I reread the His Dark Materials trilogy in July in anticipation of the release last month of the first volume of the new Book of Dust trilogy by Philip Pullman which he describes as an “equel” to stand alongside ‘His Dark Materials’ as neither a prequel or a sequel. This particular volume is set before the events in ‘His Dark Materials’ in Lyra’s universe when she is a baby and features 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead, son of a local pub landlord, who ends up supplying information to a resistance group attempting to subvert the Magisterium, a powerful church authority. With the help of Alice, an older girl who works at the pub with him, and his trusty canoe named La Belle Sauvage, they seek to protect baby Lyra from the church, and specifically from the clutches of Gerard Bonneville and Lyra’s mother, Mrs Coulter.
The opening chapters have strong parallels with the beginning of ‘Northern Lights’ with Malcolm overhearing conversations between powerful adults that he doesn’t fully understand just as Lyra did at Jordan College. There are also several allusions to authoritarian regimes in this universe through the depiction of those working for and against the church agency concerned with heresy, the Consistorial Court of Discipline, and I enjoyed the espionage strands of the plot a lot, particularly the sinister League of St Alexander which encourages children to inform on adults. Minor characters from the previous trilogy are further developed such as Dr Hannah Relf who is involved in the Oakley Street resistance movement against the CCD, while other familiar faces including Farder Coram and Lyra’s parents, Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter, also have significant roles to play.
Given that Pullman has never been in favour of categorising or prescribing books for specific age groups, it is unsurprising that there are some very adult themes in ‘La Belle Sauvage’ alongside a traditional, sometimes rather old-fashioned, adventure story which will appeal to younger readers too. Even though we already know from ‘His Dark Materials’ that Lyra ends up in sanctuary at Jordan College and doesn’t come to real harm as an infant, the plot is gripping and pacy with most of the action in the second half centred around the great flood in Oxford during which Malcolm and Alice both prove to be impressively resourceful.
‘La Belle Sauvage’ is a thrilling start to the Book of Dust trilogy which lays down some important groundwork ahead of what I expect will be more significant revelations in the next two volumes which Pullman has revealed will be set ten years after the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy. Pullman has already finished the next book ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ which jumps forward in time to when Lyra is a 20-year-old undergraduate, so I am hopeful that it will be published at some point next year and answers some of the intriguing questions posed by the first volume about the mysteries of alethiometers, daemons and, most critically of all, Dust.
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I felt this was very much a prequel rather than an equal, doing little more than laying the ground for the pre-existing trilogy, despite being a brilliant piece of story-telling. I really hope that the next two books will have more in the way of intellectual and psychological depth.
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Yes, this particular volume on its own felt like a prequel but I think Pullman’s intention is for the whole trilogy to be like an equel alongside HDM. I’m intrigued to find out what the future holds for Lyra as an adult.
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I read Northern Lights as an adult and didn’t like it enough to continue with the other books. I wonder if the problem is that, like with the Harry Potter series, I didn’t encounter them as a child and so don’t have that nostalgic fondness for them.
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There could be an element of nostalgia for me – I read the first trilogy as a child but also enjoyed it for different reasons as an adult once I had a stronger appreciation of the themes.
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I’ve never read any Pullman and think now he might be one to read with the twins when they are old enough.
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Yes, this is one for older children and adults, I think.
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I enjoyed His Dark Materials and I bought Book of Dust as well. I am so thrilled to read it soon. I am interested in noting how the adult themes and traditional themes are woven together in this story
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Yes, there is definitely some blurring between adult and children’s fiction here – it’s quite subversive.
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I quite enjoyed the trilogy at the time (as an adult) but did find the romance inserted at the end of the last one to be a bit irritating (like C.S. Lewis, I obviously prefer the age of innocence for such books!). I am considering reading this, piqued by transcribing an interesting interview with Pullman. I imagine that this one is very much setting the scene for much excitement to come in the next two, and this will please an awful lot of people, I’m sure!
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Yes, Pullman hates that Susan was cut out of the later Narnia books because she was considered too old for such adventures! I think the blurring between adult and children’s fiction is interesting but I can understand why it’s off-putting for some people. La Belle Sauvage appears to be very much “scene setting” for the rest of the trilogy.
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I’m very interested in reading this book but I only ever read The Golden Compass from His Dark Materials trilogy…a million years ago. Should I read all the books in the trilogy first before reading The Book of Dust?
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I don’t think it matters but it might be best to read His Dark Materials first – I think the background to Lyra’s world is probably presented more clearly to new readers there than it is in La Belle Sauvage.
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