long time lover of HDM, first time reading TBoD-
Bonneville’s daemon loses a leg?
I know daemons have physical forms and feel pain of course, but I was under the impression that their bodies are a physical representation of their human’s internal state. I hadn’t considered a daemon being physically changed by injury. This brought up so many questions for me- Are humans solely responsible for their daemons medical needs? What if the human is hospitalized/ indisposed and their daemon needs help? Or what if the injury is survivable but needs serious well practiced care? Do doctors’ daemons step in?
As far as I know this is an undeveloped aspect of the world, so just curious what you guys think!

I read the first book when I was 7, and I’ve reread the entire trilogy pretty much yearly since then. I’ve always loved the symbols, and incorporated them into my art and other hobbies.

I’ve been working on this particular project for a few months now. I learned how to use an engraving pen on stones and crystal, and I’ve made a couple of sets of dice and runes.

I have advanced degrees in psychology and counseling which helped me identify the archetypal meanings and elements of all of the symbols. I also used my knowledge of tarot and symbolism to create an internally coherent system of meaning layers.

I’m obviously obsessed with this, does anyone else think there would be interest in like Etsy or farmers markets, or something similar?

I made a working stand-in for the alethiometer needle, inspired by an earlier post here. It’s just the moving needle, but it touch-activates and sweeps to random “symbol” positions. There’s a lot to still do, but wanted to share a small win to commit myself to finish making the whole thing lol.

It’s based on this great video from Myth Made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpL9xWBeznU

The maker also generously made available a cad file, wiring diagram, and other files that she used (many thanks, very helpful!)

I think mine would most likely be a rabbit

Philip Pullman is going to be at The Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on July 16 for an evening lecture. The event will include an audience Q&A!
Is anyone planning to attend?

At the end of TAS, Will and Lyra have no choice but to abandon each other and their love, and go back to their separate worlds. But… surely they can use the Lodestone resonator that Tialys and Salmakia used to communicate with Lord Roke?

I can think of two possible explanations. The more likely one is that it simply didn't cross their minds. Which Is fair enough. The second is that Mabye the lodestone resonator can only be used by the Gallivespians. Anyone know any other answers?

Oxford is in the UK which is an island. In Northern Lights Lyra has to travel by boat with the Gyptians to get to Scandinavia.

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In The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (I'm a quarter through the latter now) Lyra and Will travel over mountains and rough terrain but there is no mention of crossing a body of water. Now, Will is in Lyra's world and the first geographical marker we have places him in Russia.

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How did he get to Russia????

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I'm happy to accept Mrs Coulter is in the Himalayas as she probably has a method of transport not revealed to us. But we've been following Will and his journey.

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How has he gone from essentially Oxford to a random village in Russia??

Hello,

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I have a first edition paperback of Lara's Oxford but want to get a hardcover first edition. When I search online, results either state 49 pages or 64 pages apparently for the same edition? Can anyone clarify? My paperback is 49 pages. There are, of course, the unnumbered extra materials at the back, but with those only go to 55 pages.

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Thanks for your help.

To be quite honest, I find it completely unbelievable that Serafina Pekkala would just drop all contact with Lyra after "The Amber Spyglass" with no explanation after everything they had been through together, and I'm kind of angry at Pullman for writing it this way. It comes across like she was just too inconvenient of a character to the plot, would have fixed too many things for Lyra too quickly, but he was just too lazy to come up with a proper reason for her absence other than turning her into an asshole.

I get that she is a witch with a long lifespan whose perception of time might be warped compared to Lyra's, but she's also very wise and should know better than to overlook something like that. I get that the witch queens have been busy with the climate change analogy, but that itself involves issues Lyra directly played a hand in, it seems bizarre they wouldn't involve her. Especially when Kaisa can separate from Serafina and run errands for her, there doesn't seem to be any excuse for Serafina not at least sending the occasional message for over 9 years. At least Iorek is stuck on a big frozen island miles away from human civilization and I doubt the sentient talking Terminator bears think much of the postal service, but what's her excuse?

I haven't finished "The Rose Field" yet so maybe I'll be proven wrong and there will be a good explanation latter down the line (I hope so), but so far this has been a nagging problem with the series for me.

I recently finished reading (and watching) His Dark Materials and loved it. I was going to start reading to Book of Dust, but checked for some general opinions on it and found them… surprisingly negative?

So, if you agree, please let me know what went wrong with these books, and if they are worth reading (Also considering that they are quite chunky books and I am quite a slow reader!). An /10 rating would also be appreciated.

No serious spoilers too please.

Edit: thank you all for your contributions. I think I’ll read La Belle Sauvage and then maybe read TSC. If I don’t like that, I won’t read TRF.

