After Pullman’s fame flamed up, his earlier works made that difficult journey across the ocean into the hands of American booksellers. Count Karlstein lacks some of the intense qualities of His Dark Materials, but it deserves to be evaluated on its own, as an excellent comedy, a farce with hints of his genius.

Theatrical in its comings and goings, but not too heavy on dialogue, Pullman paints some excellent scenery which sets up a wonderful illusion of 19th-century Switzerland.

In the short-term the story offers wonderful surprises, but the ending unfolds much as expected. At times while reading I thought, “Shakespeare would have done something like this.” But in other ways it followed the typical patterns of children’s literature.

A fable and a mountebank’s stage production, with memorable characters and inspired moments, Count Karlstein is worth the price of admission.