The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials, Book 1
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The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Philip Pullman (Narrator, Author), Joanna Wyatt (Narrator), Rupert Degas (Narrator),
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 16,585 ratings
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His Dark Materials is now an HBO original series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James Mcavoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda!

Featuring an exclusive bonus interview between the author, Philip Pullman, and His Dark Materials star Ruth Wilson.

The modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an “All-Time Greatest Novel” and Newsweek hailed as a “Top 100 Book of All Time”.

Philip Pullman takes listeners to a world where humans have animal familiars and where parallel universes are within reach.

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal - including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want.

But what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other....

A masterwork of storytelling and suspense, Philip Pullman's award-winning The Golden Compass is the first in the His Dark Materials series, which continues with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

A number one New York Times best seller

Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

Published in 40 countries

"Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past 20 years." (The Washington Post)

"Very grand indeed." (The New York Times)

"Pullman is quite possibly a genius." (Newsweek)

Don't miss Philip Pullman's epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials, the Book of Dust:

  • La Belle Sauvage
  • The Secret Commonwealth
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  1. Listening Length
    11 hours and 42 minutes
  2. Author
    Philip Pullman
  3. Narrator
    Philip Pullman, see all
  4. Audible release date
    October 23, 2003
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Listening Library
  7. ASIN
    B0000W6SPE
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 11 hours and 42 minutes
Author Philip Pullman
Narrator Philip Pullman, Joanna Wyatt, Rupert Degas, Alison Dowling, Douglas Blackwell, Jill Shilling, Stephen Thorne, Sean Barrett, Garrick Hagon, John O'Connor, Susan Sheridan, Full Cast
Audible.com Release Date October 23, 2003
Publisher Listening Library
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0000W6SPE
Best Sellers Rank #2,907 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#3 in Historical Fantasy for Teens
#24 in Science Fiction for Teens
#70 in Teen & Young Adult Epic Fantasy

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
16,585 global ratings
No complaints here and definitely is in very good condition
5 Stars
No complaints here and definitely is in very good condition
No complaints here and definitely is in very good condition.
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Top reviews from the United States

LA in Dallas
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it's really THAT good!
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2024
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Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass was one of the first audiobooks I listened to after joining Audible in 2004. I followed it not long after with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, and subsequently with every other published book by Pullman I could get my hands on. The novels of His Dark Materials are both exceptionally good books and exceptionally good audiobooks. The Listening Library audiobooks are full-cast productions.

The Golden Compass takes place in a fantasy world that resembles our Earth in some respects -- for instance, there is a university called Oxford -- and is different in others. For instance, every person has a daemon -- a soul. The daemon is a talking animal. A person must remain close to his or her daemon -- to separate by more than a few yards causes both great distress. The daemons of children are changeable in form, but those of adults are fixed. For instance, Lyra, the girl at the center of the story, has a daemon called Pantalaimon, who, when we first meet him, is in the form of a moth, but who more often is something like a weasel. Mrs Coulter, one of the principal adult characters, has a daemon who is a monkey.

Lyra comes into possession of an device called the "alethiometer" -- this is the thing that the title The Golden Compass refers to. It is not in fact a compass. In the hands of a skilled user, it gives truthful answers to any questions it is asked. Lyra, it turns out, has a special affinity for the alethiometer. She learns dangerous things from it and she and Pantalaimon find it necessary to flee Oxford. Adventures and intrigues ensue, which I will not spoil.

Before I listened to The Golden Compass, I felt that J.R.R. Tolkien had in a sense frozen fantasy. Every fantasy work published after The Lord of the Rings felt, in a way, like a version or reflection of that Great Work. His Dark Materials did not. In 2004 when I read it I felt that I had for the first time in four decades found a fantasy series that owed nothing to J.R.R. Tolkien -- something new and completely original.
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Ryan Sean O'Reilly
4.0 out of 5 stars A tale told by a crackling, comforting fire while the bitter northern winds gust dangerously against the window panes outside.
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book starts a bit slowly at first, but then kicks up into high-adventure and keeps this pace to the end. Pullman’s writing is very good and he manages to capture a perfect voice for the main character of Lyra as she negotiates this strange world populated by anthropomorphic soul-animals, witches, ghasts, and armored bears.

In reading this book, I felt reminiscent of the that sweet, nostalgic tone achieved by C.S. Lewis in “The Narnia Chronicles.” Perhaps this is simply due to the omniscient point of view in which the narrators guide one along in these comparable fantasy works. There is something comforting when you feel as if a story is being told you by a dear old friend while at the same time you’re being truly immersed in the narrative. That is a subtle art in which the author must carefully balance the use of the narrative voice so as not to feel intrusive or too expositional. I think there is something in the human psyche that responds to this mode of storytelling that harkens back to our ancient oral traditions.

