Philip Pullman (1965, English) announces follow-ups to His Dark Materials
Exciting news for fans of fantasy novels! Philip Pullman (1965, English) has announced the long-awaited follow-up to his best-selling trilogy of novels, His Dark Materials.
The new trilogy will be called The Book of Dust and the first part will be released in October this year, 17 years after the final part of the His Dark Materials trilogy was released.
The series will return to the story of Lyra Belacqua, the heroine of His Dark Materials. It will begin when she is a baby and move on to when she is 20 years old.
Talking to Radio 4’s Today Programme Philip Pullman said: “People say, ‘Is it a prequel? Is it a sequel?’ Well, it is neither. It’s an ‘equel’. It’s a different story which begins roughly 10 years before His Dark Materials and ends roughly 10 years after.”
In a separate interview Mr Pullman said: “I know from their letters and tweets that my readers have been waiting patiently (mostly) for The Book of Dust for a long time.
“It gives me great pleasure and some excitement at last to satisfy their curiosity (and mine) about this book.
“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.”
Mr Pullman’s last His Dark Materials book was published in October 2000, and the first volume of the new series will come out on Thursday 19 October. The original trilogy is currently being adapted for television by the BBC.
