La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust Series #1)

by Philip Pullman Narrated by Michael Sheen

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Re-enter the world of His Dark Materials alongside Malcolm in this magical and meaningful addition to the timeless Philip Pullman classic. Malcolm has his quest laid out before him, but that quest revolves around a familiar name — Lyra.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

2018 Odyssey Honor*
2018 ALSC Notable Children's Recording
The Washington Post*Best Audiobook of 2017
Slate*Best Audiobook of 2017
Booklist*Editor's Choice Audio for Youth
AudioFile*Best YA Audiobooks of 2017

"Too few things in our world are worth a seventeen year wait:*The Book of Dust is one of them." -The Washington Post

Philip Pullman returns to the parallel world of his groundbreaking novel*The Golden Compass to expand on the story of Lyra, "one of fantasy's most indelible characters." (The*New York Times Magazine)

Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy....

Malcolm's parents run an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his daemon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue.*

He finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust-and the spy it was intended for finds him.*

When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he sees suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl-just a baby-named Lyra.

Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. And Malcolm will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through the storm.

"The book is full of wonder. . . . Truly thrilling."*-The New York Times

"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

Note: This audiobook was recorded from the U.K. edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"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

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2017-10-19
Pullman's return to the realms of His Dark Materials moves the timeline back to Lyra's infancy with a tale of young people struggling against outsized forces of both nature and evil.It's a story in two parts, as the author devotes nearly the entire first half to a slow buildup of tension around a certain baby recently consigned to the indulgent sisters of a nearby priory, to setting the cast in place, and to the founding of a network of student informants dubbed the "League of St. Alexander" (after an early convert who consigned his pagan parents to the flames—it's clear the author continues to wield his anything-but-subtle knife on organized Christianity). Then, impelled by a devastating flood and the attentions of a sinister stranger with a horribly wounded, abused hyena for a daemon, 11-year-old Malcolm Pollstead undertakes a desperate rescue. He bundles the laughing infant into his canoe (named La Belle Sauvage) along with teenage acquaintance Alice Parslow. The terrifying hazards they encounter are natural, unnatural, and even supernatural. The rescue becomes a long flight—part idyll, part nightmare—that ultimately leaves the burbling babe and her daemon, Pantalaimon, ensconced in Jordan College. First, though, come encounters with Lyra's larger-than-life parents and numerous other characters met in other books in the series, no fewer than three of the world's six alethiometers, the odd fairy or river god, and a sick, twisted villain whose relentless pursuit leads to a rape in the tale's most hideously violent episode. Save for a few "gyptians," the human cast is white. Illustrations not seen.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. (Fantasy. 13-adult)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172195693
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/19/2017
Series:	Book of Dust Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Eleven-year-old Malcolm lives with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford, across the river Thames from Godstow Priory, where the nuns are looking after a special guest. One night his father comes to Malcolm’s bedroom.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume 1)"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Philip Pullman.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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