La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One: From the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials - now a major BBC series (Book of Dust, #1)

by Philip Pullman

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 . . .

• ISBN10: 0385604416
• ISBN13: 9780385604413
• Publish Date: 19 October 2017 (first published 1 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 April 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
• Imprint: Penguin and David Fickling Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 560
• Language: English

Reviews

[clementine]

3.5 stars

This book simply wasn't as gripping as the His Dark Materials trilogy, partially because it clearly felt like the setup for something bigger and partially because I just missed Lyra's insolence. Malcolm was a strong character, and I liked the development of background characters from the original series (Hannah especially!). I'm not absolutely sure HDM needed an origin story, and I'm very wary of the trend of rebooting beloved series, but I think this was pretty good as these things go. Philip Pullman's writing is always stunning, and the illustrations in the collector's edition were gorgeous too. The focus on earthiness (and wateriness...) was interesting as compared to the more high-minded feeling of the original trilogy. An enjoyable read, but I think it's pretty clear that this is for fans of His Dark Materials. I have to say I am pretty excited for book two coming out in the fall, because it's about Lyra as a young adult and that is something I want to know about so badly (while also being nervous about how it'll go).

[Quirky Cat]

Okay, so first of all, I swear I already wrote a review for this book, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. So here I am. If I end up coming off at frustrating at all, it’s simply because I feel like I’m repeating myself.
La Belle Sauvage, AKA The Book of Dust is the first book in a long time to come out that’s connected to the His Dark Materials trilogy. It’s a prequel series, so little Lyra is even littler than she was before. Though supposedly the series is going to follow her up through adulthood. That should prove to be fairly interesting. I personally hope we can see her at a point post His Dark Materials, if for no other reason than to see how she’s coping.
I was super excited when I heard the announcement about this novel. But despite that announcement it actually took me forever to get around reading it. Mostly because I’m still emotionally scarred from the original trilogy, and had reason to fear what was going to happen in this one. Still, I did eventually get around to it, and I’m so happy that I did.



Warnings: There’s a character that actively stalks people during this novel. He’s also known for assaulting younger women, so he’s overall a really uncomfortable character to read about. Additionally, there is a rape towards the end of this book. It isn’t graphic, and it’s only by reading between the lines that you’re really aware of what is happening. But it still happens, and I personally thought it was an unnecessary event for the sake of the plot.
I really enjoyed La Bella Sauvage, on the whole. Though I have a confession to make… For the longest time leading up to the book release, I thought the actual title was Book of Dust, as opposed to that being the series name. Woops.
This was an interesting plot, though not quite what I expected. Not that I really knew what to expect. I knew that Lyra would be just a baby, and thus not an active participant in the plot. But for some reason, I didn’t expect her to become the MacGuffin on the book, and yet that’s exactly what she is here.
It was nice learning more about the world before Lyra’s perspective took over. There was a lot going on behind the scenes, and while Lyra did a great job of figuring a lot of it out, there’s no way that she knew the depth of it all. So this perspective was refreshing and informative in that sense.
Malcolm’s character was so precious and pure in this novel. I can’t imagine he’ll stay that way, not if he continues to appear in the series. Still, it’s nice seeing somebody in this complicated world who truly does appreciate and love the people around him. Not to mention the lengths he’ll go through to protect a little baby.
I’ll confess that I hated the twist that occurred at the end. I mentioned it up in my warning as well. It just didn’t feel necessary for the plot. I already hated the character before that point, so I didn’t need him doing something so horrible to make me hate him more. And maybe it’s just me, but considering how close it was to the end of the novel…it just seemed needlessly cruel. For the author to do that to a character, I mean.
On the whole, I really did enjoy this novel. And I fully intend to read the rest of the trilogy as well. And maybe even read them in a timelier manner…instead of being a little chicken about them. Maybe. I’ll try at least.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I am torn about my feelings for this new book set in the same universe of His Dark Materials. But His Dark Materials holds a special place in my heart being a series I attempted at least twice before actually falling madly in love with it.

I do love the characters in The Book of Dust. Malcom, Alice and the nuns are dear to my heart. I was thoroughly creeped out by Bonneville and his wacked-out daemon. Malcom's love for Lyra and his immediate need to connect with her and keep her safe reminded me of watching my neices and nephews connect with new babies they encountered. The love is unexplainable and beautiful. And Malcom's love for Lyra comes pouring off the page.

Where I struggle with this novel is towards the end when all the mysticism and folklore comes flooding in. It doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the book and it is never explained how it fits. Based on my experience with His Dark Materials, I'm sure it will all be explained by the end of the series, but with just a single book out, at this point it time it is frustrating and confusing to me and leaves me unfulfilled in the end.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Malcolm has heard strange rumors about the baby with the nuns.

It's said she's the daughter of a powerful man and the woman who started the League of St. Alexander.  It's said the CCD is looking for her.  It's said she's the answer to a prophecy.  When Malcolm sees the little girl, he doesn't see what the big deal is.  She's cute, but she's just a baby - how could she be so dangerous.

Malcolm is certainly about to find out as he is whisked away into a world of secrets and spies.  When the biggest flood London has ever seen comes to wipe everything away, it's up to Malcolm to make sure baby Lyra is safe - not only from the water, but from the men and women chasing after her.  Especially the man whose daemon is missing a leg....

