Philip Pullman's The Dark Materials

[gulfcoastliberal]

Who's with me nominating these masterpieces as the best current fantasy books out there right now?

What other books out there right now compare?

[XemaSab]

1. I am totally with you

I am a fan of some other books/series, and that's really really really put together stuff.

Ordinarily, some of the fantasy elements would be a little out there for me, but HOLY SHIT!

I was bawling uncontollably at the scene where she had to leave Pan.

[mzteris]

2. Actually -

I wasn't all that impressed.

TGC was pretty good, but it went downhill from there, I thought.

FWIW - I'm a HUGE SF&F fan.

[Reader Rabbit]

3. I enjoyed them

But I'm not sure I'd claim that they're the best fantasy books out there right now. I particularly enjoyed the universe(s) Pullman created, as well as the characters—most of them enough like our own to identify with, but different enough to be intriguing and alien. I also liked the message of personal choice and the right to make your own mistakes, but even though I liked the character of Lyra, I didn't understand the attraction she had that led so many of the other characters into helping her. (Did that make any sense?)

As for other books/series that compare? I'm not sure if "compare" is the proper word, but I really like Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion series, Garth Nix's Abhorsen series, and most of Sharon Shinn's stuff.

[mzteris]

5. Abhorsen

I just finished Lirael - I thought it better than Sabriel.... we'll see how the next one goes.

:)

[katamaran]

4. I just finished them last night

The Golden Compass was pretty good, The Subtle Knife got more interesting to me, and the Amber Spyglass was pretty good until the ending. The last 100 pages or so just didn't do it for me. I was most interested in the world that Mary Malone went to with the mulefa. Lee's blaze of glory in the second book made me cry, as did leaving Pan on the shore of the dead world. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of two 12 year olds making out and professing their love for each other, despite my trend towards romanticism. Overall I liked the series, and I know it's supposed to be aimed at 12-16 year olds, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 16 with a healthy knowledge of religion and history. It's definitely more adult than I think was intended.

Of course, knowing that Nichole Kidman is playing Ms. Coulter in the movie makes it SO much easier to erase the image of Ann Coulter from my mind. Though personality-wise, Ann makes sense...

[gulfcoastliberal]

6. I figured they'dmake great movies; but had no idea they're already casting

Thanksfor the info. Hope an English director or perhaps Jackson is picked for the job.

[XemaSab]

7. Here's what IMDB has to say:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385752/