The Golden Compass was an absolutely amazing book. It follows the story of Lyra, a young girl, and her adventure. It weaves together creatures called "daemons," which are bonded with their humans and are like souls outside of their bodies, magical Dust, a mysterious golden compass, a devious plot, a daring rescue, talking bears and their own kingdom as well as witches and gypsies. With any lesser writer, the combination of all these different elements would have been confusing, and seeming like someone was just pulling at strings and thinking "hopefully people will be interested by all of this stuff," but Philip Pullmans ties everything in together magnificently, to create a breathtaking journey that is by no means too overwhelming or complex, and all fits together perfectly. 
 Philip Pullman's writing style is also a thing to behold; he manages to capture the youth and playfulness of Lyra as well as keeping the book serious and with a constant undertone of excitement and adventure. 
 Besides the amazing elements of the story and the gorgeous writing, the characters themselves are amazing as well. Lyra is a devious, cunning child whose exploits as leader of the band of Oxford children against the townies and then the gyptians are amusing as well as intriguing, and she gets herself in no small amount of trouble. However, she's smart and cunning as well, along with being a smooth-talker, which serves her well when escaping trouble with the Oxford Scholars. Lyra's own daemon, Pantalaimon, is equally enjoyable, and serves as her conscious as well as confidant. Iorek the great bear is an amazing, strong character and his later bond with Lyra is a wonderful thing. John Faa and Fardar Coram prove to be truly lovable characters, and Lord Asriel and Ms. Coulter are simply wonderful and crafty in their scheming ways. All the characters are so different and complex, and so real and truly unique. 
 Altogether, the combination of amazing story elements, a fitting writing style that captures Lyra's nature and simply amazing characters provide for a wonderful book, and one that I highly recommend.