La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust by Phillip Pulman

A prequel to the His Dark Materials trilogy, with Lyra as an 8 month old baby? I've waited nearly 20 years for this book, and the anticipation during the countdown to release nearly killed me. I also knew going into this that I shouldn't compare it to the trilogy, and for that reason alone I put off reading it. I shouldn't of though, because as with everything Phillip Pullman writes I fell in love with these characters and this world.

The tone of the novel is much darker, I feel, than His Dark Materials. Malcolm is the same age as Lyra in the trilogy, but the themes addressed are that little bit more intense. Lyra for the most part was protected and treasured from abject harm, whereas Malcolm and Alice are faced with a number of socially immoral confrontations. I think where Phillip Pullman excels is in his young adult/child main characters. He never shies away from making them curious, complex and forcing them into these awful situations. Malcolm is no exception. He's deeply interesting, intelligent yet naive and likeable. There's something essentially very pure about him and his love for this baby. Alice is more complex. At first she comes across as very off putting, snide and mean. But we see as time develops that this is doen to a deep seated amount of self loathing and doubt she holds about herself. It takes Malcolm to bring out her good side.

I couldn't mention characters withiut bringing up the man with the hyena deamon. Everything about him screamed revulsion, loathing and horror. Her contempt for life, constantly knawing on her stump, cackling and voiding her bladder and his (essentially) self harm from hitting her made me feel reviled. It's been a while since I've had such strong contempt for a character, and I'm honestly still not entirely sure I have the full feel of who he is as a character. He was very interesting. I also loved the little introductions and expansion on familiar characters Farder Coram, Lord Asriel and Dr. Relf. My little heart did a leap when we see Farder Coram and his beautiful cat deamon again, younger and more whole than when Lyra meets him in the future, and it's alluded we'll meet him again in The Secret Commonwealth. Mrs Coulter is also mentioned a number of times, and we see her once in the presence of Malcolm and Dr. Relf which was wonderful to read. I would have loved to have seen more of her, and see more of the relationship she seems to share with the man with the hyena deamon, as I felt this wasn't fully explored or explained.

The plot itself feels like two distinct novels. The first part follows in a very similar vein to Northern Lights and Lyra's Oxford, as we discover more of Oxford and its inhabitants as Malcolm becomes embroiled in a murder mystery with spies and secret acorns. It's quite slow in its unravelling and presentation of the action, and I admit I did struggle at first to get to know these characters. The second part, called 'The Flood' is more dynamic and I enjoyed it immensely. I loved seeing Malcolm and Alice's relationship develop, and the numerous strange situations they find themselves in as they try and keep Lyra safe. It does delve into the realms of magical realism near the end, and went a little 'out there' which I wasn't necessarily expecting, but I still really enjoyed it.

I did think the ending was a little abrupt, and left a few doors open as to Malcolm and Alice's fate in the future, but it also left me desperate for the next book. This was worth the wait.

La Belle Sauvage is available to purchase now from: Amazon

 - 4 stars