Northern Lights (novel)

The novel takes place in a fictional parallel world, where science and magic are intertwined, where in addition to people live witches, armored bears and other fantastic characters. The world is governed by a religious organization that calls itself the Magisterium.

Girl Lira Belakva lives in one of the colleges in Oxford , makes friends with the children of college servants and fights with children from the city. Lyra's parents died, and her uncle - the powerful Lord Azriel - makes frequent expeditions to the North. During one of the expeditions, he finds the mystical Dust and is going to open a laboratory for its study. During a long trip, Azriela, the college master, gives Lyra to raise Mrs. Colter, who takes the girl to London . When Lyra realizes that Mrs. Colter is not who she claims to be, Lyra tries to run. She gets to stray gypsies who have been watching her from the start. Further, her path lies to the North, where the gypsies send a detachment in order to save children abducted from all over England by terrible "priests". There Lyra meets witches, armored bears and learns about the plans of Lord Azriel. She also has to find out that her parents did not die. Thanks to the help of an ice bear named Yorek, the girl gets to Bolvangar fortress, where the "priests" hid the abducted children. It is not easy to save them, but Lira is helped by loyal friends and a magical item Aletiometer ^[2] , capable of showing the truth ...

Damon (Alma)

Each person in the world of the novel is accompanied by his daemon. Damon is an integral part of a person’s personality, a particle of his soul. If you separate Daimon and an adult, they will both die. Damon looks like an animal that personifies certain traits of a person’s character. At the same time, the child’s daemon can change its shape, and as a person grows up, the daemon loses this ability and forever remains in one guise. In this regard, at a young age, it is possible to separate a person from a daemon, not causing death. However, after this, children remain crippled for life.

Paul Damon very rarely matches the gender of a person. The exception is witch daemons that match with them on the floor, and can also be far away from their witches. Witch Daimons acquire the appearance exclusively of birds or other flying creatures in order to be able to accompany the witches in flight. Daimons are the vehicles of Dust that bind it to humans. When a person dies, a daemon turns into a haze and dissipates in the air, and when a person dies, a person dies. Damon accompanies a person throughout his life's journey.

States and Peoples

In the European world of "Northern Lights" there are such countries as England , Norway , Denmark , Italy , France , Lapland , Germany , and the sea washing England is called German. In Asia, there are states such as the powerful and practicing slavery of the Turkish Empire , Siberia (semi-controlled by Muscovy), on the territory of which evil Tartars live, and the Eskimos , Nenets and other peoples of the Arctic live as tribes on their own, and the unpredictable Golden Horde , which did not break up and it still poses a danger to the rest of the civilized world, Kazakhstan is present, but China and Nippon do not play a significant role, it is known that Muscovites use napalm in wars with them. America is divided into New France and New Denmark , partly colonies of its metropolises, partly independent states like the Republic of Texas or the Mexican States . Africa in our world is called Libya . In addition to the English, roving Gypsies live in England - a tribe living in kayals (long boats) on the canal. In place of Russia is the Empire of Muscovy (mentioned St. Petersburg ). Muscovy is an independent and rather powerful state, but somewhat weakened by the centuries-old confrontation with tartars, diversified adventurers and trade campaigns in the North, the Japanese and the threat of armored bears. Therefore, the Muscovites need the help of the Magisterium and are forced to contribute to it. The borders between the tartars and Muscovy are not clear, but it is known that the tartars tried to attack the Tunguska and Kamchatka valleys - the Muscovites' possessions, it is likely that the tartars are not so much a state as frequent rebellions of the natives of Asian Russia on the territory of Muscovite lands. Sakhalin and Beringland are described but it is not clear whose lands these are. Further, in the east - cruel Tartars, perhaps Muscovite subjects, perhaps restless Aborigines, in fact, something in between. In the north live witches and intelligent white “ice” bears (armored bears). The state (or, more precisely, the kingdom) of armored bears is Svalbard ( Svalbard ).

Armored Bears ( Panzerbjorn ): By and large, panzerbjorn differ from ordinary polar bears only in the presence of reason and the opposite thumb. Dressed in strong, massive armor made of meteorite iron. Each panzerbjörn forges its own armor. Armored bears live in the north, their only state is Svalbard.

Witches : Witches have a human appearance, but, unlike humans, they can live for many centuries (in the first part of the trilogy Seraphina Pekkala mentioned that the oldest mother witch is about a thousand years old), and also fly. The witch uses a branch of cloudy pine for flying, being armed with a bow and knife. They are not afraid of the cold and are dressed in black and blue silk. There is no unity between the witches, they live in clans led by the witches-queens.

