An important plot device is the alethiometer, a truth-telling symbol reader. In this world, humans' souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sentient ' dæmons' in animal form which accompany, aid, and comfort their humans. The setting is a world dominated by the Magisterium (commonly called 'the Church'), an international theocracy which actively suppresses heresy.

Northern Lights won the public vote from that shortlist and was thus named the all-time ' Carnegie of Carnegies' on 21 June 2007. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal, it was named one of the top ten winning works by a panel, composing the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Pullman won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding British children's book. The book has also been adapted as a TV series in 2019 under the name His Dark Materials. Knopf published the first US edition April 1996, under the name The Golden Compass, under which title it was adapted as a 2007 feature film and as a companion video game. Northern Lights is the first book of the trilogy, His Dark Materials (1995 to 2000). Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as ' Dust'. Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK.

The golden compass pullman