The work is not particularly a “Christian” one, even though I am mentioning The Narnia Chronicles which are more overtly Christian in their telling. Pullman does draw on the dogma, practices, history and teachings of the Christian Religion to create his fantasy world and also to better illustrate what is happening and drive the plot along. However, unlike The Narnia Chronicles, the institutional nature of religion plays a much bigger and more nefarious role in The Golden Compass. That being said, this particular tale is not overly caught up with this theme. During some portions the religious aspect is missing altogether—though I admit that it does make up an important part of the book. So in essence, I am saying that however critical this book might be toward the institutional aspect of religion—it is not solely concerned with that point.

The world created by Pullman feels rather unique, even though it is a secondary world not unlike our own (in many ways). He devises a magical system utilizing a special dust-like substance; and souls that live outside the body in animal forms called daemons. This feels very authentic and manages to be quite delightful. Probably the strongest and most developed part of the book is the relationship Lyra has with her own daemon.

Other elements of the story come flying in as Lyra (the protagonist), takes up her quest to deliver a magical item to a far off and dangerous land. She meets interesting, fun and compelling characters all along the way. My only gripe is that at times, these non-player-character-types seem to drop on and off screen as needed. So too, does the adventure seem to proceed along one step at a time. The feel of this story is that as the protagonist progresses, the author foreshadows the next event, a challenge is overcome and the protagonist advances to the next level. A bit mechanical—not exactly contrived, but somewhat stilted. The writing is really great and the plot has a lot of fun and interesting elements that leave you anxious to see things through. There is just something a bit….in the background…missing... Perhaps it was the dropping away of secondary characters without a lot of follow through on their individual subplots? But, maybe that would have just slowed things down? I’m not sure.

All in all, I have no real problems with this book. It’s very well written, a great read and I’d definitely recommend it and am curious to read more. Mainly though, the author has a great voice for his story telling and that is what really pulls you in.

Podcast: If you enjoy my review (or this topic) this book and the movie based on it were further discussed/debated in a lively discussion on my podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space". The podcast is available on iTunes, Tune-In Radio, Stitcher, Google Play Music, YouTube or our website.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Angela
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful edition, amazing collection
Reviewed in Spain on February 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
I just found the most beautiful edition of His Dark Materials books. They are wonderful.

I’m not reviewing the story or writing itself, only the product that I had bought. Those who have read this masterpiece know how much it’s worth. Those who haven’t, I strongly advise you do. It has this beautiful dust jacket showing the Alethiometer. Hardback blue. The letters have a very decent size, same for the space between lines. And at the end of the book there’s an Appendix showing some curious papers from the Library at Jordan College. I had never seen that before in other editions! It’s a clever addition to the story.

The editions of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass have similar curiosities in its Appendix too. If you buy this edition of Northern Lights, you have to buy the other books in the same edition. I’m adding pictures to this review so you can see how amazing they are.

Those books are for every age. It's the fourth time I'm reading them, and each time I understand something new.
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Angela
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful edition, amazing collection
Reviewed in Spain on February 16, 2023
I just found the most beautiful edition of His Dark Materials books. They are wonderful.

I’m not reviewing the story or writing itself, only the product that I had bought. Those who have read this masterpiece know how much it’s worth. Those who haven’t, I strongly advise you do. It has this beautiful dust jacket showing the Alethiometer. Hardback blue. The letters have a very decent size, same for the space between lines. And at the end of the book there’s an Appendix showing some curious papers from the Library at Jordan College. I had never seen that before in other editions! It’s a clever addition to the story.

The editions of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass have similar curiosities in its Appendix too. If you buy this edition of Northern Lights, you have to buy the other books in the same edition. I’m adding pictures to this review so you can see how amazing they are.

Those books are for every age. It's the fourth time I'm reading them, and each time I understand something new.
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FANG LIN
5.0 out of 5 stars good book!
Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2020
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this is a very good book. my son enjoys it very much and it seems very interesting
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Guillermo Medel
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story
Reviewed in Mexico on January 21, 2020
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It is a really light reading book, to be honest it is really slow at the beginning but once you get to the good part you won’t stop until you finish.
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Antonio Santana
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente livro
Reviewed in Brazil on April 18, 2019
Verified Purchase
Comprei para meu filho, adorou.
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Arjun M
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful edition of one of the best Fantasy books.
Reviewed in India on June 11, 2017
Verified Purchase
His Dark Materials trilogy is probably the most socially relevant fantasy series for young adults, considering how badly organized religion is currently affecting the world, & especially India.
This first book however isn't as iconoclastic as books 2 & 3- but is satisfied in being a splendid adventure set in a parallel universe- with bits of steampunk elements thrown in.
Now, as for this particular EDITION here, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the "Alethiometer" on the cover is drawn in BLUE GLITTER <3.
Print & Page quality is great as well, making this 20th Anniversary Edition truly one worth collecting!
5 people found this helpful
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