The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth By Phillip Pullman
The second in Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust trilogy, this one is my favourite (out of two, as we’re still waiting for the third part).
I read his original trilogy, His Dark Materials, which first recounted the adventures of Lyra and her daemon (read demon) Pantalaimon when I was in secondary school and they were recommended by my year 7 English teacher, so it’s been a while. The first volume of the Book of Dust trilogy was published in 2017, seventeen years after the first trilogy was completed in 2000.
This one opens with Lyra and Pan back at their Oxford college, Lyra now in her early 20s and studying. The standout image of the opening chapters and indeed the book, is the changed relationship between Lyra and Pan, which is a bit painful to read given how close they were in the original series. We understand why as we get further into the book and it’s a shock to see how Lyra has changed, particularly under the influence of one particular book.
There are a wide variety of great characters, some recurring from the first in the trilogy – I always like to see how characters have changed between one book and the next and to see if you can understand why – can they be redeemed and do they need to be?
There’s no need for too much detail on the rest of the plot as it would be too easy to spoil things. Suffice it to say that Lyra and Pan need to find each other again, and quickly – as the search for the reality of Dust goes on.
A great read for anyone who likes fantasy, but fantasy grounded in reality, which asks questions and creates characters you really care about.
It can be read as a standalone, but will be much more enjoyable having read the two trilogies in order:
His Dark Materials:
Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass
The Book of Dust:
La Belle Sauvage
The Secret Commonwealth
Thirs still to come…
Review By Jonathan Freckleton, Senior Information Advisor at York St John University.
If you liked the sound of this book check out our review of La Belle Sauvage, the first volume in The Book of Dust series:
