Summary
Northern Lights tells the story of Lyra - a wilful and disobedient young orphan who lives at Jordan College, Oxford, in a world not unlike our own. With her dæmon Pan, she enjoys a carefree life, occasionally visited by her uncle Lord Asriel who gives her the vague idea that she doesn't belong at Jordan.
Her life is turned upside down when children start to go missing, kidnapped by the enigmatic "Gobblers", culminating in the disappearance of her best friend Roger. The arrival of the glamorous Mrs. Coulter interrupts Lyra's plans to rescue him, and she is swept away to be Mrs Coulter's "assistant". A parting gift from the Master of Jordan College – an instrument resembling a compass, called an alethiometer – keeps her busy as she struggles to understand its function. Some disturbing information about her new guardian overheard at a party leads Lyra to believe that Mrs Coulter is responsible for the disappearing children and she resolves to run away.
She is found and rescued by the Gyptians – riverboat-dwelling travellers – and she learns of their plans to travel North to rescue the missing children. She also discovers the truth about her own heritage: Lord Asriel is actually her father, and her mother is Mrs Coulter, a woman who now inspires nothing but terror in Lyra. She learns from the Gyptians that the alethiometer is a truth reader, which will answer any question she asks it. Lyra decides to accompany the Gyptians to the wild and dangerous North.
Joined by the witch queen Serafina Pekkala, renegade armoured bear Iorek Byrnison and Texan aëronaut Lee Scoresby, Lyra discovers the truth behind the Gobblers and their wicked experiments in a Northern research station: they undertake a process called "intercision", forcibly separating children from their dæmons. This cruel operation supposedly protects children from Dust, the obsession of the civilised world but a mystery to Lyra.
Captured by hunters and taken to Bolvanger, Lyra comes face to face with her mother. She escapes again, freeing the remaining children and flying away with Roger and Iorek in Lee's balloon. They crash-land on Svalbard, home of the armoured bears, where Lyra learns that Iorek is the rightful king. She manages by trickery to win back the throne from the false king, Iofur Raknison, who had allied the bears with the Gobblers.
On Svalbard, Lyra meets her father, held prisoner on the orders of Mrs Coulter. She is terrified by his plans to build a bridge into a new world through the Northern Lights, where the barrier between the worlds is thin. From him she learns about Dust; it is an elementary particle, thought to be evidence of Original Sin. Thinking it will help him, Lyra offers Lord Asriel the alethiometer. Instead what he requires for his bridge is the huge burst of energy produced by the process of intercision; to her horror, she finds herself an unwitting assistant in Roger's death at her father's hands.
Overwhelmed by guilt, Lyra resolves to find Dust herself, reasoning that if her mother thinks it is a bad thing then the opposite must be true. She and Pan follow Lord Asriel into the new world.
Source: http://www.bookdrum.com/books/northern-lights/9780590660549/summary.html.
Her life is turned upside down when children start to go missing, kidnapped by the enigmatic "Gobblers", culminating in the disappearance of her best friend Roger. The arrival of the glamorous Mrs. Coulter interrupts Lyra's plans to rescue him, and she is swept away to be Mrs Coulter's "assistant". A parting gift from the Master of Jordan College – an instrument resembling a compass, called an alethiometer – keeps her busy as she struggles to understand its function. Some disturbing information about her new guardian overheard at a party leads Lyra to believe that Mrs Coulter is responsible for the disappearing children and she resolves to run away.
She is found and rescued by the Gyptians – riverboat-dwelling travellers – and she learns of their plans to travel North to rescue the missing children. She also discovers the truth about her own heritage: Lord Asriel is actually her father, and her mother is Mrs Coulter, a woman who now inspires nothing but terror in Lyra. She learns from the Gyptians that the alethiometer is a truth reader, which will answer any question she asks it. Lyra decides to accompany the Gyptians to the wild and dangerous North.
Joined by the witch queen Serafina Pekkala, renegade armoured bear Iorek Byrnison and Texan aëronaut Lee Scoresby, Lyra discovers the truth behind the Gobblers and their wicked experiments in a Northern research station: they undertake a process called "intercision", forcibly separating children from their dæmons. This cruel operation supposedly protects children from Dust, the obsession of the civilised world but a mystery to Lyra.
Captured by hunters and taken to Bolvanger, Lyra comes face to face with her mother. She escapes again, freeing the remaining children and flying away with Roger and Iorek in Lee's balloon. They crash-land on Svalbard, home of the armoured bears, where Lyra learns that Iorek is the rightful king. She manages by trickery to win back the throne from the false king, Iofur Raknison, who had allied the bears with the Gobblers.
On Svalbard, Lyra meets her father, held prisoner on the orders of Mrs Coulter. She is terrified by his plans to build a bridge into a new world through the Northern Lights, where the barrier between the worlds is thin. From him she learns about Dust; it is an elementary particle, thought to be evidence of Original Sin. Thinking it will help him, Lyra offers Lord Asriel the alethiometer. Instead what he requires for his bridge is the huge burst of energy produced by the process of intercision; to her horror, she finds herself an unwitting assistant in Roger's death at her father's hands.
