but I'm inclined to believe that those who accuse him of that have not read the book and are only reading the criticisms.

      Pullman paints a dark Church in a dimension similar to ours, that's true. They are attempting to suppress the knowledge of other dimensions and those who can survive without daemons (animal familiars). Mrs. Coulter, unlike the first book, Golden Compass, plays a bit of a last minute heroine.

      Overall, entertaining, moves at a good pace.

      **

      The Amber Spyglass: Will and Lyra continue their journey into the unknown. This book was fun because we have a spyglass that can spot Dust, we have the return of the Bear clan with kind Byrnison and we have Lyra's uncle on a quest to conquer God with his minions of angels and other armies.

      At the risk of a spoiler, Lyra discovers a place where ghosts dwell, where a purgatory of sorts is, the draining of the spirit. And she finds love and that she's older and wiser because of it.

      The subplots and the complexity of the story is what makes it fun.

      **Check it out!
    • 5/5
      These books changed my life. I was a slightly embittered junior high kid that was having a hard time dealing with being Catholic and a weirdo. I found The Golden Compass while hiding from bullies and I skipped all my classes that day to read it (which I did read the whole thing in a day, but I mean a DAY as in I was up late into the night too).

      It's rather mature reading, and wholly deserves the Young Adult designation. It almost seems like an adult book hidden inside a child's point of view. The characters are all interesting and the ending is heart-breaking. No "they all died" like Narnia and no "they all lived happily ever after" like some other recent series. It trends the line between the mundane and the fantastical.

      I'd describe it all, but I'd be doing it a disservice.
    • 5/5
      Warning: This is not for people who get offended when someone makes up a story about the Christian Church.

      Phillip Pullman weaves a beautiful story about growing up. Lyra Belacqua, a young girl who has grown up as an orphan in the care of her uncle and the master of Jordan College of Oxford, is tossed into the middle of a theological war where the Church is frightened of human nature and others are working to destroy the Authority. These three stories examine the nature of human consciousness, reinterprets the concept of sin, and retells, the old Adam and Eve story in stunning images and adrenaline -inducing action scenes. Pullman was clearly influenced by Paradise Lost and William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience in the way he offers a new perspective as well as in the images he creates.

      The main and secondary characters are unforgettable with intense development. Many of the characters grow and change while the ones who don't are often guides for the young Lyra and Will. The development in their character is flawlessly developed and feels natural as well as familiar to the general human experience.

      Besides describing the internal battle we all face as we wrestle with "human nature," what society says about it, and our own thoughts, this is also a story of many kinds of love - friendship, sisterhood, love that could have been, fatherly and motherly love, and the first love. The intensity that each kind of love holds drives many of the characters in a true reflection of ourselves.

      I could go on for days about this series and it will never be enough to explain how much love I feel fr these books. For me, they are absolutely breathtaking.
    • 5/5
      For a 1152 pages book I should have a thing or two to say about this trilogy. But hmm.. No, I don’t. I can’t! It would spoil the entire story, which I strongly believe should be kept hidden until you read it yourself. And most likely re-read it, like I did! There as many layers to this brilliant work, than there are worlds… -sigh-What I’d love to add to those who have seen The Golden compass but haven’t read the book(s) yet… Whether you liked the movie or not: Read the book instead and be ready to get seduced to read the other 2 as well! (I know it’s a cliché, but it’s true.. this trilogy rules!)
    • 3/5
      I couldn't love this series because it felt like Golden Compass felt like three books smashed into one, which kept leaving me disappointed and unfulfilled. Each time another section ended, I didn't have a desire to keep reading. There wasn't anything that propelled me to continue with the story.

      1. Oxford
      2. pirates
      3. polar bears
    • 2/5
      It's a huge and impressive story fuelled by a powerhouse imagination, with iconic themes and one memorable scene after another. It's sad to relate, therefore, that I disengaged emotionally when I realised that we don't get any reassurance that Moxie the cat is OK. A pity, but there you go.
    • 2/5
      I don't usually read books like this but a friend recommended it and I figured I may as well branch out a bit on this book quest, so to speak. I'm actually glad I did. It's very much a fantasy book and with the main protagonist being younger and I wasn't really expecting to get into it but it was actually pretty surprising how engrossed I got on Lyra's journey as I tried to work out what was going on, who was trustworthy, who wasn't and everything else that was going on.

      It's going to be interesting to watch Lyra grow and find out how the story develops after the end of the first book.

      I can understand why it's so popular and I'm almost curious as to watch the film (not going to get into a rant about how they changed the book's name in North America because I feel like I might have had that particular rant about Harry Potter and the PHILOSOPHER'S Stone before. ;)) but I probably won't because it's one of those weird things where I just think the film won't do it justice. Maybe when I'm finished with the trilogy I might go back and watch it.
    • 4/5
      A great trilogy with a feisty, brave, adventurous female heroine.
    • 4/5
      I read this as a child and was completely caught up by the magic of it. I have fond memories of playing elaborately constructed games set in Pullman's universe with my friends--we had such fun inventing daemons for ourselves! Any book that inspires excellent childhood games is automatically excellent. I've tried to reread it as a grownup and cannot bear: the underlying antireligious didactics are at constant danger of destroying aforementioned fond memories. Even when I sort of agree with Pullman in theory I just can't stand all of the real-world drama and controversy; I just want fierce, fantastic Lyra and dear Will with their marvelous adventures immaculate forever in my memory.
    • 4/5
      Good fantasy - what the genre should be. Mind-expanding and a journey.
    • 4/5
      A great read! Entertaining and strange. The strongest attraction here is the characters. Finally finished this 2/9. I had put off reading the last chapter simply because I had enjoyed reading it so much and didn't want to be over. This book was by no means perfect - various things about it bothered me... but even so, it was so enjoyable. Will reread.
    • 5/5
      The first book starts of a bit slow, but it speeds up until I found I couldn't put it down. There are fascinating concepts that guaranteed you wouldn't have heard of before that really make you think even once you've put the book down. As a few people have already said, strongly religious people might object to it. I've read all three books twice and it is definitely one of my favourite series!
    • 5/5
      Compelling, heartbreaking and dealing with themes fundamental to our humanity. One of the greatest works of the imagination ever set in print.
    • 4/5
      I totally enjoyed this trilogy. Wish that hollywood would have made the sequals no matter the controversary. Throughout the books, since i had seen ths Golden Compass, I compltetely saw Kidman in the femme fatale role. So convincing she was in the film that I could not have envisioned anyone else doing a better job.