Golden Compass Synopsis and Critique

The Golden Compass. ISBN 978-0-440-23813-3. Phillip Pullman. 1995. Ages 12+.  Alternate Universe.  Scholarly England.

Synopsis
The Golden Compass is the first installment in Phillip Pullman's trilogy about the young Lyra Belacqua, her daemon Pan, and their journey to the north to save the children of England from the Gobblers who are trying to cut away the daemons from the child. She is raised by the scholars at Oxford and occasionally sees her uncle Asriel, before he is imprisoned. Lyra is entrusted with a golden compass and throughout her journey she uses it to steer her in the right direction.  In the end, Lyra is able to save her friend Roger from the Gobblers, however she also learns the true reason behind Asriel's imprisonment and that he is not to be trusted.

Critique
Pullman's story is extremely well-written and engaging.  It is a book for all age levels, and will lend itself well to middle and high school literature courses.  The story is very imaginative and Pullman does an excellent job creating a universe very similar to ours, yet different in very distinct ways. 

As the protagonist, Lyra is a very realistic rebellious and brash young girl, however as the story progresses the reader can see the growth and maturation she goes through in order to save her friend Roger and the other children abducted by the Gobblers.  Many students will find her boldness fascinating and might even see a little bit of their younger selves in her.  She's also very believable, even though she is facing daring odds throughout the book.  Pullman achieves her believability by setting up her personality very early on in the book so as not to throw doubt on her capability on her adventure.

Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are the perfect antagonists, though throughout the most of the book it is unknown whether who is good and bad.  In the end, their motives are still ambiguous and their love for Lyra as their daughter is also questionable.  The mystery of their good or evilness is one of the questions that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the book.

I found everything about the book very enjoyable and can see using this with middle and high school students in a unit on fantasy/science fiction books.  It would be fun to have them compare and contrast our universe with Lyra's and to maybe even create the universe that Lyra walks into in the next book.  Older students could examine the politics in the book.