The Book of Dust

Did You Know?

• The first book was adapted into a play of the same name by Bryony Lavery.
• The play, directed by Nicholas Hytner, ran at the Bridge Theatre from November 2021 to February 2022.
• The play was broadcast by National Theatre Live on 17 February 2022.

History of the trilogy

Pullman first had the idea for The Book of Dust before Lyra's Oxford came out in 2003, and by 2005 he said the project was in progress. He initially thought it would be a single, longer novel, but later considered splitting it into two volumes: one taking place before His Dark Materials and the other after. In 2017, he revealed it would actually be a trilogy, with the first book, La Belle Sauvage, released on 19 October 2017. Random House Children's and David Fickling Books co-publish the series in the UK, while Random House Children's Books handles the US edition.

Books

Pullman described The Book of Dust as an "equel" rather than a sequel, one that begins and ends with Lyra. The story focuses on the struggle between a despotic, totalitarian organisation that stifles speculation and those who believe thought and speech should be free. The books touch on research into Dust, the cosmic matter governing consciousness. The first volume, La Belle Sauvage, published in October 2017, is set about 11 years before Northern Lights.

It follows 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead and 15-year-old Alice as they protect the infant Lyra, leading to her care at Jordan College, and introduces research into Dust and the origins of Lyra's alethiometer. The second volume, The Secret Commonwealth, published on 3 October 2019, begins with Lyra as a 20-year-old undergraduate and involves her journey to the Far East via the Levant. Its title comes from a folklore compilation by Robert Kirk. At a launch event in October 2019, Pullman said the story was heading toward Central Asia, involving roses and Dust, though he had no title for the third book.

Possible titles he had mentioned earlier included The Garden of Roses or Roses from the South. By February 2023 Pullman had written 350 pages of the third book; by November 2023 he had written 500 pages of a planned 540-page novel, aiming for a 2024 publication. In mid-August 2024 he said the book was finished but needed editing, and at the end of January 2025 he confirmed it was finished and hoped it would be published that year. The third book, The Rose Field, was published on 23 October 2025, set immediately after The Secret Commonwealth.