I love this series. But the issuse is that is it for the same age group as Pendragon. I don't think that it is. Pendragon is a series I recomend for my nine year old brother. I don't recomend His Dark Materials to anyone who isn't at least in ninth grade. The story seems a little childish becuase of the age of the main charachters, but in all reality it is a dark and forboding tale. Until I was about 19 everytime I read the last book I cried. Everytime I cried the ending was so bitter sweet that I couldn't help it. Everything about it seemed to fit. But would someone who is nine understand what was going on? That is one of the main differences.

Harry Potter is just written poorly. I enjoyed the story (up to the fourth book) then it felt rushed. I feel like the writing style is more for the nine year old while the story itself is more for the mid teen group. even though the story is dark the style is childish making it hard for people who are older to care about the story. And it is this immature style that makes it appeal to the teaming masses who don't read a whole lot.

But that's just me