';The most magnificent fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings.' The Oregonian Throughout the worlds, the forces of both heaven and hell are mustering to take part in Lord Asriel's audacious rebellion. Each player in this epic drama has a role to play--and a sacrifice to make. Witches, angels, spies, assassins, tempters, and pretenders, no one will remain unscathed. Lyra and Will have the most dangerous task of all. They must journey to a gray-lit world where no living soul has ever gone and from which there is no escape. As war rages and Dust drains from the sky, the fate of the living--and the dead--to depend on Lyra and Will. A New York Times Bestseller A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel Winner of the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year Award. Winner of the British Book Award (Children's) "Pullman has created the last great fantasy masterpiece of the twentieth century. An astounding achievement." --The Cincinnati Enquirer "Breathtaking adventure . . . a terrific story, eloquently told." --The Boston Globe "War, politics, magic, science, individual lives and cosmic destinies are all here . . . shaped and assembled into a narrative of tremendous pace by a man with a generous, precise intelligence. I am completely enchanted." --The New York Times Book Review "Masterful. . . . This title confirms Pullman's inclusion in the company of C. S. Lewis and Tolkien." --Smithsonian MagazineFrom the Hardcover edition.