The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume 1) - by Philip Pullman (Paperback)

About the Book

An instant "New York Times" bestseller, now in paperback. Renowned storyteller Pullman returns to the parallel world of Lyra Belacqua and His Dark Materials for a thrilling and epic adventure--a work in three parts--in which daemons, alethiometers, and the Magisterium all play a part. Illustrations.

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - DON'T MISS THE EPIC FINALE TO THE BOOK OF DUST: THE ROSE FIELD, AVAILABLE NOW!

Return to the world of His Dark Materials with the first book of a landmark trilogy.

"People will love the first volume of Philip Pullman's new trilogy with the same helpless vehemence that stole over them when The Golden Compass came out."--Slate

"It's a stunning achievement, this universe Pullman has created and continues to build on."--The New York Times

Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything, and the things he sees trouble him deeply. Enforcement agents from the Magisterium appear in his family's inn. The explorer Lord Asriel has a precious secret to hide. A gyptian named Coram warns him of a coming flood. A criminal and a beautiful woman, both with disturbing daemons, ask about the same thing--a child, just a baby, named Lyra.

Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. Malcolm sees that she is at the center of a great and powerful storm. And he will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to see her safely home.

Look for the entire trilogy of THE BOOK OF DUST:
La Belle Sauvage - The Secret Commonwealth - The Rose Field

And Lyra's adventures begin in HIS DARK MATERIALS:
The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass

Review Quotes

"Reading this novel is like standing in a room in which suddenly all of the windows have blown open at once." --Slate

"It's a stunning achievement, the universe Pullman has created and continues to build on." --The New York Times

"A phantasmagoric waterborne odyssey. Mr. Pullman is a supple and formidable writer." --The Wall Street Journal

"Enthralling, enchanting. The first half reads like a thriller. The story becomes darker, deeper and even more engrossing when a cataclysmic flood overtakes Southern England. Too few things in our world are worth a seventeen year wait: The Book of Dust is one of them." -- The Washington Post

"Pullman's writing is as deftly brilliant as ever. A triumphant return to the alternate Oxford we love."--Bustle

"The Book of Dust passes by in one tumultuous wave of literature, that leaves you queasy, but wanting the next volume as quickly as possible. It deserves not only a reread, but an unpacking. It is not a one and done novel, something that, in a time where binging and passing is the status quo. This is a novel to digest. One to take in, let settle, and then revisit. We are lucky to have Pullman's words. Words that will continue to nourish the souls and imaginations of readers for a long, long time." --Hypable

"Once again, Pullman's fantasy arrives precisely when it can teach us the most about ourselves, as if it were guided by Dust itself." --Entertainment Weekly

"High-octane adventure accompanies ingenious plotting." --The Times (London)

"Lyra Silvertongue, Lyra Belacqua, but really just Lyra: one of those characters--Pip, Emma, Lolita--who is on first-name terms with her public."--The New York Times Magazine

"Pullman's imagery is as dazzling as ever. La Belle Sauvage reveals the incredible ways in which 'ordinary' children can react whenplaced in extraordinary circumstances: with kindness, bravery and cunning." --The Bookseller

"A rollicking adventure. Delightful." --Mother Jones

"A stunning, otherworldly journey. La Belle Sauvage dives deeply into magic and intrigue. What a gift it is to be allowed back into this universe." --BuzzFeed

"Full of acute observation. A rich, imaginative, vividly characterized rite-of-passage tale." --London Sunday Times

"Thrilling and thought-provoking." --Times Literary Supplement

"A singularly beguiling work of fantasy. [Pullman is] perhaps the best fantasy writer alive." --The A.V. Club

"A profoundly compelling foundation for a new trilogy." --Vox

"This tense, adventure-packed book will satisfy and delight Pullman's fans and leave them eager to see what's yet to come" --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Pullman is an easeful storyteller and an intricate and inventive world-builder, and everything he has to write is worth reading." --The Telegraph

"Magisterial storytelling will sweep readers along; the cast is as vividly drawn as ever; and big themes running beneath the surface invite profound responses and reflection." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Luminous prose, heady philosophical questions, and a lovable protagonist combine with a gripping plot sure to enchant fans and newcomers alike." --SLJ, starred review

"Pullman demonstrates that his talent for world building hasn't diminished, nor has his ability to draw young characters--here, Malcolm, who is layered enough to carry an adventure through multiple dimensions." --Booklist, starred review

"Pullman's immense powers of kinesthetic visualization keep the story pulsing on an epic scale."--The Guardian

"An immersive, creepy, edge-of-your seat adventure." --Shelf Awareness

"To connect once more with a fictional universe of such great power is a delight." --Financial Times

About the Author

Philip Pullman is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. He is also the author of another trilogy set in the same world, The Book of Dust (La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth, and The Rose Field) as well as numerous other much-loved novels, a collection of fairy tales, and a volume of essays and speeches on writing. He has won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread (now Costa) Award, Parents' Choice Gold Awards, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Pullman was knighted for services to literature in the New Years Honours 2019. He lives in Oxford, England.