Philip Pullman Books

Philip Pullman 

Philip Pullman was born in Norwich and has had a career spanning over 40 years. His first novel, The Haunted Storm, was published in 1973, but his most popular series is His Dark Materials Series which started with The Northern Lights, called The Golden Compass in the US in 1995. 

Pullman has released many other literary series over the years. The Sally Lockheart series began with The Ruby in the Smoke (1985) and ended with The Tin Princess (1994). He has also released The New Cut Gang series, The Book of Dust Series, and various standalone novels for children and adults. 

His Dark Materials 

Philip Pullman’s Young Adult Fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, follows Lyra Belacqua and her animal Daemon Pantalaimon (Pan for short) through an alternate version of our Earth. She is trying to discover more about her family and growing interest in her uncle Asriel’s research in ‘Dust’. 

The first book in the series is Northern Lights, also known as The Golden Compass. Published in 1995, this novel begins with a roughly eleven-year-old Lyra living at Jordon College, Oxford. The adventures continue for Lyra in book two of the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Subtle Knife. Published in 1997, Lyra meets Will Parry, who appears to be from a different world, one much closer to our world. 

Philip Pullman stated that his primary source of inspiration was John Milton’s Paradise Lost. His Dark Materials uses the idea of good and evil, God, Angels and the Devil that Milton describes in his 17th-century epic poem. 

The final book in the trilogy is The Amber Spyglass, published in 2000. However, the adventure doesn’t end here; Pullman also released several short stories and novellas that tie in with the trilogy. These are Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, The Collectors, Serpentine and most recently, The Imagination Chamber. 

Other Works

Pullman has produced many other novels through the years, including The Sally Lockhart Series and The Book of Dust Trilogy, with the final book yet to be released. He has also released children’s novels, including Count Karlstein, Spring-Heeled Jack, I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers. Check out our Four Philip Pullman Fairy Tales Boxset or Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales for Young and Old, an anthology of fairytales specifically chosen by Pullman with an introduction explaining their importance and their background. 

About the Author 

Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman was born in Norwich in 1946. His father was an RAF pilot, so the family travelled significantly due to his role. Throughout his childhood, Pullman travelled to India, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and the Canary Islands. His father died in combat in Kenya when Pullman was seven.

He attended boarding schools as a child and studied at Exeter College, Oxford. As he started to build worlds for His Dark Materials, he drew inspiration from his own experiences at school and University. He has been writing full-time since 1996 and specialises in Young Adult and Children’s fiction.