La Belle Sauvage is not The Golden Compass, but it is quite enjoyable.

Like many of the people reading this book, I have a history with Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.  I read them growing up... over and over again... and Lyra and Will are a part of my heart.  When La Belle Sauvage was announced as a prequel, I was a bit skeptical about the choice of setting, but immediately pre-ordered it because of course I was going to read this book... I've only been waiting about 20 years for it.  If a reader is expecting for find Lyra and Pan back in all their glory, think again.

THAT SAID, lets talk about Malcolm and Asta, because they're also delightful new characters.  Mal isn't this big, brave child - he's the sort that simply does the things that need doing.  The things he feels are right.  This quality is so important to me in Lyra's character, and it was amazing to see it in Malcolm.  These children are regular children who see a bad situation, are very careful, and do the right thing as best they can.  Malcolm is good to his parents and kind to baby Lyra.  He is helpful to the nuns when he visits them.  He does what he needs to do, but he doesn't do it was a self-righteous flash and flare... something fairly rare in heroes.

It's an awfully long book.

This is not a complaint, necessarily... more of an observation.  La Belle Sauvage comes in at nearly 500 pages, but most of that is just travel.  There are little adventures along the way, and they are all interesting in their own right, but they are pointless.  They do nothing to move along the plot - they merely distract the reader while we wait for the trio to reach their destination.  There were sections when I found myself asking "Wait, what's going on?  Who is this?  Why do I care?" which is not particularly good.

For as much as I liked Malcolm and grew to like Alice... I just felt like this book was really draggy and lacked the overall purpose that pulled you into The Golden Compass and the other books.

Plot of The Golden Compass: stop the horrible people who are severing daemons!
Plot of La Belle Sauvage:  make sure Lyra stays safe.

No wonder it's a bit draggy and underwhelming.  It's fun and interesting, don't get me wrong, but I felt strongly that it didn't live up to the original series.  It felt like a quite long sub-book, like the novellas Once Upon a Time in the North and Lyra's Oxford.

Fans of His Dark Materials may be disappointed.

I am not, by any means, saying that you should not read this book.  You should.  Malcolm is great, Alice is great, and baby Pan will make your heart melt into a puddle of goo.  But you absolutely cannot go into this book expecting a brilliant revival of His Dark Materials.  It doesn't happen.  Not even a little.  I think even the most open-minded readers will fall into this feeling as though it lacks something.

I feel it's also interesting to know... the second book in the Book of Dust trilogy is called The Secret Commonwealth.  It's not set after this one, so we'll never know what happened precisely with Oxford Street or The League of St. Alexander or Mal and Asta.  It's set twenty years in the future, long after the events of all the currently published books in this world.  This really further cements my feeling that this are extended novellas and I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

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[adamfortuna]

I love the original trilogy. The Golden Compass was one of the books that restarted my love for reading/audiobooks. When I heard Pullman was writing a new series I couldn't wait. When I read it, it felt very much in the same world. There were mysteries that organically unraveled to open new possibilities in the world while introducing the characters. This one had a lot of groundwork being laid that I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes in the next book.

[gmcgregor]

There's always a tension I feel when a beloved book gets revisited by its author after a long time for any sort of companion piece...what if it's just not as great? So I was both excited and wary when Philip Pullman announced a new trilogy, The Book of Dust, set in the same world as his much-beloved His Dark Materials trilogy, and then again when I finally held a copy of the first volume, La Belle Sauvage, in my hands.

La Belle Sauvage is a prequel, as original heroine Lyra Belacqua is just a baby in this one. Our new protagonist is Malcolm Polstead, a relatively normal preteen boy who goes to school, helps out in his parents' pub, likes to explore on the local river in his boat, and sometimes helps out at the nunnery down the road. Two events happen in a short period of time that change his life: the first is the arrival of baby Lyra at the nunnery, and the second is an assassination he sees while boating. Both of these bring the outside world and its rapidly changing politics much closer to home, and soon even school isn't safe. And then, as an epic flood rages, Malcolm, along with Alice, the older girl who works for his parents, find themselves racing to protect Lyra from danger.

This book does a great job of introducing its world (an alternate universe England known as Brytain, which I think is the first time I've seen it given a name, but I haven't read the novellas yet) to a first-timer, as well as providing backstory on characters and situations that returning readers already know: the rise of the power of the Church, Farder Coram, althieometers, Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter. And while Malcolm is about the same age as Lyra was at the beginning of The Golden Compass, and they both go on an adventure over the course of the book, they're not especially similar characters: while Lyra was high-spirited and bold, Malcolm is quieter and more solitary. He's got a decent amount of pluck, though, and makes an engaging hero that you get emotionally invested in.

I can't really evaluate this book from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the original series yet, but because of the way that the series is structured (this book is first in time, and then the original series, and then apparently the next book in this series will be a sequel to the original series), I'm going to go ahead and recommend it as a good starting place for people who are intrigued by it. The book is appropriate for older kids, but the series eventually takes a strong theological bent which may go over the heads of less mature ones, and may prompt discussions that parents should be ready for. If I'm being perfectly honest, I didn't think this book was as strong as The Golden Compass (I think that one did a better job of world-building), it might not be a fair comparison because that's one of my favorite books of all time. That being said, this is a very good book and an engaging adventure that has me longing for the next one already!