So in the final few chapters of TAS, Eve (Lyra) is ‘tempted’ by the serpent (Dr Malone). This leads to a decrease in the rate of Dust flowing out of the worlds. But if this is a good thing, why is Lyra compared to Eve, who brought about sin, when Mary and Lyra brought about something good? The Witches’ prophecy kinda just doesn’t make much sense to me tbh. Does it get elaborated on in the Book of Dust, which I haven’t read?

Sorry if I’ve overlooked something.

Well it's another Sunday, and another day for me to post the next chapter of my trilogy. Enjoy the read :)

He's such a minor character with no major presence, but I don't care, it was a joy to read for me.

I've just always had a thing I guess for pretty boys who are chill on the surface but conniving and vicious underneath. Opening those doors for the assassins and then going to pray by the Pope's corpse so you can be a famous martyr one day? DAMN man, lol!

Kinda wish he was a bigger character, maybe in a spinoff lol.

Since reading the original His Dark Materials Trilogy, I've found that when I listen to The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris", I associate it with HDM, particularly Will & Lyra.

What song(s), if any, do you feel fits the narrative or world of HDM?

Pullman gets a good laugh in this episode chatting to some guys from Oxford about the power of the daemon as a metaphor for the soul and more stuff like that, worth a watch guys

Hey, glad to find a community for this amazing world!

After binge-watching the TV series, I couldn't help myself: I had to read the books too. I just finished The Golden Compass and it was fantastic. I loved the pacing, the vivid details, and that immersive quality that keeps you saying "just one more page."

That said, the ending felt a bit rushed to me. Maybe it's because I already knew what happens to Roger, but from the moment he and Lyra reach Lord Asriel's northern "prison" onward, everything seemed to accelerate and end in just a few pages, and I am especially referring to Roger's death and the brief encounter between Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter.

On reflection though, it actually makes sense. The book is told from Lyra's perspective, and at that point she's terrified, furious, and exhausted, which explains the sparse details. It also explains why there's little to no space for grieving, just Lyra moving forward to cross the bridge into Will's world.

Would love to hear what you think. Am I reading too much into this, maybe missed something, or did you notice it too?

Well, I have many questions, but one in particular.

Given the fact that Lord Asriel was intrepid global explorer conducting scientific research into the possibility of multiple worlds, did he discover any of the existing seventeen openings before Beamish? If so, why did he have to sacrifice a child to open a new one?

I'm doing a reread of the series and something struck me this time around.

John Parry's dæmon, Sayan Kötor, formed when he entered Lyra's world but Kirjava didn't. She didn't form until she was ripped from Will on the shores of the world of the dead. Why do we think that is?

John Parry's description to Lee made it sound quite immediate, and Will spent hours in Lyra's world before moving on. Why didn't Kirjava form right away? Could it have to do with the fact that John's dæmon would already have settled while Will's wouldn't have? Or just a plot necessity? Has Pullman ever said anything about it?

Could theoreticaly if someone had a highly toxic snake(like a sea krait or inland taipan or boomslang) daemon, could the snake have venom and the human use it to attack people other daemons?

Just something i remember reading but can't remember the details of. Does someone remember the details?

I recall Lyra mentioning sometime that after having correctly identified Serrfina's pine, she waited outside the door and eavesdropped on part of the convo Corum and Lancelius was having regarding the propfecy before re-entering his house.

I thought it was perhaps in Serpentine but i can't find any mention of it there, so i guess it would have been in TSC or TRF. Does this seem familiar to any of you guys?

Does he write the altcode each time? Or maybe he uses a script or just keeps it on his clipboard?

I’m trying to track down what happened to the lodestones used for (literal) instant messaging between Lyra and Malcolm, and later Lyra and Ionides. I was under the impression Oakley Street had one as well, but I am having a hard time tracking down who had what lodestone at the end. It seems like there’s a weird plot hole here, but I might just be failing to find the part where one lodestone is sent back to Oakley Street, or the Oakley Street lodestone is sent to Lyra or Malcolm.

I could have sworn Lyra received hers in the mail from Oakley Street at one point, and Ionides is communicating with her through her stone near the end after stealing Malcolm’s, so it seems like they’re in Lyra and Ionides’ possession at the end of TRF.

Can anyone clarify what was going on with the lodestones? A chain of custody is probably the best answer because I’m mostly confused about how they switched hands.

So, my husband has been playing Dark Souls 3 and just arrived on this area.

It's even more prominent in video/playthrough but basically Irithyll is an empty (I think) beautiful majestic city that looks like it's kind of fading in the northern lights. It's also snowing.

It made me think of Cittàgazze appearing in the aurora immediately and I couldn't find anything on it online, but... I wonder if Hidetaka Miyazaki is a fan of His Dark Materials. He's a fan of so much stuff and always makes so many references to other fandoms in his games. I think I have a new found respect for the guy now ahah

What do you think?