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errie's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, and Murder
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
The prequel part 1... how it all began. Fans will hopefully enjoy the 'behind the scenes' of Lyra's background and history
Just as The Subtle Knife pulls us up short, with a story that starts with a new male character and setting, The Book of Dust takes us away from the Lyra we know and love and give us not Will but Malcolm. The same age roughly as Lyra and Will in their three volumes, he inhabits the world fans will know from His Dark Materials, living in an Oxford Inn with his daemon Asta and his parents. Nearby is a priory with a young guest - a baby called Lyra.
Readjusting to the timeframe and new protagonist is easy when we enter Lyra's world again, we very quickly come across names we know. The dark mystery and tone of the trilogy feels familiar, it's a slow-burning story that quite clearly is not going to finish in one volume, which at times makes it feel slow, but as a reader you do know that a lot more is to come and the scene is now set for the two sets of stories to 'meet in the middle'.
La Belle Sauvage sets up the story to slot into Northern Lights in many ways. I especially loved seeing the cancerous growth of the theocracy into Malcolm's school, the 1984-feel of the surveillance and fervour. I also liked getting more insight into Lyra's parents, who both feature.
Pullman confidently re-enters his universe and you feel in safe hands with him, sure that the story will take care of Lyra and deliver her to Jordan College in time for Northern Lights.
There are memorable scenes and characters, the alethiometer makes its first appearance, daemons play a large role - for new readers to Pullman this will draw you in, and I would say that it works by itself without the foreknowledge of future chapters though I am certainly glad I know the trilogy well.
When's the next one out?!
Loved Michael Sheen as narrator, he reads with passion and energy, the light Welsh lilt emphasising the exciting parts well.
Just as The Subtle Knife pulls us up short, with a story that starts with a new male character and setting, The Book of Dust takes us away from the Lyra we know and love and give us not Will but Malcolm. The same age roughly as Lyra and Will in their three volumes, he inhabits the world fans will know from His Dark Materials, living in an Oxford Inn with his daemon Asta and his parents. Nearby is a priory with a young guest - a baby called Lyra.
Readjusting to the timeframe and new protagonist is easy when we enter Lyra's world again, we very quickly come across names we know. The dark mystery and tone of the trilogy feels familiar, it's a slow-burning story that quite clearly is not going to finish in one volume, which at times makes it feel slow, but as a reader you do know that a lot more is to come and the scene is now set for the two sets of stories to 'meet in the middle'.
La Belle Sauvage sets up the story to slot into Northern Lights in many ways. I especially loved seeing the cancerous growth of the theocracy into Malcolm's school, the 1984-feel of the surveillance and fervour. I also liked getting more insight into Lyra's parents, who both feature.
Pullman confidently re-enters his universe and you feel in safe hands with him, sure that the story will take care of Lyra and deliver her to Jordan College in time for Northern Lights.
There are memorable scenes and characters, the alethiometer makes its first appearance, daemons play a large role - for new readers to Pullman this will draw you in, and I would say that it works by itself without the foreknowledge of future chapters though I am certainly glad I know the trilogy well.
When's the next one out?!
Loved Michael Sheen as narrator, he reads with passion and energy, the light Welsh lilt emphasising the exciting parts well.
midici's review against another edition
4.0
In the trilogy His Dark Materials, Lyra's background is originally shrouded in mystery. Some of it becomes clear by the end: the affair between Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter, the murder Lord Asriel commits that loses him custody of his daughter, Mrs. Coulter's original apathy at being a mother until she heard her child was part of a prophecy, and that somehow Lyra finds sanctuary at Jordan College and grows up there.
Here La Belle Sauvage dives into the beginning of these events and expands on them. We see the growing power of the Magisterium; the different factions and alliances; the fight between free speech and authoritative power; the growing tension between the Church and the resistance, made of a medley of scholars, explorers, gyptians, and others. The main character in this book is a boy named Malcom who is mature, logical, and very observant. His habits of being friendly, cautious, and nosy all help him fall into the middle of these battling factions as a spy for Oakley Street. He meets Lyra as a 6 month old baby being cared for by a group of nuns who live in a priory near the inn his parents own, and becomes determined to keep her safe.
This book delves more into the fantasy side of Lyra's oxford. While the original trilogy had witches, prophecies, and the panserbjørne it always felt like it's own solid world with its own mythos. In this book we see all manner of spirits and allusions to fairies and old gods - it felt a bit less like something that solidly belonged to Lyra's world and more a borrowing of fairytales we have. While the first book of the trilogy begins by spending a lot of time in London at Jordon college, building up the world that Lyra grows up in, this one focuses more on the Malcom's spying intrigues and the desperate race to keep Lyra safe from the Church, her parents' enemies and the flood that has devestated the city. I'm interested to see where the next few books go from here.
