The Book of Dust

The Book of Dust
Author Philip Pullman
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Fantasy
Preceded by Lyra's Oxford

The Book of Dust is a forthcoming novel by Philip Pullman. It will be a companion novel to the His Dark Materials trilogy, and will feature Lyra Belacqua as a main character. Initially, Pullman said that the story will take place two years after the events of Lyra's Oxford and will tie into that book,[1][2] with Lyra being "about sixteen."[3] He has since said "it might be in two volumes and I think one might take place in the time before His Dark Materials and the other might take place afterwards."[4] The book will also be "about Dust,"[5] and will address the lack of positive portrayals of religion in the His Dark Materials books,[1] although it will not be a continuation of the trilogy.[6]

Pre-release history

Pullman conceived of The Book of Dust before the publication of Lyra's Oxford in 2003, but had not begun writing it at that time.[2][7] In a message on his website in April 2005, Pullman wrote that The Book of Dust was "under way".[8]

The only indication of its length is Pullman's description of it as "a big, big book."[1]

In an interview with the Oxford Mail at the premiere of the The Golden Compass movie, Pullman suggested that The Book of Dust could be released in 2009. In a later interview with Oxford University student newspaper Cherwell in June 2009, Pullman stated that the book would not be appearing in the near future, and commented that "The appropriate adverb would be ‘eventually'. It's growing, but I'm encountering complexities that seem to be making it longer than I thought it would be."[9] Pullman echoed this assessment in January 2010 during a lecture at the University of Exeter.

In February 2011, Pullman revealed to BridgetoTheStars.net that he was now thinking of producing The Book of Dust in two volumes, one as a prequel to the His Dark Materials series and one to come after.[10] He repeated this statement in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.[4] In August 2011, Pullman gave an interview to the magazine "Qué Leer" and said that The Book of Dust will take "a couple more years before you can read it".[11] On 24 September 2012, in an article featured on the BBC News website, Pullman confirmed that The Book Of Dust is now his main focus and that he has written 220 pages but it will still be a while before it is published.[12] Later, in December 2012, he told Wired Magazine that he had cleared "the whole of next year and most of the year after" to write the book.[13]

On March 15, 2014, Pullman responded to a tweet asking about The Book of Dust, stating that it will probably be finished sometime in 2015 but may not be published until 2016.[14] Pullman was still working on the book as of May 2016 and has vowed to not cut his hair until it is complete.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fleming, Tom (2007-08-03). "A very grown-up children's author". London: The Guardian Unlimited Arts Blog. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  2. 1 2 Thorpe (2003-04-06). "Pullman brings back Lyra for Oxford". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Philip Pullman: The Storyteller's Art". Barnes & Noble. 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  4. 1 2 Brown, Helen (2011-10-17). "Page in the Life: Philip Pullman". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  5. ↑ "Philip Pullman at the Oxford Literary Festival 2007". HisDarkMaterials.org. 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  6. ↑ "Philip Pullman Webchat". BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  7. ↑ Mitchison, Amanda (2003-11-03). "The art of darkness". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  8. ↑ "April message". Philip-Pullman.com. April 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  9. ↑ "Oxford's Cherwell Interviews: Philip Pullman". Cherwell. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  10. ↑ "Book of Dust in Two Parts". Bridge to The Stars. 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  11. ↑ "The book of dust still a couple more years". Bridge to The Stars. 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  12. ↑ "BBC News: Philip Pullman turns to Grimm task". BBC. 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  13. ↑ "Philip Pullman Is Planning on Going Silent". Wired.com. 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  14. ↑ "Philip Pullman on Twitter". Twitter.
  15. ↑ Nicolette Jones (6 May 2016). "Philip Pullman interview: 'I've always loved comics – now I'm writing one'". The Telegraph.
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