The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust, Volume 2

I am loving this new trilogy -- even more, in fact, than the original Dark Materials trio, and that's saying a lot.I wish, however, that I had waited to buy this second volume of it. The first, Belle Sauvage, is a stand-alone book. This one is an installment -- it ends with the most blatant cliffhanger I've encountered yet.If the third book of the trilogy existed, I would have just bought it and been happy. But it doesn't, and I can't even pre-order it. Just sayin' -- you might want to wait to buy this one til its other half is published.

Yesterday I finished reading 'The Secret Commonwealth,' and today I began re-reading it. It is one of the most important books I've read in my almost sixty-seven years on this planet because of my own intuitions of and yearnings for "the secret commonwealth," and my inner conflict as a result of that because I also highly value the scientific method. (I am especially interested in genetic anthropology.) At the same time, while the findings of science can be very exciting, even awe-inspiring, the world of the imagination, of intuition, has been the world that sustained me most of my life, including throughout a very difficult childhood and difficult teenage period of my life. Philip Pullman could have written 'The Secret Commonwealth' expressly for me, and I suspect many others will feel the same way. I cannot wait for the next book in the trilogy to be released! (I have, by the way, read the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy MANY times.)

I loved the "Dark Materials" trilogy. It had mythic sweep and philosophical depth.I'm almost finished with "The Secret Commonwealth," and I have mixed feelings about this one. On the positive side: It is better than "La Belle Sauvage" and it returns more to the original template of the "Dark Materials" triology. It's a pleasure to return to some of the original characters.On the more negative or "mixed" side: This book does not have the mythic sweep of the original trilogy, which kept me always engaged in terms of its metaphysical revelations and plot twists. There is nothing in the current book that comes up to the original trilogy's ties to the story of "the fall" in the Old Testament. The characters in the current book seem more "black and white" to me than many of the central characters in "Dark Materials." Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter were always fascinating and magnetic, if sometimes (often?) despicable, and there were many subtleties in their portrayals. Indeed, they seemed to be "demi-gods" in some respects. There are no characters that come close to this kind of complexity and subtlety in the current book.Also, "The Secret Commonwealth" often seems, to me, to have a "Perils of Pauline" quality to it: The characters move from crisis to crisis, and from one kind of extreme peril to another, with little cohesive plot narrative holding it all together. It's more action for the sake of action. The book seems more "plot driven" than character or concept driven. Apropos of this, I learned very little new about the nature of "Dust" in reading this book. However, I certainly did when I read "His Dark Materials."The plot of "The Secret Commonwealth" seems much more driven by coincidence and happenstance than that of the "Dark Materials" trilogy. (I know, this shows the influence of "the secret commonwealth," but at some point the continual coincidental occurrences strain credulity. I know this is a fantasy work, but in "Dark Materials" the world depicted seemed more coherent and the "magic" had a kind of internal consistency to it.)Some of the characters seem just too good and too astute to be true. For example, in the course of his adventures and battles, Malcolm seems just too able to instantly grasp situations, see subtle nonverbal cues in others, and perceive "exits" from almost impossibly difficult situations. Alison Wetherfield also seemed "too good to be true." Pullman tells us she will return in his final book. It seemed clear to me from her first appearance that there was "more to her" than was being revealed at the time.Some of the scenes simply didn't have a kind of psychological reality to me. For example, when Lyra visited the elderly princess in her mansion, it would make sense to me that the princess would offer Lyra a night's lodging, and not just send her on her dusty, dreary way. Also, the way some characters were able to "talk down" violent situations (as in the meeting of rose growers that was attacked by the "mountain men") seemed unrealistic to me. And Lyra just blabbed too much to absolute strangers. In my mind, for all its wild and exotic fantasy, the "Dark Materials" trilogy was characterized by a kind of rigorous psychological reality.There's much more violence in "Secret Commonwealth" than in "Dark Materials." Just an observation. I know Pullman says this is a darker story for a Lyra who is now an adult.Finally, the attempt to relate the plot to current events (e.g., the current refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe) seems mixed in its effectiveness, to me.And finally, finally: God was killed at the end of the "Dark Materials." But I guess he's never really killed, is he? The Magesterium just keeps making comebacks.If the "Dark Materials" was Lyra's quest through the frigid north of (some) adults' and adult institutions' cruelty, then "Secret Commonwealth" is her trek through the parched desert of the soul (or lack of soul).

