Volume two in the Book of Dust trilogy set 20 years after La Belle Sauvage (2017), 8 years after The Amber Spyglass (2000) sees a jaded, grown-up Lyra questing to recover her dæmon Pan, who, in the fallout of their strained relationship, has deserted her to search for the imagination she has lost to adulthood. Meanwhile, Malcolm, having aged into an Indiana Jones/James Bond mashup, investigates a growing conspiracy involving the evil Magisterium and elusive existential mysteries. And, as the jacket copy says, they are not children anymore. Indeed, Pullman has left children entirely behind they're conspicuously absent, both in the book's characters and themes. Whereas earlier installments revolved around utterly earnest, naive protagonists whose innocence foiled the savagery of the greater world, we are now left to wallow in adulthood, a depressing place devoid of wonder and where for female characters the threat of sexual assault lurks around every corner. Episodic spy-thriller/political-intrigue set pieces intercut what is often a meandering rumination on philosophy, as Lyra and Malcolm separately slink through a Eurasian underworld. Alas, for His Dark Materials devotees, not a hint of middle grade remains, and teens will likely find little of interest here; reserve this for grown fans who may relish the chance to catch up with Lyra and return to her ever-expanding world.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A generation of fans is burning to reunite with Lyra for the first time since His Dark Materials, and this fall's BBC/HBO adaptation of the series will only stoke the fire.--Ronny Khuri Copyright 2019 Booklist

Don't start here. While bibliographically this second entry in Pullman's Book of Dust trilogy follows La Belle Sauvage (rev. 10/18), biographically it picks up when Lyra is twenty, with all of the events of the initial His Dark Materials trilogy now ten years in her past. Lyra's life at Oxford is complicated by a new Master of Jordan College, who wants her out, and by changes in her relationship with her daemon, Pantalaimon. "You're a fucking stranger to me, Pan" says Lyra, and while the rift feels manufactured (Lyra is reading an Ayn Rand-like bestseller that Pullman Pan deems "dangerous"), it sets up the structure of the novel as the two go their separate ways, she in pursuit of the supernatural roses grown in a forbidding Central Asian desert; he in pursuit of Lyra's "imagination." Pullman's devotees will enjoy the often-surprising but neatly done connections to the previous volumes, with the did-they-or-didn't-they end of The Amber Spyglass (rev. 11/00) answered here, and the young hero Malcolm (of La Belle Sauvage) taking a new, grownup interest in Lyra and her quest. The novel is rich in incident, but sprawling, requiring us at one point to follow six separate characters chasing the secret roses and/or one another. The "Secret Commonwealth" of the title hints at being something even more essential than Dust, but readers will have to wait for the next volume to (perhaps) find out; indeed, this book provides no resolutions to any of the conflicts and quests it proposes. Like I said, don't start here. Roger Sutton November/December 2019 p.95(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Twenty years after the events of La Belle Sauvage, and eight years after those of the His Dark Materials trilogy, this second volume in Pullman's Book of Dust series blends spy thriller, otherworldly travelogue, and philosophical musing. Twenty-year-old Lyra Silvertongue's student life in Oxford is upended when her daemon, Pantalaimon, witnesses an incident that entangles them with a covert agency to which Malcolm Polstead belongs, impelling Malcolm to investigate a shift in the global power balance. Meanwhile, Lyra's fascination with a logic-obsessed, daemon-omitting novel causes Pan to decamp in search of her imagination. Tracked by a young alethiometer savant named Bonneville, Lyra furtively sets out for the Levant, searching for a rumored refuge for separated daemons. Through prodigious planning that is likely to set up the final volume, Pullman connects characters and moments from all the previous books. The sprawling, sometimes meandering narrative follows Lyra, Pan, and Malcolm on their journeys while exploring the power of transnational religious and corporate organizations, the plight of various marginalized groups, and the importance of a worldview that includes unprovable truths. Lyra, Pantalaimon, and Malcolm are familiar yet altered by age; it is a pleasure to get to know them again. Ages 14--up. (Oct.)

Set ten years after the events of "His Dark Materials," this work finds Lyra nearly all grown up. She's a student at Oxford and acquainted with Malcolm Polstead, who is now a professor at the university, though she doesn't know their unique history until deep into the book. She and her daemon, Pantalaimon, are at odds over her interest in a philosopher who believes daemons are merely a trick of the mind, and he leaves in the middle of the night. Lyra sets out to find him, encountering myriad wonders and terrors, including a black market where daemons are sold and a refugee crisis. Michael Sheen is a powerhouse narrator, easily juggling a multiplicity of characters, both human and daemon, and propelling listeners into Pullman's intricate world. VERDICT The popularity of the series, as well as the recent BBC/HBO adaptation, make this an autobuy whatever its quality, but a strong story combined with Sheen's outstanding narration makes it a joy to listen to.--Stephanie Klose, Library Journal

A desert rose with mysterious properties sets off a rush.The events of The Book of Dust (2017) and the His Dark Materials series behind her, Lyra Silvertongue has grown into a rude post-teen so enthralled by the existential hyperrationalism of two popular writers that even her daemon Pantalaimon can't stand to talk to her. Believing that Lyra's imagination has been stolen, Pan braves mutual anguish to slip off to fetch it back. Meanwhile, hints of a rare Central Asian rose whose attar confers the power to see Dust arrive in Brytain, the theocratic Magisterium is poised to expand its reach under the sway of a sinister mastermind, and Malcolm Polstead, Oxford professor and secret agent, finds himself involved in ominous local eventsall adding up to multiple characters embarking on parallel journeys across Europe and onward. Pullman places his cast of white main characters in a Eurocentric world marked by rising authoritarianism, general anxiety, desperate refugees, and anonymous terrorists violently destroying rose crops in the name of a vaguely religious Holy Purpose. He skillfully weaves in deeper themes of change and of love's complexities, ruminations on the nature of evil, evidence of magical truths beneath reality's veneer, swipes at organized religion, and the powerfulif often twistedties of family. This entry, while well stocked with familiar characters in a story founded on ideas, is also not lacking in grand events and narrow squeaks.Exhilarating. (Fantasy. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.