Edited by Scott Westerfeld - Teen Libris

Lord Asriel: Dad from Hell or Heroic Rebel? 41
can make us see things we never would have otherwise seen, like my own
imaginative kinship to Lyra and her terrible, extraordinary father.
And if in the end, we still don’t come to an answer, if we still can’t
answer the question, was Lord Asriel Dad from Hell or heroic Rebel,
does it really matter? Surely not. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t feel
that the author himself has resolved those tensions, one way or the
other, any more than the reader has. What matters is that a work of art
like The Golden Compass has engendered that haunting shock of recognition,
that passionate engagement of emotion and intelligence, both
positive and negative, which is the mark of a truly great novel, a work
that will last.
___________________
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, of French parents, SOPHIE MASSON
came to Australia at the age of five and spent the rest of her
childhood shuttling between France and Australia. She is the
author of many novels for children, young adults, and adults,
which have been published in many countries. Her latest U.S.
publication is a fantasy adventure novel, Snow, Fire, Sword
(HarperCollins 2006), set in a magical, alternative-world version
of modern Indonesia. Just out is The Maharajah’s Ghost
(Random House Australia 2007), a comic fantasy adventure
set in an enchanted version of modern India.
REFERENCES
Vulliamy, Ed. “Author Puts Bible Belt to the Test.” The Observer, London, 26
Aug. 2001.