As with Stephen King and the Harry Potter series (I think I am halfway through
the first book of these), this is a book I have been meaning to read for a number of years and I have at last gotten round to it. Wow!!! What I have missed. It is brilliant. I have seen a lot of comments about the philosophy
and atheism of the author but have tried to ignore this as it seemed to be
irrelevant - and it is. Pullman could be advocating the return of hanging for
shoplifting (there's an idea) for all that it matters. The story is superb and
the imagery stunning. I shall start the second book soon and I wonder just
how the film will hold up - Nicole Kidman is rather over-rated to my mind
though a better actress than her former husband is an actor (that's like saying
Tony Blair is more believable than Pinocchio) though she has some first class
performances to her name. The success of the film will really depend on the
integrity and believability of whoever plays Lyra.