Things We Know So Far: The Book of Dust Edition
Triggered by the release of an extract of the new book, I’ve decided we are in need of one of those posts that gather all the information in one place. We don’t have any spoilers below, unless you consider the general plot a spoiler.
It will be released on October 19, 2017
The title is “La Belle Sauvage”
List price starting at £20
It’ll have ebook, hardback and audio format
We’ll get to the bottom of Dust
“At the centre of The Book of Dust is the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organisation, which wants to stifle speculation and inquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free”
The new book shifts between Lyra’s birth and a period 10 years after the previous trilogy’s conclusion
Its main character is a 11 year old boy named Malcolm Polstead
He had a cameo appearance in ONE book of the original trilogy (“He had a walk-on part in another book, but I’m not saying which, and in any case you have to look carefully.”)
This extract of the book was taken from chapter 10
The title is the name of the canoe that belongs to Malcolm and that he later lends it to Lord Asriel
Lord Asriel, by the way, will be “as commanding a presence as he was in Northern Lights”.
Other characters from the earlier series will appear (Mrs Coulter and WILL PARRY are confirmed)
Some of the story of La Belle Sauvage is set during “a massive flood”, hence the importance of the canoe
“The canoe is named after a famous inn, inspired by a real medieval London tavern, which Malcolm explains had, hanging outside, “a picture of a beautiful lady, and she’d done something brave, but I don’t know what it was”.
On to the speculations, guys.
