Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Inessential but fun September 9, 2008
This prequel is the story of how Lee Scoresby met Iorek Byrnison (characters in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and if you haven't read that, better to start there than here). It might fairly be classed as a ripping yarn. It's a tale well told, charmingly illustrated with engravings by John Lawrence: inessential but fun.
 wonderful book September 3, 2008
"Once Upon a Time in the North" is the book for everyone who read "His dark materials".
Excelent book.
Short but sweet August 21, 2008
I throughly enjoyed this book. I was a little disappointed that it was so short as i wanted to keep reading, hence how good it was. This was the only reason i didn't give it a 5 star.
The book was a nice addition to the dark materials series. It gave me a insight to lee scorsby the aeronaut, this was interesting and enjoyable as we dont hear so much about him in the other books.
The prensentation of the book was brillant. It has a nice cover and not only that it includes a board game which was mentioned in the book. I throughly enjoyed playing it.
Overall i would say it was a very welcome addition to his dark materails series. My next book will be lyras oxford as i am sure it will be another interesting insight into lyras world.
A good little read... August 18, 2008
Having recently read HDM I was keen to read more of Pullman's work, so bought this one. A very enjoyable, very short story. I read it twice on the day it arrived.
The cover/binding is absolutely lovely.
I was a little perplexed by the 'Lyra letters' at the end as these appear to be dated after the HDM adventure, whereas the 'North' was well before.
Here's hoping that 'Dust' will be out soon rather than another short story.
a nice little extra July 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a huge fan of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, I am quite prepared to read anything else from that universe he is kind enough to write for us. Once Upon A Time In The North is no exception - of course I'd have liked it to be longer, but then I could read these characters forever and never be bored. It's quite obvious when you see the book that it's short, and it doesn't get longer simply because you're enjoying it! I often think, however, that short stories are more difficult to write than novels, and I appreciate the hard work and talent that has gone into producing such a lovely little book.
The hard cover, the beautiful illustrations, the wonderful boardgame tucked away inside the back cover... this all enhances the work, and also it's the way more books should be produced, with obvious care and attention. It's a book you could keep forever and pass down to children, grandchildren, and they would enjoy it as much as you did.
This is because Pullman's tales are timeless. They are full of adventure, fun, loyalty, friendship, intelligence - qualities that just don't date. The story here is no exception. It tells of the first meeting between Lee Scoresby, the Texan aeronaut (and one of my favourite trilogy characters!) and Iorek Byrnison, the armoured bear. Pullman's gently descriptive writing coupled with the reader's imagination brings these two allies to life in ways films can't. I loved the Wild West theme and all of the motifs that go with it: the pretty girl, the gun-slinging showdown, and Hester (Lee's daemon) provides an excellent witty companion.
Yes, the story is short, but it's action-packed and interesting, and I would recommend it to anyone who has previously enjoyed the trilogy. If you're new to Philip Pullman, I'd read those novels first, but this stands alone in its own right as a great example of first-class writing.
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