Tag Archives: Philip Pullman

#BookReview ‘The Rose Field’ by Philip Pullman @PhilipPullman #BookofDust #Lyra #fantasy

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Oh my goodness, once I started I didn’t want to put it down. The Rose Field by Philip Pullman, third in the Book of Dust trilogy, is the last story about Lyra Silvertongue. I’ve loved these books ever since 1995 when the first, Northern Lights, was published. They’re highly recommended but please don’t start with this one, read Northern Lights first. Philip PullmanThe six books are a collective masterpiece, as two trilogies they have separate identities. Fantasy, yes, but never fairy stories, the scope is huge. Philosophy. Religion. Myth. Science. Legend. Politics. Economics. War. Emotions. Love, hate, fear and betrayal.
Lyra and her daemon Pan are still separated but independently alive, travelling from Oxford drawn eastwards towards a red building in the desert where mythical roses bloom that may or may not be something to do with dust. The red building is simultaneously frightening and irresistible. The Magisterium is doing what it has done in other books, what all dictatorships do: it aims for total domination via brutality, oppression doctrine and arrogance.
On their parallel journeys, Lyra and Pan each meet new accomplices, humans and creatures; some they trust despite being unsure about their companions’ motivations, others are enemies disguised as friends, some are intimidating but ultimately loyal. There are more witches from the Far North, more scientists, merchants and spies plus magnificent griffons. Pan is searching for Lyra’s lost imagination, Lyra is following Pan and in their wake comes Professor Malcolm Polstead, the same Malcolm who as a boy in La Belle Sauvage, the first of this trilogy, saved baby Lyra and Pan in the Great Flood.
The impetus running throughout this book is the reunion of these characters. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect but what happened was nowhere near what I previously considered. Reading Pullman is challenging, there are no easy answers or happy endings, favourite characters die, hateful ones escape. Pullman’s world-building is impressive, complex, confusing and inspiring. He explores the world that surrounds us, that which we can see and touch, of commerce, politics, law, religion and family, and also the hidden spiritual world, the Secret Commonwealth of myth and ghosts, spirits and fairies. He encourages us to be open-minded about facing the new, the threatening, the unexplored, the different. Lyra must overcome her fears, of dangers on the ground that she can see and touch but also admit new truths that contradict long-held beliefs. It takes courage to admit to yourself that you were wrong, mistaken, cruel, lazy but continue moving forward despite everything. Lyra is physically weaker than we’ve seen her before, the harrowing dangerous journey and separation from Pan are taking a toll, but she’s just as determined, stubborn and inspiring. The alethiometer is gone but she is as inventive as ever, putting the needle to new use.
Once I realised this is Lyra’s story of redemption set within a big picture epic about the world, I settled into the rhythmn of the book. This trilogy is darker, more adult and complex than His Dark Materials. Lyra is a young adult now who, after a damaged childhood, needs to truly know herself before she can begin to live the rest of her life. The ending is enigmatic, there are no easy answers or ideal conclusions, and this is not my favourite book of this trilogy. That’s La Belle Sauvage.
The Rose Field is a huge book about stories. Some are factual, some are imagined, some are based on folklore and myth. Some are lies. For Pullman, and Lyra, stories are about making things up.
Unputdownable. One to read and think about, then read again and again. These books have many levels of understanding, just as the alethiometer has many layers of meanings.

Here are my reviews of the first two books in the Book of Dust trilogy:-
LA BELLE SAUVAGE #1THEBOOKOFDUST
THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH #2THEBOOKOFDUST

 If you like this, try these:-
‘Children of Blood and Bone’ by Tomi Adeyemi #1LEGACYOFORISHA
‘The Girl in the Tower’ by Katherine Arden #2WINTERNIGHT
‘Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane’ by Suzanne Colllins #2UNDERLANDCHRONICLES

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE ROSE FIELD by Philip Pullman @PhilipPullman https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-92l via @Sandra Danby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Abir Mukherjee

#BookReview ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ by Philip Pullman @PhilipPullman #BookofDust #Lyra #fantasy

