Every reader has that one series that defined adolescence. Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials was mine. I first read the fantasy trilogy over a winter break at my cousin’s house in Barbados when I was about 13. I don’t remember which beaches we went to, what we ate at Oistins Fish Fry or what fights I got into with my siblings. I remember Lyra, Will and their daemons confronting societal authority with a straightforward commitment to truth and a deep love for their friends and each other.
The series — which comprises “The Golden Compass” (1996, published in Britain as “Northern Lights” in 1995), “The Subtle Knife” (1997) and “The Amber Spyglass” (2000) — follows Lyra Belacqua (later known as Lyra Silvertongue), a precocious 11-year-old who unwittingly gets dragged into a multiversal conflict over the origin of sentience and the cause of original sin.
I was a little skeptical when I learned that Pullman would be writing a second trilogy, the Book of Dust, since His Dark Materials ended satisfyingly. But the world of his books is a vast one, and it has been a delight to revisit it and discover how much more he has to say: about human consciousness and authoritarianism, the value of romanticism, the dangers of a changing climate and the tragedy of the ongoing European refugee crisis. “La Belle Sauvage” (2017) serves as a prequel of sorts to the original trilogy. “The Secret Commonwealth” (2019) takes place when Lyra is 20 and the events of the first trilogy have long passed. The third and final book, “The Rose Field,” comes out Oct. 23 and concludes Lyra’s story. Here’s what you need to know before you pick it up.
The Lay of the Land
The books are set in an alternate version of England. Both trilogies begin at Jordan College, a fictional part of Oxford University, where Lyra lives under a scholarly sanctuary agreement negotiated by her father when she was a baby. There are some key components that differentiate Lyra’s world from our own:
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The Magisterium is a powerful religious organization that influences society through martial and political means. As the authority of the Holy Church — which shares many parallels with the Catholic Church in our world — the organization seeks to censor any heretical thought.
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Oakley Street is a secret department within the British government’s intelligence operation that was set up to combat the influence of the Magisterium. The organization has secretly watched over Lyra since she was a baby, but is severely diminished by the time of “The Secret Commonwealth.”
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Every person in Lyra’s world has a daemon: a constant animal companion that represents the soul. Children’s daemons are able to change shape, often mirroring their humans’ emotions, but they settle into a consistent form in adulthood. Usually, they are the opposite gender of their humans and cannot be physically separated from them. Daemons are capable of independent thought and can converse with other people, and other daemons, but it is considered a grave taboo to touch a daemon that is not your own. New philosophies about the purpose of daemons, and whether they are real or not, fuel one of the major conflicts of the Book of Dust trilogy.
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The alethiometer is a highly coveted device — the first novel’s titular golden compass — that can be used to answer questions and find the truth. It is powered by Dust.
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Dust is one of many names for an elementary particle found in Lyra’s world. Scientists see it as a manifestation of human consciousness; religious institutions believe it to be the origin of sin and want to destroy it.
Who Is Who
Pullman’s books, especially the original trilogy, feature large and varied casts with many fascinating side characters. A few of the key figures to remember:
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Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter are Lyra’s parents. In the first trilogy, they are on opposing sides of a war: Mrs. Coulter and the Magisterium fight to exert religious control over humanity, while Asriel fights for freedom (and his own advancement and scientific pursuits). While they are often self-centered and endanger Lyra with their choices, at the end of His Dark Materials they sacrifice themselves to save their daughter.
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Lyra Belacqua (a.k.a. Lyra Silvertongue) is the main protagonist of both trilogies, though she is just 6 months old in “La Belle Sauvage.” In the first trilogy, she leaves her home at Oxford to save her best friend, Roger, after he and other children are kidnapped by the Magisterium. She has an innate ability to read the alethiometer and resolves to learn what Dust is and to stop her father — and later, the Church — from using it for nefarious ends. As an adult, Lyra has lost much of the confidence and imagination she displayed as a child, leading to a rift between her and her daemon, Pantalaimon.
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Pantalaimon, usually called Pan, is Lyra’s other half, who settles into the form of a pine marten. As a physical representation of Lyra’s soul, Pan knows everything about her. In His Dark Materials, they are forced to separate; this is excruciating and damages their bond, but also gives them the unusual ability to travel long distances from each other.
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Malcolm Polstead is the main character of “La Belle Sauvage.” He and Alice, a kitchen girl at his parents’ inn, rescue baby Lyra during a great flood in Oxford, and must keep her safe from agents of the Magisterium who want to kill her. As an adult, he becomes a history professor and a secret agent of Oakley Street.
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Marcel Delamare is Marisa Coulter’s younger brother, and Lyra’s uncle. Throughout the Book of Dust series, he works to gain power within the Magisterium. He wants to punish Lyra, whom he holds responsible for his sister’s death.
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Olivier Bonneville is the pioneer of a new — and potentially dangerous — method of reading the alethiometer. Marcel hires him to find Lyra but Olivier, who believes Lyra stole her alethiometer from his deceased father, has his own agenda.
Where Did We Leave Off?
In “The Secret Commonwealth,” Lyra struggles to cope with the aftermath of the events of His Dark Materials: the deaths of her parents, the loss of her ability to read the alethiometer, her severed connection with Pan and her separation from Will Parry, her friend and soul mate, who had to leave Lyra’s world and return to his own for good at the end of “The Amber Spyglass.” She turns to two written works that deny the existence of much of the magic of her world, including daemons.
Meanwhile, Malcolm continues his work against the Magisterium, following a conspiracy involving a rose oil that is connected to Dust. When Pan witnesses a murder connected to the conspiracy, Lyra is once again drawn into the fight between the Magisterium and the resistance. She and Pan get into an argument, and he leaves to search for her lost imagination. In “The Rose Field,” the characters will face even more complex questions about human nature as Lyra pursues Pan and tries to find her place in the world, once and for all.
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