Pullman announces his first among ‘equels’
WHEN Philip Pullman disclosed several years ago that he was writing a follow-up to His Dark Materials, fans were delighted.
Now he has delivered a surprise by announcing that The Book of Dust, due for publication in October, is to be a trilogy. Pullman will revisit the heroine of the original trilogy, Lyra Belacqua, after a 17-year wait.
“The first thing to say is that Lyra is at the centre of the story,” Pullman said. There will also be a new hero – a boy who appeared in an earlier story, but is now to become a major character. His Dark Materials began with Northern Lights in 1995, followed by The Subtle Knife in 1997 and The Golden Compass in 2000. The trilogy has sold 17.5 million copies in more than 40 languages.
Pullman said: “I know from their letters and tweets that my readers have been waiting patiently (mostly) for The Book of Dust for a long time. It gives me great pleasure and some excitement at last to satisfy their curiosity (and mine) about this book.”
It will also give the author a chance to cut his hair, which he had vowed not to do until the book was done.
The first volume of The Book of Dust is as yet untitled but Pullman said it is set 10 years before Northern Lights and explains how Lyra came to live at Jordan College. “Is it a prequel? Is it a sequel? It’s neither. In fact, The Book of Dust is … an ‘equel’,” he said. “It doesn’t stand before or after His Dark Materials, but beside it.”
“This volume and the next will cover two parts of Lyra’s life: starting at the beginning of her story and returning to her 20 years later.”