Thursday 12 August 2010

Top 100 YA Novels (#5)

#5 Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (1995)

[649 points - 18 #1s, 19 #2s, 11 #3s, 13 #4s, 4 #5s, 4 #6s, 7 #7s, 6 #8s, 10 #9s, 9 #10s]

...in the end this has it all for me--brilliant heroine, fantastic language, makes you think about the difficult stuff, plot to die for, grandeur of vision, and one I read and will keep reading over and over again. I may not agree with Pullman's personal credos but by heck the man can write. “ Lucy Coats, author

A fantastic start to a meaty and dense series, full of adventure and wonder." Catherine, reader.

A classic good vs. evil story in a unique world with animal souls and science as magic and some interesting moral questions- something everyone should read. " Grace Bell, reader.

One of the books that changed my outlook on life. I still remember the state of stupor I was in when I came to the end of The Amber Spyglass. When I read Northern Lights I was physically quivering with excitement on the tram (it takes a stupendous book for me to react like that in public). Love, parallel worlds, armoured bears, physics, the existence and nature of God - all that quality in there. What a casket of wonders!” Kevin Lee, reader.

A world where daemons swoop and scuttle along the streets of Oxford and London, where the mysterious Dust swirls invisibly through the air, and where one child knows secrets the adults would kill for. Amazon

A title that hardly required an introduction, Northern Lights is the first title in the His Dark Materials series. Recipient of the Listen Up Award for Young Adults Young Adult Library Services Association and the 1995 Carnegie medal in literature, Northern Lights was also adapted for the 2007 film The Golden Compass.

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5 comments:

Wings said...

you know i tried to get into this book years ago in high school and never got past the first couple of chapters...

oh well,

i also have an award for you at my blog :)

http://storywings.blogspot.com/2010/08/award-time-versatile-blogger-award.html

Ruby said...

hm I agree with Wings here... this one is a little disappointing :P but oh well :)

Anonymous said...

I loved this trilogy, this is a brilliant fantasy book, one of my all time favorite

Carla said...

What Emily said, loved loved loved this trilogy, amazing fantasy and vivid world building. Makes it even better that I know Oxford and can pretend I know what the authors talking about.

Steph said...

YES YES YES! I like this one.