Pullman- The Secret Commonwealth

[Heathcliff]

The new book by Philip Pullman is out, in the Book of Dust trilogy- called 'The Secret Commonwealth'.

Is anyone else reading this marvellous book?

[Shay]

Not yet, though I did download the ebook. I want to reread the original trilogy first in preparation for the tv show coming out soon since it's been a very long time since I've read it. It was a long time since I'd read it when the subpar movie came out... I haven't read the first book of dust yet either. I am still debating a bit on the order to read them in. From what I researched, the first book of dust takes place before the first dark materials book, but according to reviews, it's best not to read it first if you aren't familiar with the original series as you won't get all the references. It's been long enough since I've read them that I should probably follow that advice even if I remember the basic plot. I have yet to read any of the newer companion books that were added to the dark materials series either, so that will be something new for me as well. Life has been pretty busy these days, so I'm not quite sure when I'm going to get to all of this.

 

[Heathcliff]

It’s only my personal opinion but I would say, read them in the order they were released. The first Book of Dust is a genuine prequel, meant for when you’ve read His Dark Materials (the trilogy).

I confess that I don’t know about the companion books.

[Shay]

Thanks. Usually I do prefer to read things in chronological order regardless of release date,  but I think I tend to agree when it's a case of not being able to fully understand everything being referenced if you hadn't read the previous books or had read them so long ago you don't remember them well. If only everything could be like The Chronicles of Narnia where it doesn't matter that much if you read them in chronological order rather than order published the first time around.

[Heathcliff]

I understand your point of reading books in chronological order- it's a perfectly good way to experience the story.

What I was thinking of- there are a few revelations in His Dark Materials which are meant to come as a surprise to the reader. If you read La Belle Sauvage first, they will be spoiled for you. But you get a different experience of the story that way I suppose.

But- definitely read His Dark Materials before you read The Secret Commonwealth- the Secret Commonwealth makes lots of references to the earlier books, and I think you'd have to accept a lot of weird events if you hadn't read the others!

It's good to speak with you Shay.

[Shay]

Yeah, I read the new book takes place after the original series so it would only make sense to read it last.

[Heathcliff]

I finished the new book tonight. It's really interesting, but ends on a cliffhanger, so we have to wait for the final book to finish the story.

It also gets quite brutal and dark towards the end- this is not a book for kids.

[Shay]

What about those that are kids at heart? Thanks for the heads up about the cliffhanger. I wonder how long it will take for the next book? I might just hold off on the dust series until then since I doubt the TV series will cover that.