Here La Belle Sauvage dives into the beginning of these events and expands on them. We see the growing power of the Magisterium; the different factions and alliances; the fight between free speech and authoritative power; the growing tension between the Church and the resistance, made of a medley of scholars, explorers, gyptians, and others. The main character in this book is a boy named Malcom who is mature, logical, and very observant. His habits of being friendly, cautious, and nosy all help him fall into the middle of these battling factions as a spy for Oakley Street. He meets Lyra as a 6 month old baby being cared for by a group of nuns who live in a priory near the inn his parents own, and becomes determined to keep her safe.
This book delves more into the fantasy side of Lyra's oxford. While the original trilogy had witches, prophecies, and the panserbjørne it always felt like it's own solid world with its own mythos. In this book we see all manner of spirits and allusions to fairies and old gods - it felt a bit less like something that solidly belonged to Lyra's world and more a borrowing of fairytales we have. While the first book of the trilogy begins by spending a lot of time in London at Jordon college, building up the world that Lyra grows up in, this one focuses more on the Malcom's spying intrigues and the desperate race to keep Lyra safe from the Church, her parents' enemies and the flood that has devestated the city. I'm interested to see where the next few books go from here.
aeturnum's review against another edition
4.0
Real star rating: 3.5
Pullman is so good at writing children in all of their fierce desire to fully experience the world and the impossibly of them being prepared for it. He continues to play to his strength in Belle Sauvage by centering the story around a young boy and a slightly older girl who are pressed by events into protecting and transporting a young Lyra Belacqua.
The core relationships and writing of our heroes is very good and makes the book worthwhile all on its own. Our heroes struggle mightily to overcome unfavorable odds and it'a fun to read about and doubt about.
But the problems in this book, for me, start with a lack of doubt. This is set in the world of the northern lights trilogy and many of the events in this book involve prominent or background characters from that series. It's nice, but in many ways it completely drains the tension out of the story. If you have read that series *you know how this book ends*. The conclusion is known from the start.
On the flip side - if you have not read those books, there is little wind in this books' sails. Is this a child of destiny or some mistake? The book includes signs and portents (giving it the character of an infancy gospel) but no certainty for our heroes (or a reader fresh to this world).
I also thought a strength of the northern lights books were their complex and human villains. Pullman has always attacked religious fascism in his books - but the main villains were not ghoulish characters of brutes, but motivated and human people who cast aside morals to seek what they wanted. We care enough about them to see what their sacrifice of decency costs them and what awaits those who use people in that way. Without saying too much there is none of that subtlety here - our villains are faceless thugs and madmen. There is nothing to understand. It's boring.
Finally, thought it's a minor complaint, much of the book feels like filler. The first section where we meet our characters is excellent, but eventually we get to a long journey and most of what happens in that journey feels of uncertainty importance. Our characters are constantly progressing through a Gulliver's Travels style of strange and frightening encounters. Unlike the northern lights we encounter many things whose nature is unclear - which only serve as backdrop for a journey our characters do not want to take. After the northern lights it feels weirdly ungrounded.
Pullman is so good at writing children in all of their fierce desire to fully experience the world and the impossibly of them being prepared for it. He continues to play to his strength in Belle Sauvage by centering the story around a young boy and a slightly older girl who are pressed by events into protecting and transporting a young Lyra Belacqua.
The core relationships and writing of our heroes is very good and makes the book worthwhile all on its own. Our heroes struggle mightily to overcome unfavorable odds and it'a fun to read about and doubt about.
But the problems in this book, for me, start with a lack of doubt. This is set in the world of the northern lights trilogy and many of the events in this book involve prominent or background characters from that series. It's nice, but in many ways it completely drains the tension out of the story. If you have read that series *you know how this book ends*. The conclusion is known from the start.
On the flip side - if you have not read those books, there is little wind in this books' sails. Is this a child of destiny or some mistake? The book includes signs and portents (giving it the character of an infancy gospel) but no certainty for our heroes (or a reader fresh to this world).
I also thought a strength of the northern lights books were their complex and human villains. Pullman has always attacked religious fascism in his books - but the main villains were not ghoulish characters of brutes, but motivated and human people who cast aside morals to seek what they wanted. We care enough about them to see what their sacrifice of decency costs them and what awaits those who use people in that way. Without saying too much there is none of that subtlety here - our villains are faceless thugs and madmen. There is nothing to understand. It's boring.
Finally, thought it's a minor complaint, much of the book feels like filler. The first section where we meet our characters is excellent, but eventually we get to a long journey and most of what happens in that journey feels of uncertainty importance. Our characters are constantly progressing through a Gulliver's Travels style of strange and frightening encounters. Unlike the northern lights we encounter many things whose nature is unclear - which only serve as backdrop for a journey our characters do not want to take. After the northern lights it feels weirdly ungrounded.
caroline88cici's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Pedophilia
jenltarg's review against another edition
5.0
Such beautifully written. Captured my imagination from start to finish.
yarn_chicken's review against another edition
4.0
I'd give the book itself 3.5 stars, but I listened to it and Michael Sheen's performance was truly wonderful.
peggy1993's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Philip Pullmans books are so full of imagination and inspiration and I felt that it was slightly more slow paced than his other books
dianami's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0