His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

This trilogy follows two children from different realities or universes, and how their fates entwine.

Lyra Belacqua is from a universe where people's soul or spirit is visible in animal form, and is known as a daemon. She becomes the possessor of an Alethiometer, a rare instrument that can answer any question, provided the answer can be interpreted.

Will is a boy from our reality, who becomes the wielder of the Subtle Knife, so sharp that it can cut through different realities. He is trying to find his father, an explorer who has been missing for ten years.

Their perilous journey is interspersed with fantastic creatures --armored bears, witches, Gallivespian spies, Mulefas-- some of which will aid and others will hinder their quest to stop the dissapearance of Dust, the substance of reality.

Characters who first appear as noble or evil will switch sides several times during the story, which some quarters have criticized as being "anti-church" and "anti-God". While some of the acts these characters do sometimes are terrible indeed, there are moments where the reader will wonder "would I have done any differently?".

The film adaptation of the first book was in my opinion, superb. I wonder how the rest of the books will fare, since there are scenes that may not translate well into film. Think of Stephen King novel adaptations to cinema. Some are very good, but the ones with the more fantastic elements end up looking ridiculous on screen. I fear for the Dark Materials.