Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials

[Stalky]

Hey everyone, i recently watched the 5th Harry Potter movie and there was this movie trailer in which you first see a strange compass with 3 resting needles and one that moves around very quickly, there are also many little symbols on the rim and i thought - wft? They are really going to picturise THAT book? Super special awesome!
The book's title is "The Golden Compass", it's the first book of a trilogy that exceeds the Harry Potter series by far, i think; so i recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy novels, the movie will be in the cinemas this december (Website).

[Lawliet]

I LOVE that trilogy. The Golden Compass (or Northern Lights for everyone who isn't American), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass were some of the best books I ever read. They really do surpass Harry Potter.

[Stalky]

I just visited the official website, there is a funny part where you can find out what your deamon would look like (for those who don't know the books: A deamon is the manifestation of a persons soul, it usually has the opposite sex and takes the shape of an animal); ironically mine would be a spider -> I hate spiders! But the test is well done, you are asked 20 questions and have to decide if you agree or not.

[Readout]

SERIOUSLY, WTF! WHY THE HELL DID THEY CALL IT "THE GOLDEN COMPASS" NOT NORTHAN LIGHTS?????? WHAT, JUST CAUSE SOME IDIOT PUBLISHER CAN'T PRONOUNCE ALETHIOMETER?! SERIOUSLY, WTF!!!!!!!!
Sorry, rant over. It just irritates me. Its like changing "philosophers stone" to "sorcerers stone." I hate it when they change titles like that. And why can't they release it as Northan Lights?
grrrr.........

--edit--
at least, from what I've seen, its been cast well....

[Stalky]

Well "sorcerer's stone" is really ridiculous but "golden compass" somehow makes sense because then every book is titled after an important item in the corresponding book and it matches the other titles more than "alethiometer" since the other two books have general names, too.

[Readout]

Yeah, but the whole point is that Golden Compass was originally planned to be a title for the series as a whole, (His Dark Materials was, thank goodness, used instead) but even then, why name the first book about it?
Ah well, I shall just chalk it up as something that irritates me but I can do nothing about, up with the fanboys and the Olsen Twins.

[BryyMiller]

Great book.

[RipThunder]

I never finished Golden Compass, but I did finish Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass, and they were both superb. Really looking forward to this series.

Also: a huge lol at purists who hate title/name changes for American audiences. Golden Compass fits better as a title with Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass, because Northern Lights isn't an object (I'm assuming this is referring to Dust; haven't read them in awhile). Sometimes the original isn't always the best.

[Lawliet]

Well, mainly because the American book was called The Golden Compass. However, no, it's not because an American publisher can't pronounce "alethiometer." Instead, as RipThunder said, it's because they wanted to keep it as a trend.

Look at the titles of the second two books. The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass are not only both items, but they're both items with one word describing them. The title of the first book, Northern Lights, is describing the aurora. Granted, it's a title that makes sense, but The Golden Compass makes sense as well. It is the book in which Lyra receives the alethiometer from the Master of Jordan, after all, and it plays heavily in the book since it's the book where Lyra learns to read it, where Mrs. Coulter is chasing after it the most, and where Lyra thinks she's supposed to bring it to Lord Asriel.

No, there was no real reason to change it other than keeping it as a series, something to make it fit with the other two. I will admit, American translators and publishers make a lot of mistakes. They make a lot of stupid changes. Changing Philosophers Stone to Sorcerer's Stone was one of them, because there was no real reason to, and in history, the Stone has always been referred to as the Philosopher's Stone. At least, it has from my research. Granted, it wasn't in Golden Sun, but there isn't much that I can do about that, either . . .

My point is, as an American, I can say that we do stupid things. Look at how they dubbed/translated Naruto in its anime/manga forms. You can easily see "MISTAKE" written across those two things. However, changing Northern Lights to The Golden Compass does have some base in logic. For once, there was a reason for what they did.

And next time, calm down a bit before you post. It'll make others take you more seriously. =/

[Akilah]

I absoultely love Iorek!! But I hate that they are changing so many things in the movie. I mean come, on! The how thing with the church and god not really being god are very important to the story!

[Stalky]

I totally agree, today everything has to be changed so that no one is offended. I am reading the first book right now because the first time i read it was 5 years ago, but i think the showdown was all about the church and god thing, you can't just sort that out! It's like taking a person's dæmon away!

