Fantasy is a particular type of art，literature，film，television，and music that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary factor of either plot，theme，setting，or all three.The style is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the whole look，feel，and theme of the individual work，though there is a great deal of repeated part between the three(collectively known as speculative fiction)．In its broadest sense，fantasy covers works by many writers，artists，and musicians，from ancient myths and legends，to many recent works accepted by a wide audience today.

Philip Pullman was born in Norwich on 19th October 1946.The early part of his life was spent travelling all over the world，because his father and then his stepfather were both in the Royal Air Force.He spent part of his childhood in Australia，where he first met the wonders of comics，and grew to love Superman and Batman in particular.

He is the author of several best­selling books, most especially the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and the adapted biography of Jesus，The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.In 2008，The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945"．

Northern Lights, the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association，recognizing the year's outstanding English­language children's book. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal it was named one of the top ten winning works by a group of specialists, composing the vote for a public election of the all­time favourite.Northern Lights won the public vote from that shortlist and was thus named the all­time "Carnegie of Carnegies" on 21 June 2007.It has been adapted as a film under its U．S.title，The Golden Compass(《金罗盘》)．

Notes

1．speculative adj.推测的

2．myths and legends 神话传说

3．trilogy n．三部曲

4．His Dark Materials《黑质三部曲》

5．Northern Lights《北方阴影》

6．shortlist n．供最后挑选用的候选人名单