The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

With the new series being published at the 20th anniversary and a TV series being released on HBO, I have been wanting to dive back into the original books. I have not read these since original publication. Which means I have forgotten the entirety of the plot and most of the key details. I've read over 500 books since then!

Even remembering a few key points (Iorek Byronison, alethiometer, Dust, daemons), and having just finished up the prequel The Book of Dust not too long ago, it really felt like I was reading this book for the first time, albeit jaded by years of literary criticism and a faulty recollection. Oh, and the human condition, aging. 

What we have is a young girl being raised in a university full of stuffy old men. Their lack of parenting skills has made a wild, defiant child with the supernatural ability to sway others and insatiable urge for adventure. Her biological parents are not to have access to her as they have nefarious schemes for her existence. Despite all the precautions, fate will hold its own machinations dominant, and the alethiometer falls into Lyra Belaqua's possession, triggering a harrowing journey.

The perilous journey leads Lyra to the North Pole, where she is joined by gypsies, witches, a cowboy aeronaut, and an exiled armored bear. All the while she is being tracked by a criminally minded researcher with a golden monkey. Everything that Lyra touches instantly becomes destined for some crazy mystical working and higher purpose. 

The story itself is entertaining, tense, and chock full of life lessons that any children's book should be. However, while starring a middle school aged protagonist, the writing is actually some pretty heavy lifting and better suited to voracious readers. 

Now, remember how earlier I said I came into this book jaded by the intervening years? Many of those reasons may have contributed to my feeling that some of the metaphysical concepts of the story were extremely underdeveloped or hastily depicted. For being a book that was trying to say something metaphorically, I was underwhelmed. I felt like a key piece of information was missing. And maybe that is explained in the sequels, but I just can't remember it. So I'll withhold actual judgment since I'm biased.