Darkness Visible: Philip Pullman and His Dark Materials

In this well-organized analysis of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, Tucker, a cultural-studies lecturer at the University of Sussex, shares insight into the influences on the series’ universe in preparation for Pullman’s forthcoming Dust trilogy. Tucker first addresses religion, bringing to light Pullman’s early exposure to Christianity through his grandfather, an Anglican clergyman, and later through his reading of Milton. He also details Pullman’s break from Christianity over what Pullman saw as its tendency to control and terrorize, a trait shared by the novels’ all-powerful Church. Then he tackles Pullman’s fascination with science and the inherent uncertainty within it, which led to Pullman’s incorporation of parallel worlds into the books. Finally, Tucker shows how Pullman achieves his goal of mixing the “ordinary and the fantastic” and keeping the “reader in a state of imaginative wonder.” He is quick to praise Pullman’s accomplishments, among them the creation of involving protagonists and clear prose, but equally willing to offer criticism, such as of an arguably simplistic depiction of organized religion. Readers familiar with Pullman’s fantastical universe, and particularly those eager to return to it, will enjoy Tucker’s compact refresher course. (Sept.)