The Book of Dust

The Book of Dust is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman, which expands his trilogy His Dark Materials. The books further chronicle the adventures of Lyra Belacqua and her battle against the theocratic organisation known as the Magisterium, and shed more light on the mysterious substance called Dust.

The Book of Dust
AuthorPhilip Pullman
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Book of Dust
GenreFantasy
Publication date
19 October 2017 (1st volume)

The first book, La Belle Sauvage, was published in October 2017, and is set 12 years before Northern Lights. It describes how the 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead and the 15-year-old Alice protect the infant Lyra; leading to her being in the care of Jordan College. It introduces the research by academics and other free-thinkers into Dust, a mysterious subatomic particle related to consciousness, and the origins of Lyra's alethiometer.[1]

The second book, The Secret Commonwealth, was published on 3 October 2019 and is set after the events in the original trilogy with Lyra as a twenty-year-old undergraduate.[2] Work on the third book in the series had not commenced at that time.

Pullman has said that the trilogy addresses consciousness: "Perhaps the oldest philosophical question of all: are we matter? Or are we spirit and matter? What is consciousness if there is no spirit? Questions like that are of perennial fascination and they haven’t been solved yet, thank goodness."[3] He added that the series might be slightly darker than the original, and quipped that it could alternatively be titled "His Darker Materials".[3]

History of the trilogy

Pullman conceived The Book of Dust before the publication of Lyra's Oxford in 2003[4][5] and in 2005 he confirmed the book was "under way".[6] Early on he described it as being a longer book than he had initially imagined[7][8] and later that he was considering writing two volumes, one set before His Dark Materials and the other set afterwards.[9] In 2017 Pullman stated that The Book of Dust would be a new trilogy, and announced the publication of the first part, La Belle Sauvage,[10] published on 19 October 2017.[11] The books are jointly published by Random House Children's and David Fickling Books in the United Kingdom, and by Random House Children's Books in the US.[12]

Books

The Book of Dust takes place before, during and after the original trilogy; Pullman described it as an "equel", rather than a sequel, which "will begin and end with Lyra".[13] In Pullman's words the story's main focus is: “the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organisation, which wants to stifle speculation and enquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free”.[3] The books will touch on research into Dust, the cosmic matter that governs consciousness.[1] Pullman said the trilogy addresses consciousness: "Perhaps the oldest philosophical question of all: are we matter? Or are we spirit and matter? What is consciousness if there is no spirit? Questions like that are of perennial fascination and they haven’t been solved yet, thank goodness.”[3]

La Belle Sauvage
Main article: La Belle Sauvage

The first book, La Belle Sauvage, was published in October 2017, and is set around 11 years before Northern Lights. It describes how the 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead and the 15-year-old Alice protect the infant Lyra; leading to her being in the care of Jordan College. It introduces the research by academics and other free-thinkers into Dust, a mysterious subatomic particle related to consciousness, and the origins of Lyra's alethiometer.[1]

The Secret Commonwealth
Main article: The Secret Commonwealth

The second volume, The Secret Commonwealth, was published on 3 October 2019, and begins with Lyra as a 20-year-old undergraduate. It involves her journeying to the Far East via the Levant.[3][14][15][16][17] The Secret Commonwealth takes its title from a compilation of folklore by Robert Kirk that Pullman has said is one of his favourite books.[16]

The third book

During a launch event for The Secret Commonwealth in October 2019, Pullman said, "We can see where the story is going in this book. It's going towards Central Asia, it involves roses and it involves Dust. That's all I can tell you⁠—I don't even have a title for it yet!"[16][18] though he had earlier mentioned possible titles such as The Garden of Roses or Roses from the South.[19] A short excerpt of the first chapter is available as part of an interview on the blog of Goldsmiths, University of London.[20]

On 11 February 2023, Pullman said on Twitter that he had written 350 pages of the book.[21]

References
  1. Kean, Danuta (14 February 2017). "Philip Pullman unveils epic fantasy trilogy The Book of Dust". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  2. "Philip Pullman - Shop Item".
  3. Flood, Alison (18 October 2017). "Philip Pullman launches La Belle Sauvage and says sequel is finished". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. Thorpe (6 April 2003). "Pullman brings back Lyra for Oxford". The Guardian.
  5. Mitchison, Amanda (3 November 2003). "The art of darkness". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 November 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
  6. "April message". Philip-Pullman.com. April 2005. Archived from the original on 16 October 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
  7. Fleming, Tom (3 August 2007). "A very grown-up children's author". London: The Guardian Unlimited Arts Blog. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  8. "Oxford's Cherwell Interviews: Philip Pullman". Cherwell. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  9. Brown, Helen (17 October 2011). "Page in the Life: Philip Pullman". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  10. "Author Philip Pullman Announces A Follow-Up Trilogy To 'His Dark Materials'". NPR.org. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  11. "First Book of Dust novel to be called 'La Belle Sauvage'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  12. "Long-awaited Philip Pullman series The Book of Dust revealed". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  13. Saner, Emine (17 February 2017). "The Book of Dust: after 17 years, Pullman's latest work has new relevance". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  14. "Philip Pullman's Dark Materials spin-off Secret Commonwealth gets release date". Digital Spy. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  15. O'Kelly, Lisa (22 October 2017). "Philip Pullman: 'My daemon is a raven, a bird that steals things'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  16. Elmhirst, Sophie (12 October 2017). "Philip Pullman Returns to His Fantasy World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  17. hermes (24 October 2017). "His Dark Materials universe draws Philip Pullman back for new trilogy". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  18. "Philip Pullman reveals inspiration behind Secret Commonwealth at sold-out launch". Bookseller.com. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  19. Marco, Nerea; Echevarría, Carlota; Reyna, Pablo C. (April 2018), "Entrevista a Philip Pullman", El Templo de las Mil Puertas, pp. 20–21, retrieved 12 September 2020{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  20. "Philip Pullman in conversation with Michael Rosen". Goldsmiths, University of London Centre for Language, Culture and Learning Blog. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  21. Philip Pullman [@PhilipPullman] (11 February 2023). "350, today." (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023 – via Twitter.
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