Are all worlds at the same point in time?

Question

In His Dark Materials, Lyra comes from a world where Catholicism and Protestantism apparently merged into one mega church that continues to exert great control over all aspects of life even into the modern era (e.g. the observatory that Lee Scoresby visits in The Subtle Knife has a church representative present to make sure no heretical discoveries get out). Will comes from our world, circa 1997.

Is Lyra's world also circa 1997, in whatever calendar they used? The social and technological level in her world seems to be at the World War I level; they have zeppelins but apparently no airplanes, naphtha gaslights are still widespread despite the existence of anbaric (electric) lighting, there are no refrigerators (Lyra is shocked to see the one in Cittagazze at the start of The Subtle Knife), there don't seem to be any automobiles, and most of the world seems to still be ruled by large Western empires. Will's world, on the other hand, is our familiar world of blue jeans, feminism, physics, and Windows 95. Is Lyra's world actually at an earlier time than Will's world, or do they both exist circa 1997, with Lyra's world being less advanced because of the influence of the church? More broadly, is every world in the multiverse also circa 1997?

Answer 1

Pullman himself said that yes, it's the same time period, in this interview:

TB: I’m very interested in Lyra’s world. Is it an alternate?

PP: Yes.

TB: It’s very difficult to place exactly what year it is there. Most critics seem to think it’s late 19th century, and I can make a good case for it being mid-20th. What are the major differences?

PP: The notion is that it’s the present day, because when she comes through into our world, or when Will goes into the world where they meet, it’s the present day for Will: it’s our …you know, 2000. So it’s the same date in Lyra’s world. I purposely didn’t give a date. But it is the same date.

Answer 2

Tldr: Yes

Thinking logically, if there wasn't a split between Catholicism and Protestantism (for whatever reason, perhaps because people get along better by being better acquainted with their daemons) then Europe wouldn't have been at war with itself, first in the 17th Century and then probably onwards, as many future wars are partially caused by previous grievances. If the Magesterium went on to spread globally, then the lack of religious difference would again reduce war and conflict.

As well as lack of war removing one great pressure for innovation, there's the authors probable bias that organised religion is opposed to science (as we see from it's control over various researches).

This all adds up to a society that's behind ours technologically even though the same amount of time has passed.

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More evidence for less conflict/innovation in Lyra's world: Oxford scholars never rebelled, so Cambridge University was never founded, and the fens were never drained.

Answer 3

The dates mentioned regarding the invention of the alethiometer confirm that the Lyra's world is in a similar year to Will's.

In The Golden Compass

she said. "Dr. Lanselius, do you know who made them?"

"They are said to originate in the city of Prague," said the consul. ...

"And where did they get the symbols from?"

"Oh, this was in the seventeenth century. ..."

and then in The Amber Spyglass

Three hundred years ago in Lyra's world, someone invented the alethiometer.

The result is the 20th century

Answer 4

This is not based on canonical evidence, as I don't think that there is any, but I will give my answer based on what I remember of the books.

I would assume that they are at the same point in the history of their world, i.e. the same amount of time has passed since the creation of the universe, but that doesn't mean that they would necessarily recognize it as circa 1997 AD.

The entire premise of the book is based on alternate parallel universes living alongside each other, and being able to travel from one to the other.

As for the similarities between Will's world and Lyra's, that would likely be because of the possibility of passing between universes. Whilst there is no evidence that Lyra's world had connections to other worlds

until her father opens one at the end of the first book

that doesn't mean that there never was. It's possible the wielder of the Subtle Knife visited her world and closed the portals after themselves, but several people managed to make it through before it was closed.

This would lead to how there are many similarities between the two worlds. Maybe in these books Jesus was simply another ordinary person in Lyra's world where there was a single religion, and he passed into Will's world 2000 years ago and became a missionary preaching the only religion that he knew.

It might also explain how there are some inventions that have gone between worlds, whilst others haven't made it. Like you say there are gaslights and zeppelins, but no cars or computers. Perhaps the last person to travel from Will's world to Lyra's did so in the early 20th century.

You also have to consider that there are Witches and Daemons in Lyra's world. This perhaps meant that some inventions didn't need to be made, as they had alternative solutions.

In addition, if there were no World Wars in Lyra's world, a lot of modern day inventions would not exist that started out from those periods (Alan Turing developing the foundations of the first computer, for example).

So each world will have developed differently, hence the difference in the evolution of technology/religion etc. but there are certain similarities because of the ability to cross between universes and carry inventions/ideas along with them.