His Dark Materials

“This is one of my favourite books. Lyra feels like a natural successor to Matilda. She is a character of action. She isn’t sitting in a corner reading. She is out there and she is having a real effect on her story. She isn’t being buffeted by forces and having to rebel against them, she is out there actively seeking an adventure. I read this when I was eleven and starting secondary school. I remember her really sticking with me not least because she lies so much.” Read more...

Fierce Girls in Tween Fiction

Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Children's Author

“Other children’s books often have children behaving in terrible ways. Philip himself has acknowledged that his His Dark Materials is, to some extent, a response to the Chronicles of Narnia which has children behaving in all sorts of slavish ways, obeying authority because it is authority, and setting all sorts of poor moral examples.The children in Philip’s books are thoughtful, intelligent, and morally concerned. They are motivated by love and loyalty. And they are very complex. He doesn’t shy away from the moral complexity, the difficulties of choice, the lesser of two evils. That is also something that comes up in his books. There is no perfect solution, you struggle to truth.” Read more...

The best books on Humanism

Andrew Copson, Nonprofit Leaders & Activist

Philip Pullman himself is the narrator of the audiobook of the trilogy His Dark Materials. Different actors play the parts of the characters, in what is known in the trade as a ‘multi-voiced performance.’

Narrator: Philip Pullman, full cast

Length: 10 hours and 45 minutes

Great Audiobooks Narrated by Their Authors

The audiobook of the His Dark Materials trilogy has Philip Pullman himself as the narrator, with actors saying the words of the characters.

Narrator: Philip Pullman, full cast

Length: 10 hours and 45 minutes

Recommended listening age 9 upwards

Best Audiobooks for Kids and Young Adults