the book recommendation thread

Originally Posted by Spike

Name: His Dark Materials Trilogy
Book I: The Golden Compass
Book II: The Subtle Knife
Book III: The Amber Spyglass

Author: Philip Pullman

Don't be fooled when it's categorized as "young adult" or "youth." It can definitely appeal to younger audiences, but it has some mature themes in it. It's sort of science fiction, sort of fantasy, set in modern day UK that's slightly different than the UK we know. It's easily and by far the best books I've read as they are very engrossing and never slow down. You'll love the characters and the development they go through throughout the trilogy. I highly suggest these books.

Amen to that. Very awesome books with an amazing story and some very well created characters. It's one of those stories in which no matter how old or young you are you can really enjoy it and no matter who you are you can connect to and relate to it in some way or another, and it's probably safe to say it's the most original modern sci-fi/fantasy story out there. There were so many ideas in that thing, particularily the daemons, that I really haven't seen elsewhere.
The story starts out with a young girl, Lyra, who stumbles across some information she really wasn't supposed to see and one thing leads to another and she ends up in the middle of a conspiracy that threatens quite literally all heaven and earth. It's one of the memorable books I've ever read, as there are very few parts with little in the way of memorability.
And aside from being an awesome sci-fi/fantasy story, it's also got it's fair share of tragedy, romance, and comedy. There are times when you'll want to drop the book because you're laughing so hard, have to dry tears from the pages, and other times when the sheer scale and scope of the opposition is realized you want to read on just to see how something so seemingly hopeless and beyond any control can be accomplished.
I really can't compare it to much of anything, and the few comparison to be made didn't come into existence until a while after these books were published. If nothing else, the sheer uniqueness of it warrants giving it a chance.
It's of an epic scope the proportions of which have not been seen in literature since Lord of the Rings and if you're any sort of a fantasy or adventure fan not giving His Dark Materials a chance is one of the biggest mistakes you could ever make in your book reading life.

Jam it back in, in the dark.