In advance of publication of La Belle Sauvage, the first volume of Philip Pullman's long-awaited Book of Dust trilogy, I am re-reading His Dark Materials. I'm well on with Northern Lights and loving it as much as I did first time around, 20 years ago, and I'm currently in the Arctic with Lyra, the gyptians, Iorek Byrnison the armoured bear, balloonist Lee Scoresby, the despicable Mrs. Coulter, and the witches led by Serafina Pekkala.
It's a marvellously imaginative and thoughtful page-turner which, whether you read it for its wider philosophical commentary, for its use of the very clever concept that is the daemon*, for the breadth and depth of its world-building, or for its action adventure plot, makes rich and satisfying reading.
*See this post.
