Golden Compass

Golden Compasss

The novel is, mostly, and in the build up, plodding and clumsy. Transitions happen suddenly and with little context or reason (when the gptians find her), new conflicts and goals are introduced arbitrarily through the alethiometer, some whole characters and groups are pure platitude – and yet, that is all forgiven for one of the greatest climax-finales. The whole build-up and architecture of the novel, including the fierce indepenence of Lyra, who love for her friend, her companionship to the bear, the great mystery of Dust, and, finally, the great drive and allure for going further North, all culminate in this sequence. The Aurora comes alive for the event, so light ad Dust are shining incandescent about her as she races on op of the roof of the world, towards the betrayal, away from the hunt behind her. And the whole swell of friendship in the book now deflames to just her and Iorek, and finally, crossing the icy chasm, just her and her daemon, alone again.

 The lines of drama are clearly drawn, which is great, but the clincher, the exciting bit, is the set piece, and the way the end of the book opens up the sky, literally and metaphorically. The sudden changes of signicance – Asriel doesn't need the alethiometer, which had been Lyra's sole quest, and he betrays Lyra, Lyra unwittingly brings Roger to his death, Dust is Sin, Asriel is waging war on something wildly philosophical, Sin and Death, but also Dust is Good. It all gets blended, and this all happens in this great set piece of the barren icy North, which further accentuates solitude and aloneness and choice, as reality and psychodrama manifest in the Dust-Aurora, and the other world becomes visible in the sky. It is that fantasy climax aspect I always love, where the climax visually, physically imitates the psychodrama. The world for Lyra is coming alive with colors, is becoming incredibly complex, opposites are true, she is more independent and lonely and free then ever, and another world is opening for her and her daemon. And they embrace it. They step off into the unknown.