This book takes place some 12 years before The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights), when Lyra is just a baby. I think I waited too long after reading the original because I spent most of my time trying to remember characters and events and whether magic was a real thing in this universe and whatever else. It's pretty good but wow is it ever long.

A note on the audio: Michael Sheen is sheer delight. ( )

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! ( )

Malcolm Polstead is a clever, curious and kind eleven-year-old. He lives with his publican parents at The Trout on the banks of the Thames. He loves to explore Oxford in his canoe, La Belle Sauvage, with Asta, his shape-changing daemon. On the opposite bank of the river, a convent of kindly nuns take in a foster baby. When Malcolm is introduced to her, he's irrevocably smitten. The baby is named Lyra. And soon, Malcolm finds himself on an epic journey to save Lyra from the dark forces backed by the might of the Magisterium... [a:Philip Pullman|3618|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1396622492p2/3618.jpg] has created another gorgeously imaginative adventure in the world of the [b:His Dark Materials|18116|His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442329494s/18116.jpg|1943518] series, where every person's soul is visible in the shape of an animal, where witches make prophecies and golden instruments will give you answers (if you know how to interpret them), but where free thought and scientific investigation are under threat by a menacingly powerful religious authority. Pulman's cast of characters are clearly and individually drawn and I was full of love or loathing for them as I read. His writing is the kind that makes me long to be a child again, to discover books again and wonder at a book's ability to take me so far away yet bring me safely back home at the end. ( )

Wonderful, of course. ( )

Lyra is a baby and more than one person wants to have her, most for bad reasons and others know they can't look after her as she would need, partly who they are, partly what they do . . . There is only one solution and the responsibility for getting her to the only safe place (you know what that is if you have read the first books) goes to Malcolm Polstead, age 11. It's a wild ride, floods and villains, more about dust and daemons . . . A great addition to the epic tale. Looking forward to book 2 and I understand book 3 is complete or nearly so . . . so soon! I expect book 2 follows after the events of the first three books when she is older. ****1/2 ( )