[LightGrey]

I havent read that series in a long time. Probably should because it was excellent. And yes it exceeds harry potter by far. HP just has a broader audience. Could I get a link to the daemon questions stalky? Cant wait for the movie, hope they dont bucher it.

PS: Did anyone cry at the end of that series?

[steigee]

HANDS DOWN BETTER THAN HP.
if you havent read these books, do so immediately.
its one of those books you wont be able to put down, yet hate reading at the same time.
just because the more you read, the closer to the series ending you get.

[Stalky]

@LightGrey: its on this website, Point at the button "menu" in the upper right corner and select "daemons". On the new site select "meet your daemon" on the right side.
(When you're done with the questions there will be another background-music, it sounded like out of Naruto somehow)

[friedpickles]

I was so pissed when I found out they were making the movie. That was MY dream to make the golden compass movie! ahaha, no, I'm super excited. pretty much some of my favorite books ever, plus Lyra is by far my favorite character in the literary world. The girl they have to play her looks dead on what I always imagined she would. I get chills everytime I see the trailer, hahaha.

[LightGrey]

Thanks Stalky, my daemon was a lioness (yuss!) You were right about the Naruto music. If the site is anything to base on, the movie doesnt look like it'll be great :(.

[Nimiety]

ironically i just read this series last month. Its truly is a good series, well worth the read and the money for it. However it does not exceed the Harry Potter series, it falls far short of that. The first 2 books are really engaging but the last one seems a bit slow paced for a final book, and the ending itself was horrible in my opinion, i wont spoil anything for people that haven't read it.

[Taku]

I love this series! I'm so excited about the movie! ^__^ If you want a whole new experiance, try listening to the audiobooks. They are really awsome!

[kraitoth]

I thought it was a really sad ending to the books but i think it's brilliant about the movie

[Shady]

I love this series. The plot was very complex. Awesome ending. And the movie looks good too.

[lazylen]

yeah, I love the books. the only problem i had with them was that aside from the promise she made to Roger, Lyra had no reason to go into the land of the dead, and it seems that it was just a bunch of coincidenses from there on in...

but the books are great, and they are written incredibly well.

lol, I did that daemon test, and I got a lion :P

[InTheWash]

Damn! I did the daemon test too [thanks stalky :) ] and I got... a Gibbon :( *sigh* you lucky Lion people. Lol!

I love the books and I can't believe there's a film soon!! By the way, Nimiety, in my opinion, His Dark Materials is WAY better than Harry Potter!!! I don't know anyone that doesn't think so! But each to their own... :)

I also cried at the end, LightGrey, if you're reading this.

[NotAmerican]

I loved the concept of the books, but I didnt like the romance between Lyra and Will- it was lovely, but a bit . . . pointless. And the whole 'war with god' thing . . . . it was hard to concentrated on everything. I loved Northern Lights the best.

[limeygirl714]

i like the idea of the angels and different dimensions the romance was very sad just when they realised they loved each other they had to leave but the idea that they would still be together somehow was a nice touch the war with god was a brilliant idea just as good if not better than harry potter i love both of the series

[limeygirl714]

i forgot to mention how long i cried for at the end i'm off to find my daemon now

[limeygirl714]

my demon is Andreas he is a hare

[DrunkenPrayer]

I just started reading these the other day. I'll admit they are really well written but the very unsubtle religious references and the misuse of "philosophical" really grates on me. But I'm not even half way through The Subtle Knife so there's still plenty of time for me to mark these off as minor annoyances.
I'd argue that the American and European titles both make sense, you can hardly say that the northern lights weren't a important to the first book, but I kind of see the point in the change like Lawliet pointed out.

[Fiddlesticks]

My daemon is an olecat called Resis I love these books I'm rereading them at the moment

[M3gaUltraChicken]

I like the books and I'm finishing the trilogy currently. Way better than Harry Potter. Who wants to bet on how much they screw up the movies?

Valthera the cat is my daemon...wtf?

[DrunkenPrayer]

Ok onto the final book now and the misuse of certain words doesn't bother me anymore since it's explained in The Subtle Knife. Still not a huge fan of the in your face religious tones but I'll reserve judgement still until I finish them.