Philip Pullman has announced that The Book of Dust, a new epic fantasy trilogy, which will stand alongside his bestselling series, His Dark Materials, will be published in October around the world.
Set to come out on 19 October, the as yet untitled first volume of The Book of Dust will be set in London and Oxford, with the action running parallel to the His Dark Materials trilogy. […] Pullman’s brave and outspoken heroine Lyra Belacqua will return in the first two volumes. Featuring two periods of her life – as a baby and 20 years after His Dark Materials ended […]
Announcing the new books, the Oxford-based former teacher said he returned to the world of Lyra because he wanted to get to the bottom of “Dust”, the mysterious and troubling substance at the centre of the original books. “Little by little through that story the idea of what Dust was became clearer and clearer, but I always wanted to return to it and discover more,” Pullman said.
In a description that will resonate with the current political climate, he added that “at the centre of The Book of Dust is the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organisation, which wants to stifle speculation and enquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free”.
— from The Guardian, 15 Feb
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