Discover more about the world of His Dark Materials
There are numerous places where people can go to discover more about His Dark Materials. Over the past month I have used numerous websites to get new information and clarify my own memory and in doing so I have discovered a range of things I never knew.
As usual, Wikipedia is a wonderful place to get quick information, but it is also surprisingly detailed. From the main His Dark Materials page there are pages to read plot summaries, character biographies, there are numerous side pages that discuss the races and creatures mentioned in the series, everything from Mulefa and Angels, to Arctic Foxes and Witches. There are also links to pages for each book to get a detailed breakdown of each story as well as information about controversies, and influences of the series as a whole.
Philip Pullman’s official website includes a range of great information about the series. There is a page dedicated to FAQs from fans about the series which Pullman has answered, there are also pages with links to all of his interviews (an invaluable source of great and random information), his hand-drawn illustrations for the books, and details about each book in the series.
This is one of the largest fan sites on the internet. Started in 2001 it has grown to be a place where fans can upload their artwork, discuss the series in forums, learn about the science of His Dark Materials, and discover a range of things about the trilogy, adaptations, and companion books plus so much more.
Quotes
There are so many quotes I love from this series, some more controversial than others, and some that have a huge impact storywise but seem innocent out of context. Many of my favourite quotes ruin storylines and contain spoilers so I won’t include those. What I will include are some of the beautiful lines Pullman has written from all of the books, they are not all there because as I say, they are different out of context and I am a big fan of no spoilers.
“That’s the duty of the old,’ said the Librarian, ‘to be anxious on the behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.”
― Northern Lights
“We are all subject to the fates. But we must act as if we are not, or die of despair.”
― Northern Lights
“I found folly everywhere, but there were grains of wisdom in every stream of it.”
― The Subtle Knife
“For a human being, nothing comes naturally, we have to learn everything we do.”
― The Subtle Knife
“All the history of human life has been a struggle between wisdom and stupidity.”
― The Amber Spyglass
“I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are.”
― The Amber Spyglass
“The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.”
― The Amber Spyglass
“There were so many vivid currents of feeling between them that the very air felt electric to him”
― The Amber Spyglass
“Everything has a meaning, if only we could read it.”
― Lyra’s Oxford
Lost in a Good Book 