Pleasantly Surprised

Last night I watched Episode 1 of HBO's new series His Dark Materials, based on the much-loved Philip Pullman novels.

His Dark Materials, a trilogy of books (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) were my constant late night companions sixteen years ago while undergoing cancer treatment and unable to sleep. I was immediately drawn into the alternate universe and the adventures of Lyra and the rest of the characters she encountered on her journey.

I thought the feature film, which was supposed to be one of three (encompassing the entire trilogy), done 12 years ago, was good. Not great, but good. I felt the casting was spot-on, not only with Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel but also Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter. I was sorely disappointed at the ending, however, as it was at that point that the movie veered off from the original source material in an unforgivable fashion, and the remaining two books were never filmed.

This time, however, it appears HBO will not shy away from the controversial content of those two books that ultimately killed that first attempt to bring the story to the screen. His Dark Materials was marketed as a Young Adult series of books, but the themes addressed therein are decidedly adult in nature and have pissed off a lot of the sanctimonious religious types because they dare to question life, death, and religious dogma and control itself.

HBO is marketing this as another Game of Thrones or Westworld, already renewing it for Season Two, indicating they have zero fucks to give in regard to said sanctimonious religious types.

Last night got it all off to a good start, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the journey HBO is providing.

If you haven't read the books (and frankly, I need to read them again as it's been years), I highly recommend them.