The intentions of a tool are what it does. A hammer intends to strike, a vise intends to hold fast, a lever intends to lift. They are what it is made for. But sometimes a tool may have other uses that you don't know. Sometimes in doing what you intend, you also do what the knife intends, without knowing.

Pullman has narrated unabridged audiobooks of the three main novels in His Dark Materials. " Pullman chose some more obscure tales too. Literary critic Alan Jacobs (of Wheaton College) said that in His Dark Materials Pullman replaced the theist world-view of John Milton's Paradise Lost with a Rousseauist one.

title The Golden Compass. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal it was named one of the top ten winning works by a panel composing the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. He is the author of several best-selling books most notably the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and the fictionalised biography of Jesus The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.