In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford’s Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing-victims of so-called ”Gobblers”-and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person’s inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.

她的使命，從說謊與背叛開始……

　　萊拉自幼父母雙亡，在牛津的約旦學院中由諸位學者撫養教育，但她沒有成為淑女，反而個性野蠻，說謊是家常便飯，常常蹺課到學院的屋頂或地窖探險，或者率領牛津街坊的玩伴與外來的吉普賽孩子打泥巴仗，儼然是個孩子王。這般無憂無慮的生活，在她偷偷潛入院長貴賓室後宣告終止──躲在衣櫥裡的她，目睹了一樁謀殺和一項駭人的禁忌知識……

　　神祕物質「塵」究竟有什麼作用？政治與宗教最高機構「教誨權威」為什麼禁止「塵」的研究？萊拉的伯父，野心勃勃、作風強硬的艾塞列公爵，為何不惜與教誨權威唱反調？聰明美麗、社交手腕高明的考爾特夫人，會如何改變萊拉的生活？令人髮指的吞人獸誘拐兒童事件，將揭開什麼陰謀？一只金製的真理探測儀，會為萊拉開啟什麼樣的未來？

　　在人與守護精靈、女巫、熊族共存的世界裡，流傳一項與萊拉有關的預言；但她必須對此毫不知情，只為自己的信念而踏上追尋北地之光的旅程……

　　《黃金羅盤》為「黑暗元素三部曲」首部曲。全書的創作靈感來自17世紀英國詩人彌爾頓的經典詩作《失樂園》，藉由兒童的眼光探討人類文明最具爭議的主題之一：宗教信仰。格局宏大，層次繁複，童心與陰謀交織對映，熱鬧趣味中流露詭譎陰暗面，無疑是當代奇幻經典。