From an FAQ:

Apparently, Pullman's original name for the series was The Golden Compass Says..., and that was the name under which he sent it off to American publishers. He heard nothing from them for months, and in the interim, decided (with his British publisher's full blessing) to rename the series His Dark Materials. Months later, Random House sent a letter to inform him that they would be thrilled to publish The Golden Compass and, when Pullman explained that the name had changed, insisted that the cover artwork was already slated to publicly appear the following month, and it was too late to change the title.

Intruigingly multilayered stuff for something sold as YA. When's the last time you could go into a bookstore and buy something for kids that admits to being partially based on Milton?

As to /m20 - well, I could barely tolerate Tolkien and Rowlings' tweeness. Trying to read dreary Tolkienesque fantasy made me generally loathe the genre until I found authors like Lord Dunsanay or Tim Powers or Michael Swanwick.

And there's a third Borribles book?!? And an omnibus reprinting?!? OMG SQUEE FLaIL EEEEEEE MUSTBUYMUSTBUY!!!!!