I cannot imagine a single reader of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy who could have ever imagined they would have disliked a return to Lyra's world, let alone disliked Lyra herself - and, to a lesser extent, Pan - so thoroughly. I feel like my expectations were so high - probably too high - and they just crashed to the ground (unfortunately, as I started the book midflight)! There were *so* many problems with Pullman's writing - it was completely overblown and overpopulated with characters I didn't know, nor could I care about. The narration and setting up of his new plot with the roses was just so ... I hate to even write the word ... boring. It was near impossible to continue rooting for Lyra; she was THAT obnoxious. With such a huge time jump, the changes in her were simply not believable. That she could completely lose her fierce, lovely imagination based on the reading of two books - that she could turn her back on all that she was and all she had experienced, that she could turn her back on Pan - it was just too much for me. I had come to care for Malcolm in the first book, but Pullman rendered him as a creepy and pathetic adult. There was no motivation whatsoever for his character to develop romantic feelings for a young student. Perhaps had they journeyed together, his feelings could have grown organically - but no. Creepy. Pullman's decision to separate every single character from each other could have worked, had he been able to avoid his own "middle book" arrogance and continued smacking us across the face with people and things we had no foundation to care about. Lyra's adventures did get more interesting (and her character more sympathetic) as the book went on, but that wasn't enough to carry this mess of a book, which read more like a supercilious, self-indulgent lecture of the evils of organized religion without any real whys or wherefores. The reasons for the importance of Lyra herself weren't even hinted at until nearly the end of the book, and by then, I pretty much didn't care. The settings were probably the best part of the book, expanding into a fascinating world view, but they weren't enough to save this book. It took me the better part of a week to plod through it, when I expected to read it in one or two sittings. And so many things just crushed me. I will still read the final book, and maybe it will go better since I have the lowest possible expectations at this point. (In an aside, I'll point out that I followed this book up with "The 10,000 Doors of January," which was pretty much everything this book was not, even given the main character's continual poor choices. ) I'm still devastated. I wanted to love this book so much. I only gave it two stars because I couldn't bear to give it only 1.

Trigger warning: Violence against women. Rape.This is a really hard review for me to write because I was looking forward to this book so much. I loved His Dark Materials as a teen and, although I was disappointed by La Belle Sauvage, I was excited to find out what Lyra was like as an adult. However, the result wasn't entirely satisfying.While it was nice to revisit Lyra's Oxford once again, my biggest problem with The Secret Commonwealth was its length. This novel pushes 700 pages in length and it certainly felt it. While the early chapters, in which Lyra and Pan investigated a murder, were gripping, the novel soon began to get bogged down. While the previous novels all contained complex themes, The Secret Commonwealth is the first that I would say is probably too complex for younger readers. The novel has no characters under the age of twenty this time around, and the dialogue contains some stark criticism of organised religion, politics and philosophy that often touches close to real life events.The novel also contains some very adult incidents. While the earlier novels could be violent and frightening in places, this novel was just dark. The worse violence in the story is almost exclusively focused on female characters, who are still largely seem to be a lot weaker and less effectual than their male counterparts. Once act of violence against a primary character towards the end of the novel left a particularly bad taste in my mouth as it was gratuitous and used purely for shock value, adding nothing to the character's development.The novel flips between the third person perspectives four primary protagonists - Lyra Silvertongue, Pantalaimon, Malcolm Polstead and Olivier Bonneville - with occasional chapters that focus on other secondary characters. As with previous instalments, I personally felt that this was to much. The focus jumped around a lot, giving us glimpses into the characters at different points in their journeys with no true sense of the passage of time. None of the these stories received any degree of closure, which brings me to another problem. The Secret Commonwealth is a middle novel of the worst kind, acting as an extended build up to the final act. While characters are moved into position, no plots are tied up and the novel ends with a horrible cliffhanger, cutting off the action in mid-flow and raising many questions without answering any.In terms of characterisation, I was also left a bit underwhelmed. The Lyra of this story is a pale shadow of what she once was and just seems ordinary. Gone is her confidence and ability to lie, apparently swallowed by her newfound interest in philosophy, although I never truly felt this in the story. While Lyra did get some of this back as the story progressed, she is still thoroughly dependant on others over the course of the story, particularly the male characters.Pan also posed a problem. While he was more sympathetic than Lyra, I never really understood how their hatred of each other began and Pan's actions in the story make as little sense as Lyra's. He often seems to be spoiling for an argument, provoked by nothing, and he seems to vanish from the plot in its final act. Ultimately, I wasn't even sure where he was during the climax.Malcolm's chapters are a little more interesting, as he seems a lot more in control than Lyra, though I did find his attraction to her a little unsettling. While I have no issue with the age gap (both are adults), the fact that he has known her from birth and seemed to have some attraction to her as an underage student made this very creepy. As with Pan, the final time we see Malcolm in the story also left his fate uncertain, which was most frustrating!Beyond these three, the novel had a vast cast of secondary character across many different countries. Everywhere that Lyra and Malcolm travelled seemed to open up a new host of friends and foes, many of whom were brand new. This often made me have to flip backwards and forwards to remind myself who belonged to which faction and what their connections were, as many only existed as names and received little development as the story progressed.So, all in all, I liked this book more than La Belle Sauvage but it still had many problems with pacing and characterisation. He's hoping that all of this build-up leads to a more satisfying finale!

