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The Secret Commonwealth
6 years ago
I recently finished the second volume in Phillip Pullman's Book of Dust trilogy, The Secret Commonwealth, which is in turn a follow-up to the Golden Compass series. As usual the publisher sticks it in the children and young adult book ghetto, but in no way shape or form is this a book for kids. There's a lot of stuff that will go right over their heads (and honestly, a lot of adults won't get the references either.) While the first book in the new series, La Belle Sauvage, was somewhat self-contained, The Secret Commonwealth takes place about 20 years after that book and ends on a cliffhanger (just a warning).
Lyra is 21, a college student living on her own. Her and her pine marten daemon Pan are at odds over her obsession with a new book called The Hyperchorasmians (which I'm pretty sure is a rip on Ayn Rand's Objectivist books), but the actual plot is kicked off by a murder witnessed by Pan. Lyra is inadvertently drawn into a conflict that looks like it will plunge the continent (Europe) into war. She's forced to take an incredibly dangerous trip when Pan deserts her over her embrace of the The Hyperchorasmians worldview. A person without a daemon is viewed like someone without a face would be viewed in our world, which obviously makes it very hard to go anywhere unnoticed.
Meanwhile she's being pursued by both the Magisterium (the church) and a very dangerous young man who also has an aethiomonitor (sp?). The Magisterium is consolidating it's power through both politics and terrorism, and is willing to start a war in order to suppress a scientific discovery, which is related to the murder that starts the book.
On the other side is Malcolm (from La Belle Sauvage) now in his 30's, a teacher and a member of Oakly Street, a quasi-legal organization devoted to countering the Magisterium and other threats to national security. As (England) starts to become a totalitarian state Lyra's friends suffer in her stead, while she desperately searches for Pan before she either dies or becomes a shell of herself.
This is a complex, often brutal and difficult to read story. It was one of those very rare books that kept me thinking about it long after I'd finished. (as opposed to some books where I can't even remember the basic plot, let alone any of the characters or scenes.) Because it's so challenging it's a shame that it probably won't be read as widely as it should be, but hopefully the upcoming HBO adaptation of the original trilogy will help that, assuming they don't gut it of all the controversial elements like the movie did.
Lyra is 21, a college student living on her own. Her and her pine marten daemon Pan are at odds over her obsession with a new book called The Hyperchorasmians (which I'm pretty sure is a rip on Ayn Rand's Objectivist books), but the actual plot is kicked off by a murder witnessed by Pan. Lyra is inadvertently drawn into a conflict that looks like it will plunge the continent (Europe) into war. She's forced to take an incredibly dangerous trip when Pan deserts her over her embrace of the The Hyperchorasmians worldview. A person without a daemon is viewed like someone without a face would be viewed in our world, which obviously makes it very hard to go anywhere unnoticed.
Meanwhile she's being pursued by both the Magisterium (the church) and a very dangerous young man who also has an aethiomonitor (sp?). The Magisterium is consolidating it's power through both politics and terrorism, and is willing to start a war in order to suppress a scientific discovery, which is related to the murder that starts the book.
On the other side is Malcolm (from La Belle Sauvage) now in his 30's, a teacher and a member of Oakly Street, a quasi-legal organization devoted to countering the Magisterium and other threats to national security. As (England) starts to become a totalitarian state Lyra's friends suffer in her stead, while she desperately searches for Pan before she either dies or becomes a shell of herself.
This is a complex, often brutal and difficult to read story. It was one of those very rare books that kept me thinking about it long after I'd finished. (as opposed to some books where I can't even remember the basic plot, let alone any of the characters or scenes.) Because it's so challenging it's a shame that it probably won't be read as widely as it should be, but hopefully the upcoming HBO adaptation of the original trilogy will help that, assuming they don't gut it of all the controversial elements like the movie did.
Sadly, I can't say that Griffin Ranger: New Kaerling is anywhere NEAR that deep. If it ends up to be a cut above the average fanfic, I'll be happy with the result.
I think you'll be happy to hear that I'm almost done with the first draft of the Griffin Ranger short story. It should be ready for beta readers once I do my initial editing pass in a week or so.
I have confidence that New Kaerling will turn out fine. Something doesn't have to be deep to be a good read.
Tirriss White-Shoulders has all the strengths and talents of her parents and grandparents. She also inherited almost all their flaws, too. ^.^
I read the HDM trilogy years ago and I still vividly remember things like Lee Scoresby and Hester the hare, Metatron, the Authority, intercission (sic), the knife, Panzerbjorn, &c. As you say, there is much that remains with you.
His writing really is a cut above the usual adult fiction, let alone for children.
Actually, it must be a memory glitch: in encyclopædia, it's an 'ee' sound, so it doesn't fit on the front and alæthiometer doesn't look at all right. Maybe my brain partially transposed the 'l' and the 'e'.