la Belle sauVage
New Pullman Material-ises
Philip Pullman is back with The
Book Of Dust. We apply the Dyson of judgement.
released OUT NOW! 560 pages | Hardback/ ebook/audiobook Author Philip Pullman Publisher david Fickling Books
Young Lyra Belacqua and her shape-shifting daemon Pantalaimon were almost as much of a publishing sensation as Harry Potter back in the day – the “day” in question being spread across 1995 to 2000, with the release of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Global acclaim, extraordinary sales (around 4.5 million copies by 2015) and a successful play followed. Hollywood even came knocking in 2007: although the end result, The Golden Compass, was a muddled rush job (cool talking polar bear, mind).
Philip Pullman wasn’t finished with the world he created. While penning a few more associated books (such as 2003’s Lyra’s Oxford), he also teased fans with the promise of another epic trilogy. After 17 years, it’s finally here, kicking off with a prequel, set 10 years before Northern Lights, whose two follow-ups will take place after Lyra’s original trilogy of adventures. Obviously the big question is whether Volume One of The Book Of Dust (named after a canoe and not Lyra, as you might suspect) is worth the wait. The answer is yes... but with some reservations.
The story follows Malcolm, an affable 11-year-old living and working in his parents’ pub in a bucolic alternate-universe version of Oxford. Along with his daemon, Asta, he listens in on professors as they talk about their subjects, is good friends with his teachers and visits the nuns in the nearby priory. Pullman has such a talent for creating living, breathing characters that within the space of just a few chapters Malcolm feels like someone you’ve known all your life – he’s a creation every inch as compelling as Lyra.
Speaking of our future heroine, she’s only six months old here and already causing trouble. Having been handed to the nuns by her uninterested mother, it soon transpires that the baby is the centre of a witch-prophecy, and so both Lyra’s father, Lord Asriel, and Mrs Coulter start circling again. It seems everybody wants the kid, including a mysterious madman with a hyena daemon – a creation of pure psychological terror.
It’s undoubtedly a delight to read more of this world, in which people have animal-soul friends, and there are some tantalising discussions surrounding Dust, the enigmatic substance that drives the first three novels. But, sadly, there are some issues. As enjoyable as it is to bimble around with Malcolm for the book’s first half, the plot – which involves a biblical flood – takes forever to arrive. When it does, the fact that Pullman has structured it to follow 16th-century epic poem The Faerie Queene is discombobulating. Its surreal elements do work, but they don’t feel connected to the rest of the book – leaving you feeling as adrift as the book’s heroes in their canoe.
Then there’s the fact that some characters, such as friendly academic Hannah Relf, disappear with no explanation. They may pop up in the sequels as older versions of themselves (indeed, Hannah does), but it’s irritating when the book simply abandons their narration without a second thought. The finale, too, feels rushed and ungratifying. Another chapter or two might have helped fix this, as well as wrapping up some other loose ends.
There’s no doubt, however, that La Belle Sauvage is a must-read whether you’re a fan of the first series or a newbie. Pullman’s imagination is a treasure, pure and simple – and even as babies, Lyra and Pan are irresistible. Roll on Volume Two.
Nur Huda el-Wahabi, a 15-year-old victim of the Grenfell Tower fire, will have a character named after her in Volume Two.
Malcolm is every bit as compelling as Lyra