Plot of book
Lyra Belacqua, a young girl who has been given shelter by the scholars at Jordan College at Oxford University, and her “daemon,” Pantalaimon (aka "Pan"), hide in wardrobe after snaeking around the Headmaster’s rooms when they hear people comming. (In Lyra’s alternate world that is similar to our world, daemons are the external forms of people’s souls.) Lyra and Pan learn that Lord Asriel, Lyra’s uncle, is about to be poisoned by the Headmaster but they jump out of the wardrobe in time to save Asriel's life. Later, they overhear Asriel telling the scholars at Jordan about a strange substance called “Dust”. Lord Asriel is able to convince the scholars to fund his further explorations of Dust, which require him to travel far up north. All this talk of "Dust" makes Lyra very curious.
Later, mysterious kidnappers that Lyra and her friends call “Gobblers” take Lyra’s best friend, Roger Parslow. A woman named Mrs. Coulter, who appears initially to be a kind woman, brings her to London and promises her a trip to the north. Before Lyra leaves Oxford, the Headmaster gives her an alethiometer (Golden Compass) but Lyra does not understand how to use it. In London, Lyra is enchanted by Mrs. Coulter at first, but Lyra’s rebellious nature, as well as her suspicions about Mrs. Coulter’s vicious daemon, lead her to run away from Mrs. Coulter’s house. She falls in with the Costas, a family that is part of a clan of people known as Gyptians, who live in boats and travel on the rivers. The Costas have lost a boy to the Gobblers as well :(
The Costas take Lyra to meet John Faa (the king of the Gyptians), who is planning an expedition north in search of the missing children and the evil Goblers. Lyra learns that Ma Costa (mother of the Costa family) looked after her when she was a baby and that Lord Asriel is her father and Mrs. Coulter is her mother. Lyra convinces the Gyptians to take her north with them to help them rescue the captured children. On the way there, Lyra learns how to use the alethiometer (allows her to see into the past, present, and future) with the help from a wise old Gyptian man, Farder Coram. Their journey north also throws Lyra into contact with a man named Dr. Lanselius, the representative of a powerful clan of witches. Lanselius also introduces her to Iorek Byrnison, an armored bear who is the exiled king of his clan and tells her she has a great destiny. Iorek agrees to travel with Lyra and the band of Gyptians. Lee Scoresby, a Texan who owns a balloon, also is hired to join them on thir journey.
On their way to Bolvanger (where the Gobblers work and keep the children they ave kidnaped), a clan known as the "Tartars" attack Lyra and the Gyptians. The Tartars steal Lyra and bring her to Bolvanger. Here, Lyra finds Roger and also discovers the secret of the Gobblers: they cut daemons and children apart in a process known as intercision. Lyra also learns that Mrs. Coulter is in charge of Bolvanger.
Lyra leads the children to freedom, but Mrs. Coulter pursues her. Lee Scoresby rescues Lyra, Roger, and Iorek Byrnison with the help of Serafina Pekkala, a beautiful witch. They fly away from Mrs. Coulter and are on their way to rescue Lord Asriel, who is being held prisoner by the armored bears, when they are attacked by cliff ghasts. Lyra falls from Lee Scoresby’s balloon and is captured by the armored bears. She meets Iofur Raknison, who stole Iorek Byrnison’s throne, and convinces him to fight Iorek by tricking him into believing that she will become his daemon if he wins. Iorek goes to the home of the armored bears with Roger and kills Iofur. Lyra, Roger, and Iorek go to free Lord Asriel. Lord Asriel tries to sever Roger’s daemon from him in the correct belief that doing so will release a mass of energy and break through his world into another. Roger dies, and Lord Asriel creates a bridge from his world into another. Lyra follows him into the new world...
*The flm is a fairly good adaptation of the book.