Philip Pullman · 1995 · overland

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (1995 to 2000) follows Lyra Belacqua from the cloisters of a parallel Oxford to the witch-haunted Arctic and the ice kingdom of the armoured bears, and then through windows cut between parallel worlds. It is a sweeping fantasy of daemons, Dust, and a war against authority itself, ending on a quiet bench in the Oxford Botanic Garden.

1. 1
   Oxford

   In a world like ours but not quite, Lyra leaves Jordan College, Oxford, drawn north by mystery and missing children.

2. 2
   London

   Taken to London by the glamorous and dangerous Mrs Coulter.

3. 3
   Trollesund

   North by ship to the Arctic, where she allies with an aeronaut, a witch, and the armoured bear Iorek Byrnison.

4. 4
   Svalbard

   To the ice kingdom of the bears, and the bridge Lord Asriel tears between the stars.

5. 5
   Oxford

   Through countless worlds and back at last to Oxford, where she and Will must part, each on a bench in their own world's Botanic Garden.