It didn't actually take me this long to finish the book: I got sick and didn't read for a few days. Once I was reading it was really hard to put down, and I can't believe I didn't read it like ten years ago. Then again, I'm not sure I would've liked it ten years ago: I had a hard time appreciating world building that was Tolkien or Rowling.

Now I'm so here for this shit! Fantasy and steampunk-ish elements in the 1800s? Fuck yeah, I'm here for that. I like the dæmons (translated to "daimon" in Swedish, something that brought the chocolate daim to mind every time I read it), even though my inital reaction when Lyra's changed form was "come on, I thought they were to represent your inner soul or something, having them constantly change is stupid" ... only to have it revealed that only dæmons of children do this. As an adult of 26, I totally understood what the fisherguy meant when he told Lyra that at some point she would like for her dæmon to settle for a form. It worked really well.

As for the plot, wow, a lot of things went on, but I thought it was pretty nicely set up. The part with the alternate worlds were much harder for me to accept than anything else (it's a bit cake on cake, as we say in Sweden), but the concept was introduced so early, that I could buy it without any problems. And it seems to play a larger part in the coming books ...

Oh, and the bears were amazing. Loved their names as well, hehe.

Speaking of, the second book hasn't arrived yet and I haven't even ordered book three. A shame. Guess I'll have to watch the movie while waiting, though I hear it is extremely bad ... ( )

The human-daemon relationship adds great insight to characters. Mrs. Coulter (and her monkey) is genuinely frightening. Armored Bears! ( )

Ho apprezzato il primo libro di questa trilogia infatti possiede tutti gli ingredienti necessari per un buon fantasy ossia avventura, mistero, ambientazione e personaggi ben caratterizzati. Inoltre fa riflettere il lettore sui rischi del fanatismo religioso (vedi intendenza per l'oblazione) e sull'importanza di coltivare il dubbio, il pensiero critico, per opporsi a ogni forma di autocrazia. Anche la scienza priva di etica e spinta a livelli estremi è un tema che emerge varie volte nel romanzo. L'introduzione dei daimon, degli orsi corazzati, di concetti come la polvere e di paesaggi mozzafiato come il polo Nord e l'aurora boreale completano il quadro! ( )

Ho apprezzato il primo libro di questa trilogia infatti possiede tutti gli ingredienti necessari per un buon fantasy ossia avventura, mistero, ambientazione e personaggi ben caratterizzati. Inoltre fa riflettere il lettore sui rischi del fanatismo religioso (vedi intendenza per l'oblazione) e sull'importanza di coltivare il dubbio, il pensiero critico, per opporsi a ogni forma di autocrazia. Anche la scienza priva di etica e spinta a livelli estremi è un tema che emerge varie volte nel romanzo. L'introduzione dei daimon, degli orsi corazzati, di concetti come la polvere e di paesaggi mozzafiato come il polo Nord e l'aurora boreale completano il quadro! ( )

I liked this alright but not really enough to read the next ones. If I ever pass them in the library I might pick up the next one but who knows... ( )