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Books by Philip Pullman

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“Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all.”—Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman is the acclaimed author of the His Dark Materials trilogy: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. His other books for children and young adults include Count Karlstein and a trilogy of Victorian thrillers featuring Sally Lockhart. The Golden Compass, the first of Pullman's His Dark Materials triology, won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Fiction Prize.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I started telling stories as soon as I knew what stories were. I was fascinated by them: that something could happen and be connected to another thing, and that someone could put the two things together and show how the first thing caused the second thing, which then caused a third thing. I loved it. I love it still.

I grew up at a time when TV wasn’t as important as it is now. In fact, part of my childhood was spent in Australia at a time when that country didn’t even have TV so a lot of my early experiences with stories came from the radio, which is a wonderful medium. I remember listening to gangster serials, and cowboy serials, and best of all: “Faster than a speeding bullet—more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s SUPERMAN!”

Superman on the radio was exciting enough, but when I first saw a Superman comic, it changed my life. Soon afterward I discovered Batman, too, whom I loved even more. I had to argue with my parents about them, though, because they weren’t “proper” reading. I suppose what persuaded them to let me carry on reading comics was the fact that I was also reading books just as greedily, and that I was good at spelling; so obviously the comics weren’t harming me too much.

My favorite stories for a long time were ghost stories. I used to enjoy frightening myself and my friends with the tales I read, and making up stories about a tree in the woods we used to call the Hanging Tree, creeping past it in the dark and shivering as we looked at the bare, sinister outline against the sky. I still enjoy ghost stories, even though I don’t think I believe in ghosts anymore.

I was sure that I was going to write stories myself when I grew up. It’s important to put it like that: not “I am a writer,” but rather “I write stories.” If you put the emphasis on yourself rather than your work, you’re in danger of thinking that you’re the most important thing. But you’re not. The story is what matters, and you’re only the servant, and your job is to get it out on time and in good order.

The most valuable thing I’ve learned about writing is to keep going, even when it’s not coming easily. You sometimes hear people talk about something called “writer’s block.” Did you ever hear a plumber talk about plumber’s block? Do doctors get doctor’s block? Of course they don’t. They work even when they don’t want to. There are times when writing is very hard, too, when you can’t think what to put next, and when staring at the empty page is miserable toil. Tough. Your job is to sit there and make things up, so do it.

As well as keeping going, there are many other things I’ve learned about this craft, and some of them came to me when I was teaching. What I enjoyed most in that difficult and valuable profession was telling stories, telling folk tales and ghost stories and Greek myths, over and over, until I knew them as well as I knew my own life.

And in doing so, I learned some of the laws of a story. Not rules - rules can be changed. “Smoking Permitted Here” can become “No Smoking” overnight, if people decide smoking is a bad thing. But laws such as the law of gravity can’t be changed: Gravity is there whether we approve of it or not. And so are the laws of a story. A story that is unresolved will not satisfy—that’s a law. If a scene does not advance the story, it will get in the way—that’s another law. You must know exactly where your story begins—that’s a third. And so on.

One strange thing about stories is that you sometimes know how long they’re going to be, even before you’ve begun thinking about them. With His Dark Materials, the trilogy of which the first part is The Golden Compass, I knew from the very start—even before I had a main character in mind, and long before I knew what might happen to her—that this story would be 1,200 pages long. That was the size of it. I knew, too, that I was going to enter a world I hadn’t known before: a world of fantasy. Previously, all of my books had been realistic. When I began writing it, I discovered a kind of freedom and excitement I’d never quite felt before. And that is one of the joys of writing: You constantly encounter new experiences.

I live in Oxford now, and I do my writing in a shed at the bottom of the garden. If the young boy I used to be could have looked ahead in time and seen the man I am today, writing stories in his shed, would he have been pleased? I wonder. Would that child who loved Batman comics and ghost stories approve of the novels I earn my living with now? I hope so. I hope he’s still with me. I’m writing them for him.

PRAISE

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

—Winner of the Carnegie Medal
—An American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) Award Winner

“As always, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterizations and seamless plotting, maintaining a crackling pace to create scene upon scene of almost unbearable tension. This glittering gem will leave readers of all ages eagerly awaiting the next installment of Lyra’s adventures.”—Starred, Publishers Weekly

THE SUBTLE KNIFE

—An ALA Best Books for Young Adults

“More than fulfilling the promise of The Golden Compass, this second volume starts off at a heart-thumping pace and never slows down. . . . The grandly exuberant storytelling is sure to enthrall.”—Starred, Publishers Weekly

“The intricacy of the plot is staggering. . . . There is no doubt that the work is stunningly ambitious, original, and fascinating.”—Starred, The Horn Book Magazine

