The book of Dust by Philip Pullman

Summary from Goodreads:

Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River Thames (which Malcolm navigates often using his beloved canoe, a boat by the name of La Belle Sauvage) is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns they have a guest with them, a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua . . .

Review:

I feel like I have been waiting 15 years for this book. I kind of have been. I first read The Golden Compass for a high school book club, when I believe I was 16. I fell so in love with the book that I made my dad drive me to Barnes and Noble, find the next two in the series, and then purchase them all for me before I was even half way through it. I knew it would be a long-time favorite. And I was right. Since, I have re-read the series several times. I’ve listened to the audio books. I even dressed as The Amber Spyglass one year for Halloween. I had two other friends dressed as the rest of the series.

I get asked the question “What should I read next, after loving Harry Potter?” The Golden Compass is almost always my number one go-to for this question. That being said, I was a little skeptical going into this book. I don’t always respond well to authors revisiting series that have for a long time been completed. It’s hit or miss. But out of all my years of book geekdom, for all the times I was asked if there could be one book/one series that an author returned to, I always, always said I wished it was this one. I always wanted more. I wanted more hope for Will and Lyra. I wanted more answers about dust. I wanted more answers about the worlds and the universe. And finally, at some point last year, I learned that Pullman was returning to Lyra’s Oxford.

This book takes place when Lyra is a baby. It’s the story of how she came to be at Jordan College. And while it’s not the extended, happier ending I’ve been dreaming about since I was 16, it’s at least something. And I know there will be two more books. And I know Pullman is eventually going to get past the ending of The Amber Spyglass.

Keeping this all in mind, I knew this wasn’t going to be the book I was hoping for. I wasn’t hoping to see Lyra as a baby. Was anyone? But I read it, knowing the book I want will eventually happen. I wish I could say this book makes the wait better or easier. I was slightly disappointed.

It still felt the same. The world, the concept, the plot, and all of it read like it was part of the original series. And for that, I’m eternally grateful. It smelled and tasted like canon. That being said, it was extraordinarily slow. The first half of the book was about setting everything up in the second half of the book. It was about crazy, terrible things the Magisterium was requesting of children. It was about spying. It was about the every day of an extraordinary world (before everything is touched by adventure).

It’s also a lot darker than the previous series. There’s characters with mental illness. There’s sex and rape. There’s kidnapping and natural disasters. It’s the grittier side of Oxford, the side Lyra never had to see.

All of this darker, grittier stuff is certainly interesting. It was also kind of exciting to see the younger versions of characters I’ve known for 15 years. Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter, and the Gyptians all brought a smile to my face. I kept waiting for another character who might turn up, and that was fun. I also thought the second half of the book was un-put-downable. Once Malcom and Alice were on the boat, it was one non-stop magical, suspenseful adventure.

The first half did drag. I almost put the book down and stopped reading several times. It was only my knowledge of a better second half (from reading reviews) that kept me dedicated. And I’m glad I stayed with it. I really am. It did feel like it took Pullman a little time to get used to this world again. Like the dragged-on details of the town were him getting re-acquainted with it all too.

All in all, I enjoyed this. It’s not the book I’ve been dreaming of –hopefully that will come soon. It had a very slow first half. And the second half picked up drastically. The world was darker, grittier, and more developed than ever before. The new characters were good. I grew to love them by the end. And best of all, it felt like the other books. I got to return to a world I never thought I’d have this chance to return to. I give it an 8/10.