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

Pullman, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241373352 ISBN 13: 9780241373354

Publisher: Penguin and David Fickling Books, 2020

Synopsis

From the author of the phenomenal His Dark Materials comes the next chapter in the story of Lyra Silvertongue . . .

Lyra is now studying at St Sophia's College, Oxford, with her daemon Pantalaimon.

But, for the first time there are serious divisions between the two.
Lyra is questioning everything she once held dear. Pan misses the impulsiveness of their youth.

When an act of terrible violence breaks the peace of the Oxford night, Lyra and Pan's relationship reaches a crisis and they are drawn, far from home, into the dangerous factions of a world they had no idea existed.

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 and to grow up and make sense of the world around you.

This is storytelling at its very best from one of our greatest writers.

*Exclusive to the paperback edition, Chris Wormell's new original illustrations bring Lyra's world vividly to life.*
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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

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

About this title

About the Author

Philip Pullman (Author)
Philip Pullman was born in Norwich and educated in England, Zimbabwe, Australia and Wales. He studied English at Exeter College, Oxford.

His first children's book, Count Karlstein, was published in 1982. To date, he has published thirty-three books, read by children and adults alike. His most famous work is the His Dark Materials trilogy. These books have been honoured by several prizes including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Prize, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time that prize had been given to a children's book. Pullman has received numerous other awards, including the Eleanor Farjeon Award and the Astrid Lindgren Award. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year's Honours List for Services to Literature.

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).

From the Back Cover

The second volume of Sir 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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin and David Fickling Books
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241373352
• ISBN 13: 9780241373354
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Wormell Christopher
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 736