Book report: The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
Book report: The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman This is a really good science fantasy adventure story, something like "Chronicles of Narnia" or "Lord of the Rings". A seemingly ordinary girl named Lyra turns out to have a central role in strange and complex plots that affect the entire world. Her world is a fantastic and imaginative alternate version of our own. In this steampunk world, there are zeppelin airships but no airplanes, trains but no cars, and electricity but no telecommunications. Science is a branch of theology, and the last Pope was named Kelvin. Part of the fascination of the book is to compare our world to this world, and wonder what made the difference. I love how what we call "electric", they call "amberic", for example. The fantasy comes in various forms, including and especially the personal "demons" that every person has in this world. A demon is like a physical manifestation of your mind and spir