“The character development as well as the relentless pace . . . make this a resoundingly successful sequel. . . . It will leave readers desperate for the next installment.”—Starred, Booklist

THE AMBER SPYGLASS

—A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

“Pullman has created the last great fantasy masterpiece of the twentieth century.”—The Cincinnati Enquirer

“Absorbing. . . . Like Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling, [Pullman] invents a world filled with strange divinations and wordplays.”—Newsweek

“A literary masterpiece . . . [that] caps the most magnificent fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings and puts Harry Potter to shame. . . . A page-turning story that builds to a powerful finish.”—Oregonian

“Impossible to put down, so firmly and relentlessly does Pullman draw you into his tale. . . . [A] gripping saga pitting the magnetic young Lyra Belacqua and her friend Will Parry against the forces of both Heaven and Hell.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I WAS A RAT!
“Phillip Pullman's tale is fast and clever.”—The New York Times Book Review

COUNT KARLSTEIN
“In this deliciously gothic thriller there are enough demon huntsmen, evil guardians, and brooding castles to please even the most desensitized reader.”—Starred, School Library Journal

“A welcome diversion . . . [that is] dashing, sparkling, and wildly over the top.”—Starred, Publishers Weekly

Count Karlstein

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Jo Thurley (Amer.) and Full Cast
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 3-6 | Release Date: April 25, 2006

Can you hear the distant howling of hounds and the thunder of ghostly hooves? It's All Souls' Eve and Zamiel the Demon Huntsman has com ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	5 CDs Unabridged	9780307286000		$45.00			-

His Dark Materials, Book III: The Amber Spyglass

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Philip Pullman (Amer.) and Full Cast
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Fantasy & Science Fiction | Release Date: November 26, 2002

The AMBER SPYGLASS brings the intrigue of THE GOLDEN COMPASS and THE SUBTLE KNIFE to a heartstopping end, marking the final volume of H ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	12 CDs Unabridged	9780807210468		$80.00			-

His Dark Materials, Book II: The Subtle Knife

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Philip Pullman (Amer.)
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Fantasy & Science Fiction | Release Date: October 8, 2002

Sequel to THE GOLDEN COMPASS

The universe has broken wide, and Lyra's friend lies dead. Desperate for answers and set on reveng ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	8 CDs Unabridged	9780807210475		$60.00			-

His Dark Materials, Book I: The Golden Compass

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Philip Pullman (Amer.)
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Fantasy & Science Fiction | Release Date: September 24, 2002

Not since LORD OF THE RINGS has there been an epic of such breathless excitement - for readers of all ages. Lyra Belacqua just may hold ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	9 CDs Unabridged	9780807210499		$65.00			-

Lyra's Oxford

An exciting new tale set in the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials saga. ... (more)

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	1 CD Unabridged	9780807219973		$18.00			-

Once Upon a Time in the North

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Philip Pullman (Amer.) and Full Cast
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Fantasy & Science Fiction | Release Date: April 8, 2008

Another mesmerizing episode from the universe of His Dark Materials set in the far frozen Arctic, including the very first meeting of t ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	2 CDs Unabridged	9780739367001		$30.00			-

A Sally Lockhart Mystery: The Ruby In the Smoke: Book One

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Anton Lesser (Amer.)
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Historical Fiction | Release Date: January 24, 2006

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	6 CDs Unabridged	9780307286024		$50.00			-

A Sally Lockhart Mystery: The Shadow In the North: Book Two

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Anton Lesser (Amer.)
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Historical Fiction | Release Date: March 14, 2006

The year is 1878, and Sally Lockhart has started her own financial consulting business. When a client loses a fortune in the unexpected ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	8 CDs Unabridged	9780307286048		$60.00			-

A Sally Lockhart Mystery: The Tiger In the Well: Book Three

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Anton Lesser (Amer.)
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 7-12, LL Historical Fiction | Release Date: May 23, 2006

Sally Lockhart, trying to put her troubled past behind her after her fiancé's death, has settled into a comfortable life with her ... (more)

Format:		ISBN:		Price:	Qty.:		Order History: (?)
	11 CDs Unabridged	9780307286055		$75.00			-

The Scarecrow and His Servant

Author: Philip Pullman | Narrator: Graeme Malcolm (Amer.)
Imprint: Listening Library
Genre: Grades: 3-6, LL Fantasy & Science Fiction | Release Date: September 13, 2005

A tattered scarecrow stands in the middle of a muddy field, taking no notice of the violent thunderstorm around him. But when a bolt ... (more)

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4 CDs
Unabridged 9780307283818 $38.00
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