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| Cover art by John Lawrence |
A really enjoyable short story in a companion book to Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' series that completes my re-read of the entire series before the new 'The Book Of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth' book and 'His Dark Materials' TV series are released.
Set a couple of years after the end of 'The Amber Spyglass', the short story sees Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon, saving a witch's daemon from a flock of birds and are entrusted to help it find the home of an alchemist in Oxford. But what she thought was a simple task becomes a whole lot more dangerous than Lyra bargained for.
A short and quick adventure for Lyra and Pantalaimon, with a message of sorts that runs through the story; "Everything means something . . . We just have to find out how to read it." Is Pullman hinting at what's to come? If so, it would be interesting to see if 'Lyra's Oxford' has any bearing on Pullman's new 'The Book Of Dust' trilogy, maybe as a kind of prequel perhaps? As I get a distinct impression that it could be setting things up for possible future events. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it? Time will tell.
It was good to revisit Lyra's alternative Oxford once again, and get reacquainted with Lyra and Pan (in his final form) again too. We also get a cameo appearance by a certain young Dr Polstead, whom we first meet as young boy in the first volume of 'The Book of Dust' trilogy, 'La Belle Sauvage', which was pretty cool to see, although he has no bearing on this story.
An all too brief, yet still enjoyable read and welcome return to Pullman's alternative Oxford. The book also has bonus extras like maps, postcards and more, that will delight fans of the 'His Dark Materials' / 'The Book Of Dust' series. A lovely addition to the series.
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