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The Golden Compass cover art

The Golden Compass

Written by: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: Philip Pullman, Joanna Wyatt, Rupert Degas, Alison Dowling, Douglas Blackwell, Jill Shilling, Stephen Thorne, Sean Barrett, Garrick Hagon, John O'Connor, Susan Sheridan, Full Cast
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Publisher's Summary

His Dark Materials is now an HBO original series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James Mcavoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda!  

Featuring an exclusive bonus interview between the author, Philip Pullman, and His Dark Materials star Ruth Wilson. 

The modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an “All-Time Greatest Novel” and Newsweek hailed as a “Top 100 Book of All Time”. 

Philip Pullman takes listeners to a world where humans have animal familiars and where parallel universes are within reach.

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal - including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want.

But what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other....

A masterwork of storytelling and suspense, Philip Pullman's award-winning The Golden Compass is the first in the His Dark Materials series, which continues with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

A number one New York Times best seller

Winner of the Guardian Prize for Children's Fiction

Published in 40 countries

"Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past 20 years." (The Washington Post)

"Very grand indeed." (The New York Times)

"Pullman is quite possibly a genius." (Newsweek)

Don't miss Philip Pullman's epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials, the Book of Dust:

  • La Belle Sauvage
  • The Secret Commonwealth 
©1995 Philip Pullman (P)1999 Random House, Inc.

What the critics say

"Superb.... Wonder-filled." (Washington Post Book World)

"Very grand indeed.... Scene after scene of power and beauty." (The New York Times

"A rousing, page-turning adventure that promises to please fantasy readers of all ages." (Library Journal)  

Featured Article: 20 of the Best Strong Fictional Female Lead Characters Who Will Inspire You

From feisty fiery females to women warriors, this list of audiobooks features the best stories and epic tales with strong fictional female lead characters that will inspire you.

What listeners say about The Golden Compass

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Beautifully written and narrated

What more can I say. Wonderful story telling. I need to write seven more words.

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my very first audio book

My very first book on audio. I selected a book that I've read before and liked for the experience which turned out to be awesome. Enjoyed it a lot. Thought the voice actors were great. highly recommend.

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Volume discrepancy

The story and performance is excellent but audio mixing seemed a bit uneven. I have sensitive ears so whenever I had to turn up the volume a bit so the narration won’t be buried in commute noises, lyra’s voice would often be so sharp and loud that I had lasting physical discomfort.

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  • Overall
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What an amazing rendition of an equally amazing story.

Phillip Pullman's rich and fantastical world was truly brought to life by the performances in this audiobook. I cannot recommend it enough.

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  • Overall
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I loved this full-cast adaptation

I was spellbound from start to finish. The author interview with actor Ruth Wilson at the end is terrific too but contains spoilers for the next two books. No notes 😆

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  • Overall
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  • AC
  • 2023-01-31

Most enjoyable "read" of this book yet!

I've always loved this series and have read all three books many times, but listening to it as an audiobook was an entirely different experience - and SO enjoyable! I love that Pullman is the narrator, and the entire cast is spectacular! The voice performances are superb throughout the entire audiobook, and really bring something special to the story that you'd never get from just reading. I was completely immersed, even though I've read the book more times than I can count. This is by far my favourite fiction audiobook that I've listened to yet, and I definitely recommend it, to new readers of the His Dark Materials series and old alike!

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Incredible narration at the perfect pace.

Couldn't have enjoyed it more. Narration was perfect; story was riveting. So tempted to just buy the whole series.

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  • G
  • 2022-10-02

Awesome!

This was a fantastic narration, the best I’ve heard! Excellent cast! Looking forward to the next one.

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  • Amy
  • 2022-05-11

Fantastic cast!

I usually find multiple actors distracting but this cast brought a richness to the story which was enveloping, I could not stop listening!

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  • Overall
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Fell in love again!

I absolutely loved this book as a kid and this is the first time rereading/listening to it since. I fell in love with the story and characters all over again! Can't wait to listen to the next 2, also listening with all the different voice actors was simply spectacular and a wonderful experience!

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