His Dark Materials

Lyra Belacqua grows up among the scholars of Jordan College, in an alternate Oxford where each person is paired with a daemon, an animal companion that forms part of their soul. When children begin to disappear, she learns that a substance called Dust preoccupies the Church, and also her parents, Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter.

Her search leads north. The gyptians travel with her, and she is joined by the armoured bear Iorek Byrnison and the aeronaut Lee Scoresby. Among the figures she meets are the witch queen Serafina Pekkala.

After that the story crosses into other worlds. Lyra meets Will Parry, who comes from our own world and ends up carrying the subtle knife. Together they are drawn into a rebellion against the Authority and the forces that serve him.

This volume collects three novels: The Golden Compass (1995, titled Northern Lights in the UK), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000). Other travellers include the physicist Mary Malone, angels, the Gallivespians and the mulefa.

The scale is large and the questions are big ones, about free will, religion and growing up. It suits readers of ambitious young adult and all-ages fantasy. Northern Lights won the Carnegie Medal, and The Amber Spyglass won the Whitbread Book of the Year.