The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust Volume Two: From the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials - now a major BBC series (The Book of Dust, 2) - Hardcover

Pullman, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241373336 ISBN 13: 9780241373330

Publisher: Penguin and David Fickling Books, 2019

Synopsis

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is almost ten years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford's Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child . . .

The second volume of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. Pulled along on his own journey too is Malcolm; once a boy with a boat and a mission to save a baby from the flood, now a man with a strong sense of duty and a desire to do what is right.

Theirs is a world at once familiar and extraordinary, and they must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost - a city haunted by daemons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

The Secret Commonwealth is truly a book for our times; a powerful adventure and a thought-provoking look at what it is to understand yourself, to grow up and make sense of the world around you. This is storytelling at its very best from one of our greatest writers.
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Reviews for The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust Volume Two:

"[Pullman] has created a fantasy world, made yet more satisfying in rigour and stylistic elegance. This is a book for getting older with" Guardian, Book of the Week

"The Secret Commonwealth is ablaze with light and life. The writing is exquisite; every sentence sings ... To read Pullman is to experience the world refreshed, aglow, in Technicolour" i

"Pullman's story is still thought-provoking ... This book elegantly weaves in live issues, from Europe's refugee crisis to facts in the post-truth era. And Pullman's prose is rewarding as ever" The Times

"A long, taxing, complex journey, laced with beauty, terror and philosophy" Metro

"As ever, Pullman's story is complex and vast but home to some of the finest storytelling in the 21st century. Revel in whole new worlds and enjoy one of literature's most wonderful heroines before she comes to HBO and the BBC" Stylist.co.uk

"Pullman is confronting readers with the horrors of our own world reflected back at us. In The Secret Commonwealth he creates a fearful symmetry" The Herald

About this title

Review

[Pullman] has created a fantasy world, made yet more satisfying in rigour and stylistic elegance. This is a book for getting older with (Guardian, Book of the Week)

The Secret Commonwealth is ablaze with light and life. The writing is exquisite; every sentence sings ... To read Pullman is to experience the world refreshed, aglow, in Technicolour (Independent)

Lyra is all grown up in a rich, vivid sequel (Telegraph)

Engrossing (Financial Times)

Pullman's story is still thought-provoking ... This book elegantly weaves in live issues, from Europe's refugee crisis to facts in the post-truth era. And Pullman's prose is rewarding as ever (The Times)

The novel gallops forward, full of danger, delight and surprise. Nearly miraculous, it seems, is Pullman's ability to sketch character, place and motive in just a few lines (New Statesman)

A long, taxing, complex journey, laced with beauty, terror and philosophy (Metro)

As ever, Pullman's story is complex and vast but home to some of the finest storytelling in the 21st century. Revel in whole new worlds and enjoy one of literature's most wonderful heroines before she comes to HBO and the BBC (Stylist.co.uk)

Pullman is confronting readers with the horrors of our own world reflected back at us. In The Secret Commonwealth he creates a fearful symmetry (The Herald)

Pullman has created a fantasy world, made yet more satisfying in this new volume. This is a book for getting older with (Guardian)

About the Author

Philip Pullman (Author)
Philip Pullman is one of the most highly respected children's authors writing today. Winner of many prestigious awards, including the Carnegie of Carnegies and the Whitbread Award, Pullman's epic fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials has been acclaimed as a modern classic. It has sold 17.5 million copies worldwide and been translated into 40 languages. In 2005 he was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. He lives in Oxford.

Christopher Wormell (Illustrator)
Chris Wormell is an award-winning, well-loved illustrator and storyteller. Most recently, he has illustrated the cover of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust, and has lent his woodcut style to Dinosaurium. Chris has created many award-winning books, including Molly and the Night Monster (shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal), Two Frogs (winner of the Nestlé Bronze Award), and One Smart Fish (winner of the Booktrust Early Years Awards Best Picture Book). His books include the much-loved George and the Dragon and also Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice (winner of the Children's Book Award).

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin and David Fickling Books
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0241373336
• ISBN 13: 9780241373330
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 704
• Illustrator: Wormell Christopher