num_pages: 399
description: Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title.
language: English
title: The Golden Compass
titlecomplete: The Golden Compass
characters: Hester, Lee Scoresby, Serafina Pekkala, Pantalaimon, Lord Asriel, Iofur Raknison, Iorek Byrnison, Roger Parslow, Lyra Belacqua, John Faa, Marisa Coulter, Billy Costa, Farder Coram
genres: Middle Grade, Audiobook, Young Adult, Childrens, Science Fiction, Classics, Adventure, Steampunk, Fiction, Fantasy
ratings_count: 1487794
places: Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
series: His Dark Materials
awards: awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Audie Award
category: Children's Titles, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Lincoln Award, awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Carnegie Medal
publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers