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The Elements of His Dark Materials

The Elements of His Dark Materials

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Author: Laurie Frost
Publisher: Fell Press
Category: Book

List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.50
You Save: $11.45 (46%)



New (25) Used (11) from $11.97

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 3 reviews
Sales Rank: 258969

Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 7.2 x 1.4

ISBN: 0975943014
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780975943014
ASIN: 0975943014

Publication Date: September 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Similar Items:

  • Lyra's Oxford
  • The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
  • His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
  • Once Upon a Time in the North (David Fickling Books)
  • His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays On Philip Pullman's Trilogy (Landscapes of Childhood)

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
An illustrated, comprehensive, reader-friendly reference to Pullman's brilliant trilogy--valuable for fans and researchers alike. Packed with clues to literary imagery and subtle allusions, Frost's encyclopedia-style guide exposes the depths of all three titles, including the appendices in the 10th anniversary editions of iNorthern Lights, The Subtle Knife,/i and iThe Amber Spyglass/i published in the UK in 2005 (not yet released in the US). P iThe Elements of His Dark Materials/i features: BRForeword by Philip Pullman BR140 photos BR26 illustrations BR11 maps (for example: Gobbler sightings, gyptians' voyage, Scoresby's journeys, Will and Iorek's route to the Himalayas) BR12 chapters (for example: characters, places, applied and natural sciences, and social structures) PUS and UK page numbers for each element described BRReference section with suggestions for further reading, works relating to iHis Dark Materials/i, and a Pullman bibliography. P Extra-textual remarks accompany some elements' entries and include: BRbNotes/b on text-level differences between the UK and US editions or between the three volumes; BRbObservations/b-- speculative comments BRbFacts/b-- real world counterparts to the fictional elements of the books BRbUpdates/b--based on the appendices Philip Pullman added to the tenth anniversary editions of the trilogy (not yet released in the US).


Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars Seriously Flawed   September 16, 2008
Keith E. Welsh (St. Louis, MO)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Philip Pullman might use this as a reference, but he also knows what she gets wrong. There are a number of glaring errors, of which I will cite one. Frost asserts that the angel Balthamos is female even though all the quotations she offers refer to Balthamos as "he." And Balthamos is male as is his friend Baruch. Frost's work is seemingly comprehensive but careless, badly edited, and at times misleading. Too bad, as a good encyclopedia of HDM would be welcome.


5 out of 5 stars I was astounded   January 22, 2008
Stephen Thoemmes (AZ, USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

If Philip Pullman refers to this book, how can you go wrong? It is totally encyclopedic. A dense reference book that covers everything that you have remembered or may have forgotten. I keep referring to this tome though I am not currently re-reading the trilogy. The drawings, the cultural references (in the real world), the UK and US differences, this is a mind boggling work. I cannot imagine the effort put into this book. Laurie Frost has seemed, to me, to have exceeded all human limitations in documenting this masterwork.


5 out of 5 stars Resources should always be shiny.   November 25, 2007
Heather E. Waddell (Medford, MA, United States)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

There's no better recommendation for a reference book than when the author of the original series states that he's using it to help him remember his own books. And this reference has just such a recommendation. br / br /This is an awesome source, part concordance, part encyclopedia, part character guide. It's a great companion and helped me innumerable times when I was looking for an elusive quote. I also enjoyed seeing the differences between the US and UK versions of the books laid out. The information is presented in a concise and entertaining way, and it's as easy to simply flip open a page and read a bit for fun as it is to look up a specific character or concept. br / br /Frost's attention to detail makes this a book that I will always be glad to own. (Plus, the cover is a shiny picture of the Northern Lights, which just makes it that much more attractive.) br / br /