Religion

The main religion in Europe is Calvinistic Christianity. Calvin once became a pope and transferred the papal throne to Geneva. After his death, the papacy was abolished and the Magisterium, which is a complex system of competing organizations, took its place. By the time of the novel, the dominant church organizations: the Disciplinary Court of the Spiritual Consistory and the Ministry of Unified Decisions on Initiated Matters. Rumors are circulating about the revival of the Holy Inquisition. The church has an absolute impact on society. There are also army units of their own - Swiss papal guardsmen, imperial Muscovites (under the command of the Magisterium), and detachments of deimon soldiers (including Africans). The third book mentions a certain Pope Calvin, who gave the green light to the hunt for Lira, so that perhaps the papacy has been preserved, especially since the elite parts of the Magisterium are constantly mentioned - the Swiss guards of the Pope.

Science and Technology

Experimental theology is one of the basic sciences. In the second book of the trilogy, you can find out that this is the same as physics in our world. Antarctic energy is used to illuminate, set cars in motion, etc. (the same as electricity , but is available only in rich houses, research centers, the headquarters of the Magisterium and is not widespread). Airships are used for flights, gyrocopters and aircraft are mentioned as something rarer and usually do not carry airborne weapons (airships are often armed with machine guns). Of the weapons, store rifles, machine guns, flamethrowers, armored cars (in Once Upon a Time in the North) are described, fire-fighters are napalm catapults, although bows are still in use. There are cars, but horse-drawn power prevails. There are Antar hydrostations (HES), but Antar lighting is not developed, giving way to gas and kerosene. Antarctic electricity is used in industry and scientific mechanisms, there is the nuclear industry and primitive nuclear charges (such as tried to kill Lira). There is a steam fleet and gasoline (internal combustion) engines. Chthonic rail road ( metro ) is mentioned.

The Barnard-Stokes Theory . The church in the novel teaches that there are two worlds: the earthly world, the material world, and the other world (heaven and hell). The theologians Barnard and Stokes suggested the existence of a great many other worlds where life is material and sinful, but they cannot be seen or achieved. Although the theory was supported by mathematical calculations, the Church declared it to be heresy , while conducting secret developments in this area.

Dust is a mysterious natural phenomenon. Another name is Rusakov particles, by the name of the discoverer from Muscovy. This is a stream of elementary particles that do not interact with anything but a person. An adult attracts dust, but a child practically does not. For its study, the Ministry of Unified Solutions was created.

Aletiometer (Veritometer) - a rare device (there are only 6 of them in the world). Looks like a big watch or compass. It shows the truth, only in encrypted form: in the form of characters, each of which has many meanings. Created in Prague and officially bought and destroyed by the Magisterium, but at least 2 use units of the Church, at least 1 - with the troops of Azriel and 1 - with Lira.

• Lira Belakva - the daughter of Lord Azriel ^[3] , was brought up in Oxford, at Jordan College. Received a middle name from Yorek Birnison - Lira Sirin
• Panteleimon - Daimon Lyra, took on different guises: from a butterfly-hawthorn to a cheetah , the most favorite is ermine
• Lord Azriel - Uncle Lyra ^[3] , scientist, polar explorer. His damon - snow leopard Stelmaria
• Mrs. Colter is Lyra's mother ^[3] , the founder of the Ministry of Unified Decisions on Initiates. Damon - Golden Tamarin
• Roger is a college chef, a friend of Lyra. Damon - Salsilia, most often - dachshund
• Ma Costa is a gypsy. Damon - hawk
• John Faa is the king of the gypsies. Damon is a raven
• Farder Coram is an old gypsy. Damon - fire-red Maine Coon cat Sofonaks
• Yorek Birnison - heir, later king of the throne of armored bears, friend of Lyra
• Yofur Raknison - the king of armored bears who fraudulently received the throne, a rival to Yorek
• Serafina Pekkala is a witch. Witch Queen of the Inara Lake clan. Damon - Kays's Arctic Gray Goose
• Lee Scorsby is an aeronaut, an old acquaintance of Yorek. Damon - Arctic Hare Esther ^[4]
• Lord Boreal is an associate of Mrs. Colter. Damon is a snake

In 2007, a film adaptation of the novel called The Golden Compass was released (the novel was renamed as it was published in the United States).

In July 2018, at the Wolf Studios studio in Cardiff , filming began for the first season of the television series Dark Beginnings , which will be an adaptation of Northern Lights. The main roles in the series are played by Daphne Keane (Lyra), James McAvoy (Lord Azriel), Ruth Wilson (Marisa Coulter) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Lee Scorsby). The first two episodes are directed by Tom Hooper , screenwriter Jack Thorne . ^[five]

The following parts of the trilogy:

• The Wonderful Knife (1997)
• Amber Telescope (2000)