These are the first two books in a trilogy. I've just started the third, "The Amber Spyglass," but the first two have struck me as pretty darn tootin' good, so I figured I'd just go ahead and review them now.

First off, let's address the issue of maturity. Amazon.com lists it as "Reading level: Age 9-12", but there's some pretty intense subject matter in the first two books, and the trend is to ever more intense things happening in the third. The books are intense in a "Brothers Grimm fairytales" kind of intense - ROT13 for minor spoilers - ybgf bs crbcyr qvr, fbzr snveyl ubeevsvp guvatf unccra gb xvqf, bar punenpgre rngf gur qrnq obql bs nabgure (zvabe) punenpgre, naq gur prageny cybgyvar jvyy bssraq crbcyr jub ner gbb nggnpurq gb gurve zbabgurvfgvp eryvtvba bs pubvpr. - /ROT13.

That out of the way, I'd recommend this book for mature 12 year olds and up. 9 year olds are most likely going to have hideous nightmares about some of the things that happen, especially in the first book. The books deal with fairly complex themes, and be prepared for a lot of theological questions from kids, especially about why God is such a bastard.

While this ain't the Lord of the Rings, it's still a fairly epic story, centering on two children who each carry artifacts, destined to strike a blow against oppressive organizations bent on chaining humanity for all eternity. Good books, worth a read.