After Lord Asriel leaves, Lyra is smitten with a visitor to Jordan college, a young woman of style, of substance, and of adventure named Marisa Coulter. Mrs. Coulter invites Lyra to be her assistant and takes her back to London. During Lyra's stay in London, she comes to sense that Mrs. Coulter is not who she claims to be. There is something dark, something hidden in her aspect that continues to bubble to the surface. At the same time, we find that children are disappearing all across England, kidnappings attributed to a group called the "Gobblers". Soon Lyra gets wind that Mrs. Coulture is associated with the Gobblers and she sneaks away and meets up with a group of gypsies who know who she is and who her parents really are. They also tell Lyra that she has been destined for bigger things than roaming the halls of Jordan College, that she is fated for something of a much bigger design.
Ultimately, Lyra follows her heart when she begins a trek north with the gypsies to search for the lost children, to rescue Lord Asriel who has been imprisoned, and to understand what is so special about the north and the talk of some magical dust and alternate worlds in which humanity's destiny seems ensconsed. A fun tale with an inspiring and spunky hero. Now, onto the second story in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife.
