10 Fantasy Novels To Read If You Love The Lord Of The Rings
7. His Dark Materials
Just as The Chronicles of Narnia was a loose allegorical retelling of the Bible, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy riffs off the classical John Milton poem Paradise Lost, which itself is an adaptation of the biblical book of Genesis.
The three books -- Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass, depending on your region), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass -- form a coming of age story, following Lyra Silvertongue and her daemon Pantalaimon as they traverse a series of parallel universes in search of the true nature of the mysterious Dust, particles which parallel both dark matter and personal consciousness.
Heavily steeped in philosophy and theology, the novel questions the autocracy inherent in religious organisations while resisting simple moralities that underlie traditional thought. An expert experiment in exploring the ambiguities of ethics, His Dark Materials is so much more than a series of children's books, and presents one of the richest and most developed fantasy worlds since The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
What's more, Pullman is currently working on a trilogy of sequels, collectively known as The Book Of Dust - making this the perfect time to get into the seminal fantasy series.