The Elements of His Dark Materials

An illustrated, comprehensive, reader-friendly reference to Pullman's brilliant trilogy--valuable for fans and researchers alike. Packed with clues to literary imagery and subtle allusions, Frost's encyclopedia-style guide exposes the depths of all three titles, including the appendices in the 10th anniversary editions of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass published in the UK in 2005 (not yet released in the US).

The Elements of His Dark Materials features:
Foreword by Philip Pullman
140 photos
26 illustrations
11 maps (for example: Gobbler sightings, gyptians' voyage, Scoresby's journeys, Will and Iorek's route to the Himalayas)
12 chapters (for example: characters, places, applied and natural sciences, and social structures)

US and UK page numbers for each element described
Reference section with suggestions for further reading, works relating to His Dark Materials, and a Pullman bibliography.

Extra-textual remarks accompany some elements' entries and include:
Notes on text-level differences between the UK and US editions or between the three volumes;
Observations-- speculative comments
Facts-- real world counterparts to the fictional elements of the books
Updates--based on the appendices Philip Pullman added to the tenth anniversary editions of the trilogy (not yet released in the US).

Laurie Frost holds a PhD in English from Rice University where she specialized in the contemporary novel. Her publications range from a popular culture article on the role of companion animals in prose to a scholarly study of Anthony Powell. She lives in Huntsville, Alabama.