Author:Laurie Frost Binding: Paperback ISBN: 0975943014 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
"Seriously Flawed"
"I was astounded"
"Resources should always be shiny."
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Editorial Review:
An illustrated, comprehensive, reader-friendly reference to Pullman's brilliant trilogy--valuable for fans and researchers alike. Packed with clues to literary imagery and subtle allusions, Frost's encyclopedia-style guide exposes the depths of all three titles, including the appendices in the 10th anniversary editions of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass published in the UK in 2005 (not yet released in the US).
The Elements of His Dark Materials features: Foreword by Philip Pullman 140 photos 26 illustrations 11 maps (for example: Gobbler sightings, gyptians' voyage, Scoresby's journeys, Will and Iorek's route to the Himalayas) 12 chapters (for example: characters, places, applied and natural sciences, and social structures)
US and UK page numbers for each element described Reference section with suggestions for further reading, works relating to His Dark Materials, and a Pullman bibliography.
Extra-textual remarks accompany some elements' entries and include: Notes on text-level differences between the UK and US editions or between the three volumes; Observations-- speculative comments Facts-- real world counterparts to the fictional elements of the books Updates--based on the appendices Philip Pullman added to the tenth anniversary editions of the trilogy (not yet released in the US).
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Seriously Flawed Philip Pullman might use this as a reference, but he also knows what she gets wrong. There are a number of glaring errors, of which I will cite one. Frost asserts that the angel Balthamos is female even though all the quotations she offers refer to Balthamos as "he." And Balthamos is male as is his friend Baruch. Frost's work is seemingly comprehensive but careless, badly edited, and at times misleading. Too bad, as a good encyclopedia of HDM would be welcome.
I was astounded If Philip Pullman refers to this book, how can you go wrong? It is totally encyclopedic. A dense reference book that covers everything that you have remembered or may have forgotten. I keep referring to this tome though I am not currently re-reading the trilogy. The drawings, the cultural references (in the real world), the UK and US differences, this is a mind boggling work. I cannot imagine the effort put into this book. Laurie Frost has seemed, to me, to have exceeded all human limitations in documenting... more info
Resources should always be shiny. There's no better recommendation for a reference book than when the author of the original series states that he's using it to help him remember his own books. And this reference has just such a recommendation. This is an awesome source, part concordance, part encyclopedia, part character guide. It's a great companion and helped me innumerable times when I was looking for an elusive quote. I also enjoyed seeing the differences between the US and UK versions of the books laid out. The information is... more info
