Posted by Guildwick on 8:22:54 6/28/2001 from 194.117.207.166:
Hey everybody!
Could you help me understand something? You see, Nathan and I live in France, and the name of the triology is different here. Its called "à la croisée des mondes", which means "at the crossroad of the worlds". Something like that. See, nothing to do with his dark materials. But I don't understand what's the meaning of materials. I mean the whole title! I understand each word, but can't see the meaning of it. What does it refer to in the story?

Posted by randa on 23:15:21 7/1/2001 from 209.69.88.82:
Have you read the quote from Paradise Lost? I think it would be clearer to you. "His" could refer to God.

Posted by Beth on 20:13:39 7/8/2001 from 62.253.64.5:
Okay, the Quote "His Dark Materials" comes from Paradise Lost, written by John Milton, and all about Lucifer fighting God/God creating earth/us getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden (how to reduce a classic to one sentence!)

The quote refers to God creating the world using His Dark Materials.

If you need any more info, just ask!

Posted by Leonora on 20:14:17 10/8/2001 from 195.93.48.157:
I'm in England- I'm guessing this site is American as it has a different title for what I know as Northern Lights.
I prefer Northern Lights as a title.

Posted by Nick on 20:23:20 10/8/2001 from 172.190.28.153:
Ohw, I'm British too, and I prefer Northern Lights too. But we're in a minority (as always, on the 'net) so it's TGC until someone points out that it isn't actually a compass.

Posted by Adobe Scribe on 0:46:52 10/9/2001 from 63.15.255.217:
Quiet, you. It follows the pattern of the other two books, and referring to The Golden Compass/Northern Lights is rather clumsy.
Also, I'm a stupid American. Hurrah!

Posted by Sophie on 16:16:16 10/5/2001 from 195.92.168.164:
PP originally called HDM "The Golden Compass Says..." (from Paradise Lost), and he sent it off to American publishers with that title, and heard nothing for months.
Then, he changed it to HDM, cos that sounded better, and because the British publishers liked that better, and then months later, he got a letter from the American publishers saying they were going to publish his book "The Golden Compass".
PP pointed out that it had never been called "The Golden Compass", and it was now called "Northern Lights, book one of His Dark Materials".
They said they'd already got the cover designed, and it was appearing on the front of a magazine next month as "The Golden Compass", and it was too late to change.
There ya go!

Posted by Sophie on 0:02:51 12/3/2001 from 195.92.168.168:
His Dark Materials is a quote from a poem called 'Paradise Lost' - I think PP liked it, or maybe he thought it relevant to the plot-line. I always pictured them as being Lord Asriel's 'materials' and the poem being set when he'd just made the new world at the end of book 1.