The first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass is set in a parallel universe that is ruled by a religious order called The Church. The Church attempts to squash the freewill of people and to keep people from learning the truth or from gaining wisdom. Lyra, a preteen girl, is given a truth teller by her uncle. It must answer any question asked it honestly, once Lyra learns how to use it. She uses the truth teller to uncover many evil plots.
Lyra Belacqua SILVERTONGUE 11 year old a precocious orphan growing up within the precincts of Jordan College in Oxford England It quickly becomes clear that Lyras Oxford is not precisely liked our own nor is her world In Lyras world everyone has a personal dmon a lifelong animal familiar This is a world in which science theology and magic are closely intertwined These ideas are of little concern to Lyra who at the outset of the story One day she and Pantalaimon pan an animal formed shape shifti
Many legendary stories are told of heroes ancient cultures menacing gods and strange worlds unlike anything we know of in todays modern world We create fictional movies and fantasy books to entertain ourselves such as the popular fictional epics The Golden Compass or The Lord of the Rings However perhaps the most fundamental epics are those that are from history legends that were very real in their time 2 of these historical epics are Beowulf and Gilgamesh Beowulf is a Nordic tale from northern