Lyra's Oxford (His Dark Materials) - Hardcover

Pullman, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385606990 ISBN 13: 9780385606998

Publisher: David Fickling Books, 2003

Synopsis

This is a wonderful new episode from the world of Philip Pullman's bestselling trilogy, His Dark Materials. In Lyra's Oxford the reader shares the huge excitement of discovering a small bundle of material that has somehow slipped between Lyra's universe and our own. The book includes a wonderful new story by Philip Pullman, fully illustrated intricate maps and other ephemera from Lyra's universe. The text is illustrated throughout in beautiful black and white wood-blocks by the highly acclaimed engraver, John Lawrence, together with specially printed three-colour pull out maps of Lyra's Oxford. This publication could have come from a parallel universe. The short story contained within Lyra's Oxford finds Lyra with her daemon Pantalaimon a couple of years after the end of The Amber Spyglass. Sitting on the roofs of Oxford she sees a bird, the daemon of a witch, a storm petrel flying towards her pursued by a huge and angry flock of starlings. Birds play a big part in this story. And gradually a mystery unfolds-

About this title

Review

Attention all serious book collectors and fans of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. This undoubtedly beautiful package, cloth-bound in a classy red and adorned by numerous illustrations by master engraver and illustrator John Lawrence, is sure to be a must-purchase. A pint-sized pocket volume, Lyra's Oxford packages together a short story set in the same universe as his famous trilogy, a fold-out map of the alternate-reality city of Oxford which Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon inhabit, a short brochure for a cruise to The Levant aboard the SS Zenobia and a postcard from the inventor of the amber spyglass, Mary Malone. Pullman, in his introduction, suggests that the peripheral items within "might be connected with the story, or they might not; they might be connected to stories that haven't appeared yet. It's difficult to tell."

The story, "Lyra and the Birds", begins when Lyra and Pantalaimon spot a witch's daemon called Ragi being pursued over the rooftops of Oxford by a frenzied pack of birds. The daemon heads straight for Lyra and is given shelter. The creature was given Lyra's name as somebody who might help. The daemon is seeking one Sebastian Makepeace--an alchemist living in a part of Oxford known as Jericho. Together Lyra and Pan try to guide the daemon to the home of this man, but it is a journey fraught with more danger than they had at first anticipated.

Somehow, this is a book that puzzles and fascinates all at the same time. It's very sumptuous and lovingly crafted but tantalising brief. The fourth volume in Pullman's award-winning sequence is The Book of Dust and despite the author's reputation for taking his time in writing each of his longer works, it is now just too far away in the future to be funny anymore. (Age 10 and over)--John McLay

Review

"Brilliantly conceived and well cast, the recording adds a further dimension to both the text and the illustrations" (Angela Macpherson Books for Keeps)

"This CD is an alluring package . . . It is a tantalising episode . . . Pullman is a commanding narrator" (Carole Mansur Daily Telegraph)

Edition details

• Publisher: David Fickling Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0385606990
• ISBN 13: 9780385606998
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64