Why shouldn't a work of fantasy be as truthful and profound about becoming an adult human being as the work of George Eliot or Jane Austen? Well, there are a few fantasies that are. My quarrel with much (not all) fantasy is it has this marvellous toolbox and does nothing with it except construct shoot-em-up games. I'm trying to write a book about what it means to be human, to grow up, to suffer and learn.I pay my readers the compliment of assuming that they are intellectually adventurous. Others may find their readership on the stupid side: I don't. I deal with matters that might normally be encountered in works of realism, such as adolescence, sexuality, and so on and they are the main subject matter of the story - the fantasy (which, of course, is there: no-one but a fool would think I meant there is no fantasy in the books at all) is there to support and embody them, not for its own sake. I have said that His Dark Materials is not fantasy but stark realism, and my reason for this is to emphasise what I think is an important aspect of the story, namely the fact that it is realistic, in psychological terms.The line dividing the stupid from the intelligent goes right down the middle of our heads. Quotes We are all stupid, and we are all intelligent. 1.5 The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (2010).1.4 Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think (2006).“The story gallops with ferocious momentum. A literary rollercoaster ride you won’t want to miss.” ( The Boston Globe) The mysteries deepen and the wonders grow even more extravagant.” ( The Washington Post) “Just as quick-moving and unputdownable as The Golden Compass. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, their destinies are bound together.until they are split apart.

For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.Įach is searching - Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father - but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will - a boy on the run, a murderer - a worthy and welcome ally. The spellbinding sequel to The Golden Compass, the modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an 'All-Time Greatest Novel' and Newsweek hailed as a 'Top 100 Book of All Time', continues the epic adventure, catapulting listeners between worlds and toward a devastating discovery. Coming soon! A new HBO series, His Dark Materials, based on Pullman’s books.

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman