Book of Dust
(Volume One)
By Phillip Pullman
I just learned that His Dark Materials is being made into a TV show on HBO. I think it might be an attempt to capture some of the Games Of Throne audience.
While looking up some stuff on
His Dark Materials, I discovered a few related books that I hadn't read. The first one was
the Book of Dust. This is a prequel to
His Dark Materials. It ended at a good place but with a "to be continued" and I just checked and a sequel will be published in the fall. Not sure if there will be another book after that.
I loved
the Book of Dust. It takes place around 10 or 12 years before His Dark Materials. Pullman is pretty good at writing children into his books and this book has two teenage protagonists. If you haven't read
His Dark Materials you might want to start there, or just wait for the TV show. but
The Book of Dust, being a prequel, won't have any spoilers.
I read all of His Dark Materials back when they were new. About 20 years ago. In case you missed His Dark Materials when it was first published here is a quick description.
His Dark Materials is a fantasy trilogy by Phillip Pullman.
Twenty years ago it was
super popular with teenagers. I think some of that was timing, as children who grew up with Harry Potter wanted something more "grown-up" to read.
The publisher marketed it as YA, and the main protagonist is a child. But I don't think it was overlooked by adult fantasy readers. The author, when writing it, was not intending it for a teen audience. But it was a big fad among kids for a while.
Some of the fantasy elements of the books were very unique and imaginative. People's souls are visible and take the shape of an animal. There are flying witches and armored polar bears.
One of the book's themes is very critical of organized religion. in the books, the Catholic Church is pretty readily identifiable. Many religious groups came out against the books. I believe some libraries banned it and there may have been a book burning or two. Of course, that kind of publicity made it only more popular with teenagers.
Being that it was super popular with teens a movie deal was struck. the movie was called the
Golden Compass and pretty much told the story in the first book. I believe there were plans to make all the books into the movies.
I saw the movie and thought it was great. Lots of CGI - but well done. And a great cast. But the movie got mixed reviews and didn't do well at the box office. (I believe Christian groups called for boycotts. In fact, I think I remember having trouble seeing it in a theatre). If I remember right, among the book's lovers, there was a lot of criticism that the movie didn't follow the source material close enough - but I felt that was unfair criticism. In fact, I liked the movie a lot.
Here is the theatrical trailer
Oh! and here is a preview of the HBO TV show. It looks terrific.