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Oddly The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman feels like the first of a trilogy rather than the second in The Book of Dust. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book but the first half is taken up with world-building and the introduction of new characters, relationships and enmities. But this is the first time we see Lyra as a young woman ten or eleven years after we left her at the end of The Amber Spyglass, so much has changed. Oxford seems more modern, Lyra is surrounded by old friends and potential new enemies and, crucially, she is not getting on with her daemon Pan. Philip PullmanThis latter fact, at first unthinkable, is the power driving the narrative. When Pan despairs of Lyra, who he thinks has changed unrecognisably, he sets out to recover the thing he fears she has lost. Her imagination. And Lyra, being Lyra, charges off in pursuit. Except she doesn’t know where Pan is going. Both are driven by love.
Add to this a changing political landscape with a new generation of scholars, scientists, politicians, priests and criminals and it soon becomes clear that Lyra and Pan are separated from each other in an increasingly toxic and dangerous world. Meanwhile the farmers of roses and makers of rose oil are being persecuted across Asia. Prices are rising as rose farms are burned and those who make their living from the flowers are destitute. A new rose oil with powerful and mysterious properties has been discovered in the East, and the Magisterium wants it all.
There is a sense of inevitability that Lyra will embark on a new quest taking her to strange lands. Quite how everything connects together is not clear and that is Pullman’s magic, he tells us just enough to puzzle us, to keep the curiosity burning and the pages turning, without allowing us to become bored or impatient.
What an enjoyment to encounter old friends from His Dark Materials and some new ones made in La Belle Sauvage, the previous book in this second trilogy. I won’t name these friends as I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of meeting them again. As ever, this is a brilliantly imagined, intricately plotted world from Pullman with a modern story of refugees seeking safety from an oppressive and unforgiving regime. The refugees are fleeing the places through which Lyra and Pan are travelling. Will they be safe? Or will they be outwitted by old and new enemies.
Excellent.

Here are my reviews of the other two books in the ‘Book of Dust’ trilogy:-
LA BELLE SAUVAGE #1THEBOOKOFDUST
THE ROSE FIELD #3THEBOOKOFDUST

If you like this, try these:-
‘The Bear and the Nightingale’ by Katherine Arden #1WINTERNIGHT
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen #1TEARLING
‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth #1DIVERGENT

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH by Philip Pullman @PhilipPullman https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4tn via @Sandra Danby

#BookReview ‘La Belle Sauvage’ by Philip Pullman @PhilipPullman #BookofDust #Lyra #fantasy

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I’m a great Philip Pullman fan so when word of his new series The Book of Dust was first announced, I was excited. La Belle Sauvage is volume one in the series and tells the story of eleven-year old Malcolm who lives beside the River Thames at The Trout pub at Godstow, near Oxford. One day, a baby arrives at the priory on the other side of the river. Called Lyra, mystery surrounds the child, her parentage, and why she is cared for by the nuns. Philip Pullman This of course is Lyra Belacqua, so familiar and beloved of Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. La Belle Sauvage is the story of Malcolm’s fascination with the baby Lyra, his relationship with scholar Hannah Relf and his suspicions about a mysterious stranger who visits The Trout. Everyone dislikes this man, despite his ready smiles and chat, because of his daemon, a three-legged hyena. Common with the first book of every series, there is a certain amount of scene setting, the laying-down of foundations for the forthcoming books. Pullman takes time and care to develop the character of Malcolm, the love he has for his canoe La Belle Sauvage, his relationships with his parents, the nuns, and Alice who works in the kitchen. Every reader of His Dark Materials knows the story of the fight between Lyra’s parents and how she was hidden in a cupboard with a gyptian boatwoman. La Belle Sauvage starts after this, when Lyra is placed in the nunnery for her safety. Lurking threat is there on every page – a light mist at first, developing into a heavy presence which will not go away – as Pullman constructs a world in which research into Dust is in its early stages; a resistance group, Oakley Street, is formed to fight The Magisterium; and the League of St Alexander radicalises schoolchildren to inform on unbelievers.
I became very fond of Malcolm. Pullman has a way of writing child characters who stand at the edge of things; they are not the most popular, the high achievers or the butterflies; but they have potential, as all children do. Pullman creates thoughtful character arcs for his child characters so we see them change and grow, facing difficulties, making mistakes, learning and maturing. In Malcolm, more than with Lyra and Will in His Dark Materials, I was conscious of Pullman’s background as a teacher. I was cheering for Malcolm, for his ingenuity, his bravery, his kind heart, his sense of fairness and justice.
If you haven’t read Pullman because he ‘writes for children’, you are missing out. He creates characters you care about, he expertly drip-feeds mysterious information and lays a factual base which seems irrelevant at first reading but will be revealed as essential at moments of crisis, he manages the ebbs and flows of tension, and creates a mystical world that is believable. Every fact included has a significance. He is a writer of tremendous detail, patience and care.
Just read him.

Here are my reviews of the other two books in the ‘Book of Dust’ trilogy:-
THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH #2THE BOOKOFDUST
THE ROSE FIELD #3THEBOOKOFDUST

If you like this, try:-
‘Gregor the Overlander’ by Suzanne Collins #1UNDERLANDCHRONICLES
‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman #1THEMAGICIANS
‘Dark Earth’ by Rebecca Stott

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview LA BELLE SAUVAGE by Philip Pullman @PhilipPullman https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3k9 via @SandraDanby