His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights (1995 — released as The Golden Compass in North America), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000). (The books have also appeared as a single-volume omnibus in the United Kingdom and in North America, titled His Dark Materials .) The trilogy follows the coming-of-age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry , as they wander through a series of parallel universes against a backdrop of epic events. Some of the components of the trilogy have won awards The trilogy as a whole took third place in the BBC's Big Read poll in 2003.