Northern Lights cover art

Northern Lights

His Dark Materials, Book 1

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Northern Lights

By: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: Philip Pullman, Full Cast
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About this listen

The classic recording of Northern Lights, read by Philip Pullman and a full cast of narrators.

'Without this child, we shall all die.'

Lyra Belacqua lives half-wild and carefree among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon, Pantalaimon, always by her side.

But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle - a struggle born of stolen children, witch clans and armoured bears.

As she hurtles towards danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win, or to lose, the biggest battle imaginable.

The full cast of narrators includes: Philip Pullman, Joanna Wyatt, Rupert Degas, Alison Dowling, Douglas Blackwell, Jill Shilling, Stephen Thorne, Sean Barrett, Garrick Hagon, John O'Connor and Susan Sheridan.


Brought to you by Penguin.

©1995 Philip Pullman (P)2021 Penguin Audio Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Witchcraft

Critic Reviews

"Read by Pullman himself and a full cast including Julian Glover and Stephen Thorne, this is glorious listening." (Sunday Express)
All stars
Most relevant  
Good book but I warn people to avoid the interview at the end. I stopped about 15 minutes in after hearing some major spoilers for the following books.
This was a disappointing end to a good book.

Enlightened ending

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I’m a huge fan of this series and I think it’s one of the best fantasy series around, with such a fun spin on religion and the bible. This is my first audiobook and overall it was quite enjoyable, I was a bit iffy on some of the voices for certain characters, not because they were bad, but because originally I have seen and heard these characters from the movie and the HBO show (which is also very very good) and therefore I’m biased.
Such an enjoyable experience :)

Such Lovely Creativity

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This first book was amazing I’m so excited to get the next one!!! I listened to this with my daughter and she loved it!! But now she’s going to nagar me to get the next book but overall I loved it!!❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍❤️

LOVED IT!!❤️❤️❤️😍😍

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I am not fond of all cast recordings as they can be cheesy but this is pretty good. The only difficulty was the narration, which I believe is done by Philip Pullman himself. His voice is not unpleasant but is so soft and hollow that even on maximum volume his words blur, especially when there is even the slightest background noise. This makes the listening experience quite difficult. The plot is of course excellent, and the lead actors do a good job of capturing the character, so it's even more frustrating that I simply can't hear most of the time.

A good all cast recording marred by soft narration

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I absolutely loved having a full cast. I was abit hesitant at first as a narrator can make or break an audio book but this was fantastic.
Now the story, I decided to give this a go as I was curious upon thinking of the movie what happened after. So like any curious person I took to the books, and well I kinda knew what to expect after the movie, I did watch it 10 years or so ago but the next 2 books, I had no idea about and absolutely LOVED IT. what an enchanting world. I definitely reccomend getting lost in these worlds.

love it.

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Spoilers in the interview at the end! Don't listen if this is your first read.

Wonderful Storytelling

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Phillip Pullman has created just a unique twist to religion and how we view reality. It’s believable fantasy!!!

Unique interpretation of the world

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the bonus interview at the end with spoilers for future books. very frustrating when it plays!!

the voice acting

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I did not like the narration. It was too ‘pantomime’ for my liking. Also, the story…. People have raved about this book. I’m honestly not sure why.

Not the best narration

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Sorry but the narration was awful I couldn't focus on the story, I couldn't stand anywhere past the first chapter. was really recommended this book, bit I wish I had listened to the sample before I spent money on it. Lesson learned 😔

Narration

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