Overwhelmed by guilt, Lyra resolves to find Dust herself, reasoning that if her mother thinks it is a bad thing then the opposite must be true. She and Pan follow Lord Asriel into the new world.
Source: http://www.bookdrum.com/books/northern-lights/9780590660549/summary.html.
Characters
Lyra |
The principal character. Lyra is a girl who has blue eyes and blond hair. She is short for her age and thin. She is very brave and curious. Lyra has been prophesied by the witches to help the balance of life, but must do so without being aware of her destiny.
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Pantalaimon |
Lyra's dæmon is Pantalaimon. Pan can still change shapes and does that very often. That is because Lyra is still a child. When someone grows up, the dæmon takes a specific shape.
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Roger |
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Lord Asriel |
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Mrs. Coulter |
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Iorik Byrnison |
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Iofur Raknison |
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Serafina Pekkala |
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Lee Scoresby |
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Ma Costa |
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John Faa |
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Timeline
Lyra and Pan hide in the retiring room wardrobe and save Lord Asriel from a poisoning attempt.
Tony Makarios is kidnapped by Mrs. Coulter. Lyra learns of the Gyptians when Billy Costa goes missing. Roger is kidnapped by the gobblers. Mrs. Coulter comes to Jordan College, meets Lyra and offers to take her to the north. Before Lyra leaves, the master gives her the alethiometer. Lyra leaves with Mrs. Coulter on a zeppelin for London. Lyra begins to fear Coulter, and flees during a cocktail party. Lyra is nearly kidnapped on the streets of London, but she is rescued by Tony Costa and his gyptian friends, Jaxer and Kerim. Lyra meets Farder Coram and John Faa, who give her insight into how to read the alethiometer. The gyptians decide to send an expedition to the North to rescue the children. Lyra uses the alethiometer and predicts the death of the gyptian spy leader, Benjamin de Ruyter. The gyptians and Lyra journey north to Trollesund, where they meet with the consul of the witches for information. They meet Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, and Lee Scoresby the Texan aeronaut. Lyra uses the alethiometer to find the location of Iorek's armor, which he then recovers. Iorek and Lee then join the gyptians and Lyra on their journey to rescue the children. Lyra finds Tony Makarios, whose daemon Ratter has been cut away from him at Bolvangar, exposing her to the horrors that are being performed there. Tony dies that night. The gyptians are ambushed by samoyed hunters, who kidnap Lyra and take her to Bolvangar. Lyra escapes from tests and uses the fire drill to find the daemon cages, which she opens with the help of Serafina Pekkala's daemon, Kaisa. Guards find Lyra and Pan listening to conversations are forced into the separate cages of the silver guillotine, and the blade is about to be lowered when Mrs. Coulter comes in and saves her. Lyra makes up a story to tell to Mrs. Coulter about how she arrived there. Coulter accidentally lets loose one of the spy-flys in Lyra's pouch, giving Lyra a chance to escape. Lyra escaped with a group of other children out into the cold. Iorek, the witches, and the gyptians arrive just in time, and fight the guards. Lyra and Roger are taken by witches into Lee Scoresby's balloon, along with Iorek, while the other children are taken by the gyptians. Cliff-ghasts attack the balloon, causing Lyra to fall out near Svalbard. Iorek and Roger fall out further away, while Lee stays in the balloon. Lyra is captured by a bear on patrol from Svalbard, and she is soon imprisoned there with the scholar, Jotham Sant'elia. Lyra convinces a guard that she must see the king of the bears, Iofur Raknison. She is taken before the king, and pretends to be the daemon of Iorek. She says that she wishes to be Iofur's daemon instead, but that he must fight Iorek to have her. Using the alethiometer, Lyra answers Iofur's questions correctly, convincing him to do as she says. Iorek arrives at Svalbard. Lyra tells him that she has tricked Iofur into fighting him, but she is afraid it isn't enough. He tells her that to fight Iofur is all he wanted, and he gives her the name "Silvertongue" for her ability at deceit. Iorek fights Iofur. After a long fight in which it appears Iorek will lose, Iofur is finally defeated by another trick. Iorek kills him. He takes Lyra and Roger to the house where Lord Asriel is staying. Asriel is distressed to see her, but then calms down once he sees that Roger is with her as well. Lyra is puzzled by the way that he acts. Lyra and Roger rest at Asriel's house, but when Lyra wakes, she finds that Asriel has taken Roger on a dogsled. Lyra, riding Iorek, follows them, but Mrs. Coulter and some of her troops were coming for Asriel, forcing Iorek and the other bears to fight her, while Lyra goes on alone. Lyra finds Asriel and Roger, and tries to help Roger escape, but Asriel is too strong for them. Using his instruments to harness the power in the Aurora Borealis, Asriel cuts the bond between Roger and his daemon, which kills him. The release of energy causes a massive window to be opened through the aurora into a parallel world. Mrs. Coulter arrives, and Lord Asriel tries to convince her to come with him into the new world, but she refuses. They embrace and kiss, and Lyra is amazed to see her parents together again. Asriel goes into the new world, while Coulter heads back down the mountain. Lyra decides that she and Pan should also go into the new world, and as they cross the Bridge To The Stars. |