My wife and I both loved His Dark Materials and consider it one of our absolute favourite stories ever. Our daughter is named Lyra after the protagonist of that series (and this new novel). We both thoroughly enjoyed La Belle Sauvage too and were greatly looking forward to this one. We bought it in hardback and on kindle. The paper copy just a keepsake of what would surely be an amazing book.To say I am disappointed in this book is a huge understatement. If you are a fan of His Dark Materials no doubt you have already read this but WITH SOME DEGREE OF SPOILER i will try and outline now why it has upset me so much. It started well enough with a little bit of intrigue. Lyra is not nearly as compelling to read as an adult and her relationship with Pan is upsetting. The events of His Dark Materials also seem to have had a bizarrely immaterial effect on the world when one consides the magisterium was on the loosing side of a rather massive conflict. And a quarter of the way through the book Pullman slaps you in the face: crowbarring awkwardly and unnecessarily a 'love' story between characters that is as inappropriate, creepy and morally repugnant as it is a total betrayal of a character's former good nature who was much loved by me before this novel. And leaving me wanting that character to die a profoundly noble death at the earliest opportunity so he might be forgiven for his lecherous sniffing. So profoundly shocking was this ridiculous writing decision that I felt like putting my kindle down and not reading more. The book then progressively turns into a more and more extraordinarily boring snorefest of one irritating nothing after another - with absolutely no imperative whatsoever driving the reader to turn the pages and read on to the end.The story is a nonsensical mishmash of odd encounters and ideas with no substantive overarching gripping plot. Very few likeable or even very believable characters - adult versions of formerly child characters now dull stereotypes. What can only be described as gratuitous use of threat of, and actual, sexual violence was as insensitively written as it was irrelevant and unjustified in narrative terms, whilst being extraordinarily distressing to the reader. And along with a feeling that the author arbitrarily and morbidly wished to focus on sinister threats the context and subsequent narrative came off as being both misogynistic and culturally offensive or racist etc.I read La Belle Sauvage in a night. This book was a grinding mission that took me several hateful days to wade through. Even the end of the book - with the exception of a couple of sections back in Oxford - was thoroughly dull. Excruciatingly dull.My wife finished it before me and we agreed (as did friends of hers) on the above points made.Read His Dark Materials, and read La Belle Sauvage - and if after that you have fallen in love with the characters therein: LEAVE THIS BOOK WELL ALONE.I am returning the hardback copy for a refund - we do not want a keepsake of this horrific failure. In fact, I am seeing a hypnotherapist to see if the memory of it can be substantively repressed.

I'm halfway through, and I'm only finishing it in case it comes alive. it's extraordinarily low in energy and invention; the few references to Dark Materials seem to be put in as an editorial necessity but add nothing. There are too many characters - at least, too many without distinguishing features. Lyra is depressed; Pan has detached himself; they're off on journeys that lack any kind of emergency. It feels horribly formulaic.The interesting inventions that overflowed in the previous books just aren't there. Where are the bears? Where are the witches? The mulefa? What happened after all the seismic changes in the first volumes? And the introduction of characters like Mozart and Napoleon - yes, honestly - don't sit well in a world that's supposed to have split off from our world several hundred years ago.Part of the plot consists of an argument between two best-selling philosophers who have somewhat reductionist views of human life. Neither is described with any sort of detail, they're not very interesting, and I really can't work out what purpose they serve. I suppose the intention was to satirise some current debates - or maybe to revert to Gulliver's discovery of the big-enders and little-enders - but the satire lacks bite.I'll finish it, of course; just as I used to finish my vegetables. But I doubt I'll enjoy it or even remember what it was all about.

The exact opposite of a page-turner.I did turn the pages, of course, in the hope that something interesting would be over-leaf but it seldom was and I lost the will to live long before the end.As for people here praising the writing, I can't think what sort of things they must be reading.To me the writing is humdrum, without much spark or wit. I want a work of fiction to have me riveted. To find that hours have flown by and it won't be too long before I have to get up.I can think of any number of authors to whom that applies, even in some of their books that I don't rate too highly. And many make profound points, as well as entertain.I'm struggling to think why the author bothered. The reasons can't surely be financial so if it's social commentary he's wanting to make, why not just come out and make it without fictionalising in such a long, drawn out fashion..I'm also at a loss as to how professional reviewers can be so full of praise. Perhaps they're unable to see profundity in the real world and have to look for it elsewhere.

I am so disappointed with this book that I'm almost angry. I'm finding it tedious and finishing it has become a chore. I'm forcing myself to read a chapter at a time until I can put this book behind me.Lyra's character has changed so significantly that it is impossible to recognise in her the child she once was. This would be fine if her character was properly developed, but this Lyra is almost 2 dimensional.The other characters range from pantomime villain to forgettable raconteurs. None are given any depth or a unique voice. It's possible that they will be further developed in the next book, but for now I almost needed to write a dramatis personae to keep them apart.Finally, the writing style is nowhere near as engaging and tight as in previous Pullman books. It almost feels as if the Editor was on holiday and the book went straight to print without refinement.Overall a disappointing offer after a 2 year wait. Now instead of looking forward to the next release, I am dreading the decision on whether to stay with it to the bitter end or abandon the series now as a lost cause.