The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume 1) (original 2017; edição 2017)

It’s been far too many years since I last read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, so it took a little bit more effort than normal to get into this novel, but once I started remembering all the details and characters it became an excellent story! This prequel trilogy is still centred around Lyra, but Pullman shifts the focus to Malcolm, a young boy who stumbles into Lyra’s story when she is a baby and becomes her unwitting saviour and deliverer of her into the scholastic sanctuary at Jordan College that she enjoys up until the beginning of The Golden Compass. Malcolm is an interesting character in and of himself, since he is a commoner whose parents run a pub beside the river, which brings him into contact with all sorts of the town’s people (ranging from the nuns across the river to the political factions as well as slightly more dangerous elements). This setting allows Malcolm to develop a healthy interest in knowledge and a curiosity about the bigger questions in the world, which gives him an unexpected advantage over many of the adults in his world and places him as a prime candidate to become an active member of the resistance movement. The story seems at first to be about Malcolm becoming a spy and observing the machinations occuring in the world around Lyra, but it soon becomes about his role as Lyra’s protector as unsavoury factions start to vie for her custody. What the rest of the series (presumably a trilogy) holds in store for Malcolm and Lyra is unknown, but knowing Pullman’s unexpected and highly conceptual storylines I fully anticipate another excellent set of novels. ( )

Another half a star because while I enjoyed the Dark Materials but got rather bored by the sequels, I wasn't expecting much. It delivered an enjoying escapist tale. Another reviewer reported that the action only began half way through - I beg to differ - the best action in this book is the exploration of character and the world the characters are living in and that happens in the first half. I think this book could easily be read without any knowledge of the Dark Materials and my only real complaint is that the last sections don't stand alone without whatever follows. If a book doesn't stand up without a sequel then I feel cheated.... after all I might not choose to read the sequel and then I am left with half a book. ( )

Pretty wonderful.
Get very Alan Garner in the second half which was pretty ace.
Looking forward to the sequels now. ( )

The first of the trilogy that tells of the time before Dark Materials. The main characters are Malcolm, a young person who lives with his parents and helps out in their pub and keeps his eyes open. He is the owner of La Belle Sauvage, his canoe and pride and joy. Malcolm helps in the convent across the river and is interested when the nuns take in a baby called Lyra. Malcolm makes friends with Hannah, an Oxford scholar who enjoys talking to him about books and about goings on in Oxford, as Hannah is a spy. One of the goings on is The League of St Alexander, an authoritarian organisation that encourages school children to inform on teachers and pupils who do not toe the church line. iThe other character is Alice who washes up in the pub and helps in the convent. A huge flood sees Malcolm and Alice taking Lyra in La Belle Sauvage on a terrifying series of escapades on their way to London. The novel has both fantasy figures and practicalities, such as food and water. They meet a witch, a giant and are chased by a man with a three legged daemon. It is interesting to meet the characters we know so well in His Dark Materials and learn more background. ( )

Not an intricate a plot as the main trilogy, but a good aventure. ( )