9. The Golden Compass (2007)
Philip Pullman's
His Dark Materials trilogy is considered to be one of the greatest works of young adult-inclined literature ever produced - and rightly so. The novels, set in an alternative world inhabiting demons, witches and talking animals, the story concerns a young girl named Lyra who must go on a perilous quest into the unknown to rescue her best friend. The novels was controversial upon first release for its apparent "anti-catholic" messages, but today remains a certified classic of the fantasy genre. That said, the first book in the trilogy was made into a rather mediocre movie,
The Golden Compass (based on the first novel in the trilogy,
Northern Lights), one which removed the novel's inherit darkness and bite, and settled instead for mild fantasy fare imbued with a ton of CGI and a razor-thin take on the story. As a result of its relative failure, though,
The Golden Compass never got a sequel, which is a shame, considering just how dense and brilliant the sum of Pullman's trilogy really is. Six years have passed now, so another instalment looks extremely unlikely - still, it'd be nice for something else to take the next chapter, and help reshape it into something that feels fully-realised and akin to the source material.