Review: The Magical Worlds of Philip Pullman

This is a wonderful companion book for adult readers who wish to enter the debate on the origins and meanings of Phillip Pullman's extraordinarily multi-layered "His Dark Materials" series. Along with revealing insights from interviews with Pullman, David Colbert gives insights into the underlying inspirations and subtle references to literature, mythology, philosophy, and art. He provides excerpts from Milton, Blake, and other sources as well as giving us a brief overview of the history of their relevant works and interesting and relevant details about their lives and the way their works influenced Pullman's. Relevant inspirational artwork is included.

The book is written in a sort of magazine format, with additional thoughts and factoids appearing in the margins, and interesting 2 or 4 page segments pulled out to provide additional detail on more specific topics, such as the inspiration for Pantalaimon's form and name, interesting facts about Blake's life, or the history of trepanning (the custom of drilling holes in one's head).

Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series appeals to a wide range of readers for a wide range of reasons. For younger children, it may be merely a wildly imaginative fantasy world. For adolescents, it may give insight into their own struggle in coming to adulthood as well as an opening to question their own belief structure. For the adult reader, it is even more full of questions about religion and religiosity, good and evil, and a world in which "good" and "evil" are too simplistic of terms to be used. For the adult-reader- turned-enthusiast, it can lead to endless hours of debate about obscure references and Pullman's exact intentions. This book would be of interest to any adult reader, particularly those who are interested in Pullman's references but may not be personally well- versed in the works or histories of many of the referenced authors. However, this book would probably not appeal to children, particularly younger children. It is a readable but scholarly work, not a work of fiction or a "making of" special.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Marisa Exter

Book Review: The Magical Worlds of Philip Pullman