The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, Volume 2)

Philip Pullman

Oct 2019 · The Book of Dust Book 2 · Sold by Knopf Books for Young Readers

About this eBook

The #1 New York Times Bestseller!

Return to the world of His Dark Materials in the second volume of Philip Pullman’s new bestselling masterwork The Book of Dust.
 
The windows between the many worlds have been sealed and the momentous adventures of Lyra Silvertongue’s youth are long behind her—or so she thought. Lyra is now a twenty-year-old undergraduate at St. Sophia’s College and intrigue is swirling around her once more. Her daemon Pantalaimon is witness to a brutal murder, and the dying man entrusts them with secrets that carry echoes from their past.
 
The more Lyra is drawn into these mysteries, the less she is sure of. Even the events of her own past come into question when she learns of Malcolm Polstead’s role in bringing her to Jordan College.
 
Now Lyra and Malcolm will travel far beyond the confines of Oxford, across Europe and into the Levant, searching for a city haunted by daemons, and a desert said to hold the truth of Dust. The dangers they face will challenge everything they thought they knew about the world, and about themselves.
 
Praise for The Book of Dust

“It’s a stunning achievement, this universe Pullman has created and continues to build on.” —The New York Times
 
“Pullman’s writing is simple, unpretentious, beautiful, true. The conclusion to The Book of Dust can’t come soon enough.”—The Washington Post

Ratings and reviews

I'm a big fan of His Dark Materials and this book is a wonderful addition to that series. Lyra's universe is so familiar at this point and yet there are so many more layers to it that we haven't been introduced to. I love that this series has matured with Lyra. I love that it's a female lead story and that she's a total badass. Without giving much away, I really enjoyed seeing Lyra grapple with different philosophies and to see the woman that she has grown into and a glimpse into who she will grow to be.

I found some of this shocking, I found some of it painful or heart-rending...I spent about half the book tearing up, or just outright crying. But don't misunderstand, I found all of it beautiful. The Book of Dust series has grown up some from His Dark Materials and that's not a bad thing at all. After all, Lyra has grown up some since then too. I may not have enjoyed waiting 10 years for this series, but I can 100% appreciate that we waited those 10 years for Lyra to grow up, the books are growing wit her.

I think this book will haunt me for some time. Lyra and her companions (and their respective dæmons) face extraordinary times and challenges. Some of these would have seemed unimaginable in His Dark Materials. But it becomes clearer with The Secret Commonwealth that dæmons and Dust figure prominently in this new series, with fascinating relationships explored, and terrifying new realities unfolding with alarming speed. Lyra’s intense suffering resonated with me on a level I didn’t expect. Yet her tenacity remains unmatched as a modern heroine. And while I can’t imagine what trials she’ll face in the final volume, I know I cannot wait to find out. Bravo, Sir Philip Pullman.

About the author

PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been named one of the top 100 books of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. Pullman was knighted for his services to literature in the 2019 New Year Honours.

The Book of Dust, Pullman’s eagerly anticipated return to the world of His Dark Materials, will also be a book in three parts. It began with La Belle Sauvage and continues with The Secret Commonwealth.

Philip Pullman is the author of many other beloved novels. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!, Count Karlstein, Two Crafty Criminals!, Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess), The White Mercedes, and The Broken Bridge. He has written a magnificent collection, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, and his essays and lectures on writing and storytelling have been gathered in a volume called Dæmon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling.

Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England.