The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume 1)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • DON’T MISS THE EPIC FINALE TO THE BOOK OF DUST: THE ROSE FIELD, AVAILABLE NOW!
Return to the world of His Dark Materials with the first book of a landmark trilogy.
“People will love the first volume of Philip Pullman’s new trilogy with the same helpless vehemence that stole over them when The Golden Compass came out.”—Slate
“It’s a stunning achievement, this universe Pullman has created and continues to build on.”—The New York Times
Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything, and the things he sees trouble him deeply. Enforcement agents from the Magisterium appear in his family’s inn. The explorer Lord Asriel has a precious secret to hide. A gyptian named Coram warns him of a coming flood. A criminal and a beautiful woman, both with disturbing daemons, ask about the same thing—a child, just a baby, named Lyra.
Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. Malcolm sees that she is at the center of a great and powerful storm. And he will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to see her safely home.
Look for the entire trilogy of THE BOOK OF DUST:
La Belle Sauvage • The Secret Commonwealth • The Rose Field
And Lyra’s adventures begin in HIS DARK MATERIALS:
The Golden Compass • The Subtle Knife • The Amber Spyglass
Return to the world of His Dark Materials with the first book of a landmark trilogy.
“People will love the first volume of Philip Pullman’s new trilogy with the same helpless vehemence that stole over them when The Golden Compass came out.”—Slate
“It’s a stunning achievement, this universe Pullman has created and continues to build on.”—The New York Times
Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything, and the things he sees trouble him deeply. Enforcement agents from the Magisterium appear in his family’s inn. The explorer Lord Asriel has a precious secret to hide. A gyptian named Coram warns him of a coming flood. A criminal and a beautiful woman, both with disturbing daemons, ask about the same thing—a child, just a baby, named Lyra.
Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. Malcolm sees that she is at the center of a great and powerful storm. And he will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to see her safely home.
Look for the entire trilogy of THE BOOK OF DUST:
La Belle Sauvage • The Secret Commonwealth • The Rose Field
And Lyra’s adventures begin in HIS DARK MATERIALS:
The Golden Compass • The Subtle Knife • The Amber Spyglass
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
As usual, I liked being in the world Pullman created. I enjoyed the characters and the adventure, but the ending was a little disappointing.
I have been waiting for this book ever since I read the first trilogy. This next series of books is a prequel to Lyra’s life and is set in the same wonderful and magical world we knew. It makes me want to revisit the original series again. I’m so excited to see where these stories go. This world is such an interesting take on everything.
The Lyra prequel is just as good as I hoped it would be -- as always with Mr. Pullman, it's full of magic, adventure, human foibles and strength, and triggers for deep thought of your own. I found nothing at all to complain of, except that the next book isn't out yet.
I read this aloud with my ten year-old and actually enjoyed it even more than the His Dark Materials trilogy. Philip Pullman takes us back to Lyra's Oxford in order to give us this prequel to his famous trilogy. In this book, the reader learns how Lyra, as a baby, ends up under the care of the Master of Jordan college. Fans of the first three books will not be disappointed: La Belle Sauvage contains much of the same mystery and magic as the first three books, and features many of the previous, major characters. That said, La Belle Sauvage introduces us to two new heroes - Malcolm and Alice. I really liked Malcolm, and particularly enjoyed following his relationships with the priory nuns and Dr Hannah Relf, who provoked fond memories of Dr Mary Malone. Without giving too much away, Malcolm's canoe (the book's namesake) plays a major role in the events of the story, almost as a character in itself. This was really clever and enjoyable. We are moving straight onto The Secret Commonwealth and really hope it won't be too long before Pullman publishes the third and final installment!
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