It’s not often we cover book release dates on LRM, but this particular series of books has a place in both my heart and our editor in chief Joseph Jammer Medina. We are renowned for never agreeing about anything, other than our love of Sir Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials universe, so one of us was going to cover this piece of news. The last time I covered a book on LRM Online, was the review of La Belle Sauvage, the first in a new trilogy by Pullman set in the His Dark Materials Universe. Overall whilst it wasn’t quite as memorable as His Dark Materials, I still loved it.
Today it has been revealed by Penguin that the next chapter of The Book of Dust trilogy will be titled The Secret Commonwealth and it arrives on October 3rd. It’s also noted in the source article that this book will launch prior to BBC’s adaptation of His Dark Materials that the US will catch on HBO. Up to this point, we had no idea when to expect this show and it seems that it will indeed be winter before it arrives.
RELATED: The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage – Does This His Dark Materials Companion Live Up To The Original?
The Secret Commonwealth is set 20 years after La Belle Sauvage and around 7 years post-events of His Dark Materials. The book’s lead character will once again be Lyra, who was just a young baby during the events of La Belle Sauvage and this will be the oldest variation of Lyra we have seen yet in this universe. Malcolm who spent the previous book protecting Lyra from various forces will also return. Here is the official synopsis.
Global in scale, The Secret Commonwealth sees Lyra forced to navigate a complex and dangerous new world which takes her far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search of an elusive town said to be haunted by dæmons. As well as taking readers on an exhilarating journey into places at once familiar and extraordinary, the book is a timely exploration of what it is to be human, to grow up and make sense of the world around us, from one of the UK’s greatest writers.
We also have a quote from Sir Phillip Pullman himself.
“At the heart of the book are Lyra, the young woman we saw first as a girl of twelve and then as a baby, and Malcolm, whose life as a boy became involved with hers and who now finds their lives helplessly entangled again; and how some emotions can last a lifetime, and others change beyond recognition.”
To be honest I can’t wait for this and will likely have it finished within around 48 hours when released. I am also looking forward to seeing if the BBC can adapt His Dark Materials in a superior way to Hollywood’s attempt with The Golden Compass.
Any fans of Pullman’s books here, are you excited for this new chapter and then a TV show hopefully soon afterwards? share your thoughts in the usual place below.
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SOURCE: Penguin