Phillip Pullman Returns

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rugcat

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After 17 years, Philip Pullman returns to the world of His Dark Materials with La Belle Sauvage, the first book in a new trilogy, The Book Of Dust.

Anything Pullman writes is worth reading and I'm looking forward to this one.

And here's a recent interview with him from The Guardian. He strikes me as not only a wonderful writer, but a wonderful man as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...-a-raven-la-belle-sauvage-interview-questions
 

mrsmig

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Pullman appeared on my reading radar this week because of the new release. I'd never read the original His Dark Materials books, so I got a copy of The Golden Compass and am nearly finished with it. Great read. I'm looking forward to exploring this author's work more fully.
 

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Champing at the bit here!

I got an email yesterday to say that my reserved copy is waiting at the library but was unable to collect because of a string of social engagements, so here we are on Sunday - a long Sunday (in the UK anyway because of daylight saving) - whilst the book gather dust on a shelf :rant:
 

Introversion

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I tore through it in a few days. Was looking forward to this, having read & enjoyed "His Dark Materials".

It's a leisurely start, but Pullman is very good at painting people and places, and the pace was never a problem for me. It does eventually speed up, and the final third never slows down.

There's one point near the end where I thought he "went to eleven" and didn't need to, but on the whole I very much enjoyed it, and now am sad I have to wait for the next book. :rant:
 

Roxxsmom

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I'm looking forward to reading this. Sad to read he's been in pain physically, but I'm glad he's doing better.

And I love the picture of the author in front of his overflowing bookshelves (and with two dogs). Looks like my own study.
 
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The Otter

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I was so looking forward to this book, because the Dark Materials trilogy is among my all-time favorites, but unfortunately I've found La Belle Sauvage a real slog. It took me over two months to get through it, which is unusual for me. Now I'm almost to the end, and it's remarkable how little desire I have to finish it (though I'll probably do so tonight). It's not terribly written by any means, it's just...really, really slow, and bogged down in unnecessary and repetitive plot detours. I lost count of the number of scenes where Malcolm goes to the nunnery to visit baby Lyra, or meets with Hannah, and then finally the plot gets going and they're on the run in a boat, but somehow even that quickly becomes bogged down and repetitive. It feels like the entire book is a drawn-out setup, which I guess it is...and maybe that wouldn't have bothered me if I'd been more invested in the characters, but none of the main characters were all that interesting to me. Except the villain, who barely gets any page-time.

In The Golden Compass I remember being dazzled by the constant introduction of intriguing and original concepts. Every chapter, it seemed, there was a new mystery--what is Dust, what is the alethiometer, where are all these kidnapped children being taken to, what is the nature of these mysterious experiments? Here that's absent. We already know the answers to all the big questions, and there's nothing to really take their place.

I'm astounded to be saying this about a Philip Pullman novel, but I probably won't buy the next one, not unless I hear people saying it's much better. Though a lot of people did seem to enjoy this one, so who knows. Reception's been pretty mixed, overall. But I personally found it to be a huge letdown.
 

Cobalt Jade

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Can this book be read without the original trilogy?
 

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Let us know if it lives up to your expectations.

I have to confess that, like the Otter, I was a little disappointed )c:

Maybe I had set my expectations too high, maybe Pullman had set his own bar too high, but it didn't quite do it for me.

The problem might also be that it was set in a part of the world which I know very well so the fantasy element was kinda taken away from me a bit, and also I live by the good old Thames so spend a lot of time messing around in boats and lived through a major flood (four years ago this month) and possibly know too much about that - I kept thinking "but that's not how it works" to myself which dragged me out of the story.

Don't get me wrong - it is a great book, very well written, and a really enjoyable read, I shall re-read it (no. 1 son bought me a copy for Christmas...) and see if I slip more easily into it second time round.

Can this book be read without the original trilogy?

I would say so. Apart from knowing "who they all become" it's a completely stand-alone story.
 

kneedeepinthedoomed

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I've read it as well. I enjoyed it and read it quickly. It is a slow starter, and then once they're in the boat it becomes somewhat linear and faster. It is, however, a nice extension of Lyra's Oxford world from the trilogy.

I would always suggest to read at least The Golden Compass first, but I found this one enjoyable. There isn't really a big villain because this is apparently more targeted at a young audience than the trilogy is. It reads more like a Harry Potter style book, whereas the trilogy is a hard hitting exploration of the entire abyss of the human condition that uses child heroes and speaking polar bears as a frontend. He intended it as a sort of anti-Narnia.

And tbh the trilogy doesn't have a big bad either, rather some very ambiguous characters and the nefarious organisation of "the magisterium" which spews out some bad guys.

Pullman is awesome. His Dark Materials is an emotionally challenging read. In my very subjective opinion, Pullman is better than George R. R. Martin.

And yeah, the new one can definitely be read without knowing the trilogy. The main characters are all different, the world is the same.
 

The Otter

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There isn't really a big villain because this is apparently more targeted at a young audience than the trilogy is. It reads more like a Harry Potter style book, whereas the trilogy is a hard hitting exploration of the entire abyss of the human condition that uses child heroes and speaking polar bears as a frontend. He intended it as a sort of anti-Narnia.

I didn't get the impression the new book was targeted at a younger audience. There's some pretty heavy sexual content. It's not super graphic or detailed, but it's beyond anything you'd find in HP.
 
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