Join our … The Secret Commonwealth is complicated, with ambitious vocabulary and convoluted concepts that can be hard to grasp. And the deepest pleasure of reading The Secret Commonwealth comes from watching Lyra become more and more like the best parts of her child self, remembering … The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman review — Little Lyra turns annoying student It’s a ripping yarn but our heroine needs a good talking to, says Leaf Arbuthnot. • The Secret Commonwealth is published by Penguin/David Fickling (£20). From the outset we get the sense that things have changed from the events of His Dark Materials as we dive back into Pullman’s world with The Secret Commonwealth. The Secret Commonwealth is a majestic return to Lyra’s next chapter with all the magic, folklore, and fantasy only Philip Pullman can provide. There are strange episodes and encounters, some of which may not entirely justify their presence. The Secret Commonwealth begins years after the events of His Dark Materials, and Lyra is 20 years old now, a college student. Free UK p&p over £15, online orders only. In The Secret Commonwealth, all those high-minded notions about Dust have been all but abandoned, and the element is back to being a subject of fear and distrust. The murder Pan witnesses reveals Pullman’s MacGuffin – the object or … The Book of Dust Volume Two: The Secret Commonwealth, by Philip Pullman, David Fickling Books with Penguin, RRP£20/Knopf, RRP$22.99, 704 pages. To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Pullman’s political and social worlds echo ours as much as his conjuring of the psychological realm. “It used to be you who was impulsive,” said Pan, “and me who held you back. The book’s emotional core, however, carries us through, as we follow Lyra and Pan, and Malcolm, and encounter two terrifying villains, one dangerously powerful, the other just dangerous. Beware for spoilers ahead! In The Secret Commonwealth Lyria is troubled by new burdens – the burdens of adulthood. In our The Secret Commonwealth review, the new book in the His Dark Materials spin-off trilogy, The Book of Dust, is an intriguing and frustrating thriller. The Secret Commonweath by Philip Pullman review – a work of extraordinary depth Pullman nods to the refugee crisis and the state of democracy in … Meanwhile, hints of a rare Central Asian rose whose attar confers the power to see Dust arrive in Brytain, the theocratic Magisterium is poised to expand its reach under the sway of a sinister mastermind, and Malcolm Polstead, Oxford professor and secret agent, finds himself involved in ominous local events—all adding up to multiple characters embarking on parallel journeys across Europe and … Leaf Arbuthnot.