If you loved how Lyra and Pantalaimon’s inseparable bond guides every decision in The Golden Compass—from sneaking through Jordan College’s cellars to braving Bolvangar—you’ll click with Todd and his dog Manchee. Their partnership isn’t cute window dressing; it’s heart-wrenching, brave, and often the reason they survive. Like Lyra’s loyalty to Iorek and the way dæmons reveal the self, Todd’s journey hinges on what companionship means when the world demands hard choices.

Drawn to Lord Asriel’s bridge and Lyra stepping through aurora-lit skies? In A Darker Shade of Magic, Kell moves between multiple Londons, each with its own peril and magic—much like Lyra discovering that every world has different truths about Dust. There’s a perilous artifact that threatens all realities, ruthless powers like the Magisterium’s analogs, and a daring companion (Lila) whose audacity echoes Lyra’s fearless climbs over Oxford rooftops.

If the questions around Dust, the severing at Bolvangar, and the Magisterium’s grip fascinated you, Small Gods probes belief and institutional power with sharp wit. Where Lyra challenges dogma armed with the alethiometer’s truth, novice Brutha confronts a theocracy—and the very idea of divinity—head-on. It’s thoughtful, funny, and deeply humane, echoing the same moral and metaphysical stakes that make Asriel’s and Mrs. Coulter’s choices so arresting.

Intrigued by the Oblation Board’s secrecy and the Magisterium’s backroom power plays? The Amulet of Samarkand drops you into a London where magicians run the state and summon spirits to do their dirty work. Like Lyra infiltrating Mrs. Coulter’s glittering trap and uncovering Bolvangar, Nathaniel’s dealings with the djinni Bartimaeus expose a manipulative political machine—complete with betrayals, forbidden knowledge, and razor-edged intrigue.

If Lyra’s growth—from Jordan College mischief to the terrible choice with Roger—hit you hard, Sabriel delivers a similarly powerful coming-of-age. Sabriel inherits a dangerous duty across a wall like Lyra crossing into the North, faces sinister institutions and creatures with the same steel Lyra shows before the armored bears, and learns to wield tools (bells and Charter magic) with the assurance Lyra gains with the alethiometer.