Philip Pullman

[maggiebee]

Just watched Wednesday's episode of Pointless on the iplayer. Answering questions on the books of Philip Pullman they won £20,250. I have never read this author - what type of book does he write and has anybody on here read them. Always on the lookout for authors new to me.

[AB Editor]

He writes books aimed at young adults and is most famous for the Northern Lights series Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

These follow a rough structure and allude to much of Milton's Paradise Lost:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost

And are generally considered a pretty good read. He mixes some nice sci-fi ideas into a fantasy setting - I guess some of it is almost steampunk really?

Certainly worth a read, even if you're not a "Young Adult" any more :) At worst you'll know what people are on about on the next quiz show that references him.

[AB Editor]

And I mean the "fun" kind of sci-fi and fantasy, not the 1600 page tome which reads like a technical manual/cartography of invented lineages....

[lcg]

i've read his books after my son has finished with them.....and they are great! i'd certainly recommend trying one....x

[AB Editor]

Oh, and don't watch the film...

[AB Editor]

The Subtle Knife was the best of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy (the second one). I'd suggest bashing through the first and second for fun and if you like it do the third... but like everything that follows the "Dante" structure, that last bit gets a bit boring...

[THEMOTLEY1]

have a look here,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Pullman

[maggiebee]

Thanks folks. Going to dip my toe in the water.

[knowabit]

He also wrote The Ruby in the Smoke.. which is a series of books. They are really good.