Review of The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

If you have read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy you are guaranteed to love the prequel, La Belle Sauvage. The novel tells the story of the events that led Lyra to spend her childhood at Oxford and explains a lot of the dangerous events that happen later in her life. I would recommend reading this novel even if you are unfamiliar with the trilogy because Pullman’s imagination and writing are incredibly captivating. The story features two children who embark on an unexpected journey through a flooded England to save a child. Before their journey, they had no idea how many magical things exist in their world but they quickly realise that sometimes even the most wonderful discoveries have hidden dangers. The trilogy has been made into a TV series by BBC and is definitely worth a watch. Pullman has also released a sequel called The Secret Commonwealth, so there are lots of things to catch up with once you get hooked on his amazing fantasy world!

By Mie, Information Adviser at York St John