- Fantasy
- Chapter Books
- Ages 10–15
The shape of it
The shape of this universe.
His Dark Materials is Philip Pullman's landmark fantasy trilogy about daemons, parallel worlds, Dust, and the courage to grow up and choose. It follows the fierce, feral Lyra Belacqua from the rooftops of an alternate Oxford into the frozen North, and later the boy Will Parry, bearer of a knife that cuts windows between universes, as a war gathers that will decide the fate of consciousness itself. Comprising Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, it is upper-middle-grade fantasy of rare ambition, philosophically fearless, morally serious and genuinely thrilling, with armoured bears, witch clans, soul-eating Spectres and a journey into the land of the dead. Won the Carnegie Medal and, for its finale, the Whitbread Book of the Year. One of the towering achievements of modern children's literature.
A modern fantasy classic: Philip Pullman's thrilling, dark, morally serious trilogy of daemons, armoured bears, parallel worlds and big ideas.
Primary themes
Tone palette
- Adventurous
- Dark
- Thought provoking
- Exciting
The series
One way in.
Cultural footprint
A shelf of evidence.
What His Dark Materials has done
- Film adaptation
- TV adaptation
- BBC adaptation
- Stage adaptation
Cultural ubiquity
5/ 5Household name — recognised across generations.
Sensitivity
High, and collection-wide.
Content notes
- Abuse
- Death of character
- Scary imagery
- Violence
- War or conflict
Across the collection
All 3 books.
About the creator