His Dark Materials.

[5tephe]

Alright, I think it might fairly be said-

Philip Pullman: Insane Genius.

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Lights-His-Dark-Materials/dp/0439994349/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/103-4962843-4902226?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173141546&sr=8-4">Amazon listing</a>

Lyra's Oxford (the setting, not the book) is the most wonderful realisation of a Magical Steampunk setting one could hope for.
I know a bunch of you will have read them, so make your comments here.

And for those of you who haven't, do so.

[Clym Angus]

And the first film (may I say) looks lovely.

[Emperor]

Do you have any sneaky peeks?

I haven't seen much beyond these:

www.goldencompassmovie.com

http://x-realms.net/blog/?p=1384

I am really looking forward to it. It'll certianly give us our airship fix

[Clym Angus]

None I can share unfortunately. Post production it's a bitch, you see good stuff but you can't prove it.

[CuriousGoods]

Some of my favorite books.  I'm even working on a book-version alethiometer:
http://www.curiousgood.com/?page_id=133

[girldust]

Definitely one of my favourite trilogies.  Pullman's mystery series (the one that features The Ruby and the Smoke...I feel awful for not remembering its proper name) is also fitting, I think.  Isn't there a film version for that in the works, as well?

[Emperor]

Definitely one of my favourite trilogies.  Pullman's mystery series (the one that features The Ruby and the Smoke...I feel awful for not remembering its proper name)

As far as I'm aware it is just called the Sally Lockhart series (the Sally Lockhart trilogy before the fourth book was released )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Lockhart

[Tinkergirl]

The BBC did a Christmas drama of Ruby in the Smoke - it was rather well done, I thought.  I hadn't read the book, but it was fun to watch.  No Steampunk to speak of, though the main character was pleasantly against-the-Victorian-grain.

[5tephe]

Yes, the Sally Lockhart series is superb.

<em>The Ruby in the Smoke
The Shadow in the North
The Tiger in the Well</em>

Just fantastic. There is an element of the fantastic, but it is more stylistic than actual. At the very least, these books are a wonderful window into an adventurous past, that might well have happened, in the glorious height of Victorian England.

Billy Piper (the recent companion of Doctor Who) played Sally, and it hasn't yet come out here to Australia. My wife and I (big fans of the recent Doctor's adventures) can't WAIT! She put me onto the Sally Lockhart series, and they are fantastic.

Be warned, none of Phillip Pullman's books, though all classed as children's literature, are easy going. He will make you cry. He will reach in and rip your guts out. It is always the sublime torture of three dimensional characters, being given the 'opportunities' they need to 'grow'.

He's a filthy bugger. Gets you every time.