I took a day off work to read this, the day after it was released. I haven’t taken a day off to read a book in 6 years. Unless you count when I read Nona the Ninth while on holiday at Rottnest (that was kinda different since I was already on paid time off, imo). It took me about 6 hours to complete.

The previous two books came out well before I started blogging my reads. For both of them, I found it hard to put down, it pretty much took over my life for the time I was reading it haha. La Belle Sauvage actually probably really helped me get back into reading again. I had forgotten what it was like to feel spellbound over a book.

Despite being the concluding novel, this book didn’t feel that frantic. Although damn did the characters move around a lot in what was also quite a short amount of time in actual novel time. The amount of meet ups and separations was a real whirlwind. But it was done in a way that I never felt like I was losing track of things.

Some things I really liked:

• Book 2 was a lot of Lyra and Pan being quite angry at each other. Book 3 was mostly the two of them reflecting on their actions and wanting to reconcile. It was sweet but also felt like the process two good friends would go through after having a fight. Which might sound weird since they are the same person, but I feel makes sense given how they can ‘separate’ and therefore how that might change their relationship
• Ionidis had a really poetic way of talking which was a joy to read. And I loved how Lyra never let him weave his way out of a question 😆
• How Malcolm and Alice’s relationship has changed over time but is still one of love
• The description of imagination being that which finds connections between things
• Alice’s freaking awesome jailbreak using the truck 🤩
• The cover. I didn’t realise at first (because I only glanced at it) but it has Pantalaimon and Astra on it. I actually never really fully understood what animal Pantalaimon settled on and now I know. Also Astra is pretty.

Some things I feel a bit odd about (although a lot may be due to me not revisiting the previous two books before reading this one):

• Malcolm’s feelings towards Lyra. I remember feeling conflicted in the second novel because it felt inappropriate for him to be romantically in love with her. But then in this book I started questioning if it was romantic love or just affectionate love. There were times when they were in very close proximity to each other but he seemed to act like he wasn’t affected by it (it was actually Lyra that felt that way). But now I’m also starting to wonder if a romantic relationship between the two of them would be that bad? Age differences aren’t that bad a thing and they are both adults now. Was I hung up on how he was her teacher and therefore in a position of ‘power’? But it seems like it was a temporary tutor situation. Or was it he knew her since she was a baby hence the weirdness, but the counter to that is he never knew her as a child right, so an adult Lyra would be like meeting a whole new person. I think also the relationship between Malcom and Alice changing over time made me more receptive to a potential relationship between Malcom and Lyra. I think mostly though, the way Malcom conducted himself around Lyra made me respect him and that he wouldn’t do anything inappropriate.
• Olivier’s relationship to Lyra. At first it felt like a reveal for the shock factor. But thinking about it more made me wonder if the ability to read the alethiometer actually came from Mrs Coulter. And the potential for the future feels really positive. They both now have family whereas before they had lost both their parents and their shared interest could result in some major gains in the alethiometer space. Also, the fact that Mrs Coulter had two children outside of marriage felt pretty ironic given her brother was putting her on some sort of Madonna pedestal. Nah, she did what she wanted, religious beliefs be damned 🤣 But it also made me wonder more about Olivier’s father. Mrs Coulter would not have been attracted to the man he was in La Belle Sauvage. So what kind of man was he before that, to have caught Mrs Coulter’s eye 🤔
• Reopening the possibility of connecting to Will’s world??? I was satisfied with the Angel’s explanation and Lyra’s rebuttal. About how even angels aren’t necessarily infallible and don’t understand human experiences. But I didn’t like how they made it a possibility for Lyra and Will to reunite. After it felt like they had made their decision with conviction. But I suppose life isn’t nice and neat, so why not? At the very least, I’m glad they didn’t go into Lyra’s thought process about whether she would want to try to do something like that with the alethiometer needle or not.
• Leila was a damn awesome character but I feel like she didn’t really get sufficient time to shine. I guess she wasn’t one of the main characters though.
• Alkahest = money felt a bit trite to be honest. Although I suppose it doesn’t necessarily need to be money, it’s anything that frays bonds between people/themselves.
• I need to re-read the second book because I can’t remember the origin of the prophetic fairytale book…
• So the first two were really thought provoking about the relationship people have with themselves. I felt like there was a lot less of this in the third book. I suppose, Malcolm/Asta never felt that uneasy being away from each other? Although maybe that goes to show how strong their sense of self is?

Now to wait for Folio Society to release this book so I can complete my collection. Then someday time to reread it all from The Northern Lights onwards, including the short stories which I own but haven’t read yet. It will be a good time 😊

Categories: Book Reviews

Tagged as: Philip Pullman The Book of Dust

hikaru