Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials"

MTV's Movie News provides a guide for those unfamiliar with the Pullman books, which they characterize as an "anti-Narnia":

Anyone trying to navigate their way through the film adaptations of "His Dark Materials" without having read the books is going to need their own golden compass. After all, within the installments of Philip Pullman's trilogy, even his own characters have a lot of questions that need answering, such as our heroine Lyra's ever-pressing, "What is Dust?" and she's the one with the alethiometer! (More on that in a bit.) So if the buzz on Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig's upcoming film series has left you wondering what's so dark about this material, here's a few things you'll need to know about this anti-Narnia. [more]

His Dark Materials': A Guide To The Anti-'Narnia' - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News