[Lirva]

one of my fav writers and i am very suprised does not have an autor discussion forum on here!
ne way of course his dark materials is fantastic what are peoples thoughts feelings reactions to the books which spoke to you most?

who has read the sally lockhart novels?
for all i love HDM sally was my 1st intro to pullmans work and i must say i think they are undervalued. they are fantastic the characters are magnificent vibrant people who i feel i've known for years. strongly recommended
but hey thats just me what do others think of them?

[Ouroboros]

For starters:-

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8906

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8296

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7291

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5572

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3670

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1881

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1621

:D

[Evil Agent]

I was a bit shocked when I started reading Pullman's series.. mainly because it wasn't nearly as good as I'd heard. Everyone said it was so amazing, and it wasn't bad, but it was a struggle to keep reading. I just wasn't very interested.

It's one of the only series I abandoned, despite having bought all 3 books. The main reason I stopped, however, is because I lost book 2 when I was halfway through it. I'll probably finish it one day just for completion's sake, maybe before the movie comes out. Still it's hard to convince myself to do so, when I hear that it gets worse towards the end.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've read Pullman's Sally Lockhart books -- and actually liked them better than his fantasy. They have a sort of Dickensian flavor, although not nearly as complex as Dickens, of course.

[Ouroboros]

I was planning on flying into London for a weekend to see the National Theatre production of HDM, but I ended up not being able to get leave from work to coincide with screenings.

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=6158

Anyone gone?

I heard somewhere that the Daemons were played by actors wearing paper masks - surprisingly effective and quite creepy looking according to reviewers (the first and second productions have both been hailed as overall successes, by the way).

Also, readers of the Guardian may have noticed Pullman popping up now and again, in particular this one: http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1343733,00.html
I agree with him that the act of reading widely is an essentially democratic practice (Carl Sagan made a similar argument about science), but I don't necessarily agree with the conclusions he draws, or his politics.

[Lirva]

i also found the sally lockharts compelling i agree not as complex as dickens but pullman himself says that he was purposfully trying to use a dickensian style melodrama that was quite stereotypical. i am currently re reading the tin princess my personal fav (as i am a hopeless romantic :rolleyes: )

[Teresa Edgerton]

A Tin Princess has more of a Ruritanian romance feel to it (as in The Prisoner of Zenda).

There are moments in that book (like the scene with the banner) where I felt like Pullman was trying to manipulate my emotions with cheap, obvious melodramatics -- and unfortunately it worked. A genuine chill went down my spine and tears came into my eyes. I hate when that happens.