Once Upon a Time in the North. By Philip Pullman, £9.99, 114pp,
Isbn 978-0-375-84510-9 (0-375-84510-0)



“Once Upon a Time in the North” by Philip Pullman is the story of how a rather large Armoured Bear by the name of Iorek Byrnison meets an intrepid balloonist from Texas by the name of Lee Scoresby & his Daemon.

In this universe created by Philip Pullman people are accompanied by their Daemon from birth till death. Daemons are in the form of an animal. Where up until very early adulthood they can change shape. Upon reaching a certain age they settle on a final form. In the case of Lee Scoresby his Daemon Hester chose an Arctic Hare. All Daemons are the opposite sex to their human.

I found this book to be an extremely enjoyable read the only problem being that it wasn't long enough. Other books by Philip Pullman are “His Dark Materials” a trilogy of books including: 1. The Northern Lights 2. The Subtle Knife & 3. The Amber Spyglass. All these books are quite epic & all the more enjoyable for it. “Once Upon a Time in the North” is a prequel to “The Northern Lights” filmed as “The Golden Compass”.

In “Once Upon a Time in the North”, Lee Scoresby crashes his balloon in a town where there are large Bears walking around. The Bears can talk. Lee helps a Dutch Captain of a Ship to get his cargo back from a warehouse where its being held illegally. In doing so he be-friends Iorek Byrnison who helps Lee enter the warehouse using his excellent knowledge of craftsmanship or maybe “bearmanship” in this case, scratching a cross on the door after much tapping to find the weakest point then telling Lee to shoot at that point.


Philip Pullman is an excellent author as he's able to put a very realistic image in your head with his imaginative descriptions. In my view this is the mark of a great author and anyone wanting to enjoy some truly wonderful books should read all of his. These include “His Dark Materials”, “Lyra's Oxford” & “Once Upon a Time in the North”. Also having a game at the end of the book was a very nice touch, along with the letters from Lyra.

I hope you enjoy reading my review & enjoy Philip Pullman’s books even more.

Simon