Volume two in The Book of Dust trilogy fast forwards us in time to 20 years after the events of volume one, and 7 years from the end of His Dark materials. Lyra is now a young woman, and her and her daemon Pantalaimon’s relationship has become strained in a way neither of them could ever have anticipated. The safety they have enjoyed for the last 7 years is suddenly taken away from them, and once again Lyra and Pan are facing an epic journey, back into the centre of the mystery of the elusive Dust.
I was so excited to get this in the mail, I couldn’t wait to start reading. Now I’m done and I have no idea how long a wait until book three comes out. It was that age old book lover conundrum of couldn’t stop reading but didn’t want it to end.
For me this book revived many of my favourite characters. Lyra and Pan are obviously the main focus, and it was wonderful to meet them again as adults. I have to say that Lyra in the early stages is quite unlikeable at times, although I felt like we were seeing more of the old Lyra towards the end of the book. I enjoyed meeting Malcolm and Alice again, and learning a little of what had happened in their lives after we left them at the end of La Belle Sauvage, Malcolm in particular is still one of my favourites. There are many other familiar names and faces from across both His Dark Materials and La Belle Sauvage, which meant it really did feel like returning to a familiar place.
The plot is just as complicated as I’ve come to expect from Pullman, with many different threads woven through that seem to be leading in the same direction. At times I felt like things were a bit rushed, and didn’t have the richness and depth that we’ve seen in previous books. That’s not to say it was unenjoyable in any way, if anything I wanted more! I found the themes interesting though. The idea of rose oil being such a precious commodity that powerful companies from the West will do anything to gain control of the industry, despite being unable to produce it themselves, seems very relevant in this day and age. The Magisterium’s determination to stamp down on anyone who shows any signs of defiance or resistance to their authority is poignant too.
After such a long build up the ending seemed quite abrupt, and didn’t really give any answers at all. I’ll be hanging out hard for book three now! I did feel like things are starting to come together though, and it seems like this book is setting everything up for a big finale.
Overall, for a book I had such huge anticipation for, this hit the target pretty well. The only reason I’ve not given it a full 5* is because I felt it didn’t have the same level of detail I’ve become used to for this series. I still highly recommend it, and will be pre-ordering book three as soon as it becomes available.
Confessions of a Bookaholic 