The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman's Trilogy, His Dark Materials which include; The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass has made number eight, in the most banned books from 2000-2009 according to the ALA. Listed reason for the banning is its anti-religious theme. I did not find it to be an anti-religious novel, but instead found it to be anti-corrupt religions. I thinks we should all get behind that theme.

What was much more disturbing to me as a reader, was the anti-children nature of the novel. Man Lyra's parents, both of them, hated kids. Maybe not hated them, but thought so little of them that they would torture and kill them to advance their own agenda. I mean Lyra's father, Lord Asriel killed Roger to open that gate between the worlds, and he was the "good" parent.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even though it was a re-read for me. I plan to read the second book in the series and this was a good refresher for me.

4 out of 5 stars