One thing I find interest was Pan's obsession with the idea that Lyra's imagination was something physical that he could find, bring back to her, and everything would go back to the way they were before they started quarreling. I think it showed impatience and a reluctance to let go of the past on his part. I'd also like to see a confrontation between Lyra, with Pan, and their grandmother. I think they'd learn a great deal from the encounter.
I love how different it is from His Dark Materials too. I was not fully sure how to understand La Belle Sauvage when I first read it (though I loved it), but a few chapters into The Secret Commonwealth it just 'clicked'. The pace, the tone, the subject matter, all fell more deeply into place for me. Terrific conception.
Agree with your comments! I loved Lyra’s developed layers of complexity and her diminished confidence, as you said it rings very true, psychologically. Also very much enjoyed the deeper focus on daemons. I love how effortlessly real Malcolm is - such a good person, but not two dimensional in any way. Adult Malcolm is exactly as i would have imagined and hoped. I felt this book does feel less of a complete entity than La Belle Sauvage - for good reason of course, in setting up for the final part. Loved it and will re-read very soon!
Jess K I really agree with what you’ve said. I found the novel quite complex and am going to read again. There’s the whole new understandings about humans and daemons, the powers at work, both openly and secretly; the magisterium versus science. I couldn’t help linking the terrorism and refugee crisis to our world and even the trade in daemons made me think of the organ trade. Then there’s the change in Lyra. Maybe she’s embraced this unimaginative rational materialism as a way of coping with what happened when she was twelve. I’m looking forward to the reread and hope PP is writing fast!
Francesca Heather-Hayes yes definitely the refugees and terrorists most definitely had something to say about our real world situation didn’t it, sadly! Yes I will re-read it very soon and can’t wait for the next! May all germs and illnesses steer clear of Philip Pullman 😁
I'm re-reading it now because I was so anxious to see what was going to happen to Lyra and Pan I mostly sped through it. Now I'm going to look up some of the places she visits to get a more visual idea of her world.
Halfway through the book. Thus far, #Masterpiece. Thanks for the review. I'd also recommend The Master and His Emissary, by Iain Mcgilchrist. The dialogue between Lyra and Pan is entirely symbolic of the relationship between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
The secret commonwealth is actually 8 years after his dark materials, you were right about it being 20 years after La belle Sauvage. Lyra was only a few months old in la belle Sauvage, she was 12 in his dark materials and she is 20 in the secret commonwealth
Hi! Does your edition have uncut pages? I just recieved a book, and it has very uneven outer edge of pages, not sure if it is a factory defect or a feature...
I enjoyed the story very much but would have preferred fewer cliffhangers at the end. I will have to make notes about which character was left where and wait for the sequel. I'm not sure what to think about a possible romance between Lyra and Malcolm; their age difference is about the same as my wife and I, but I didn't know her as a baby or teach her as a child.
I disagree about the cliffhangers, but I agree about the romance. I was expecting Malcolm to be an uncle figure for Lyra, in the end of the first book. And I was thinking too he and Alice make much more sense as a couple.
I loved the book, but there are some parts that feels like fillers sometimes, I can point out to the furnace man chapter, what was the point of that? It feels like one of those useless Dragon Ball filler episodes, you can cut that part from the book and nothing will change, it gave us informations we already know. For the rest of it I really loved the book, I really want to know how it will end and having more answers because the Secret Commonwealth end it with lots of questions.
Personally I like the book of dust books better than his dark materials, I like the second one better and honestly the only part of the book that I don't like, well, one of the only parts, but my main criticism is the fact that Malcolm now has a crush on Lyra, like what? I might have been okay with it in any other circumstance, but he literally took care of her as a baby, I'm sorry I'm just like, no that's wrong.
It's more adult hmmmm maybe that's because of all the sexual assault something is wrong with pullman he has a sick mind and he destroyed a series we all loved
It's just constant talking about rape and abuse old men been creepy repeatedly malcome is suddenly in love with lyra and a child who works in the pub is in love with malcome and hinted at that something happend between them
@@winters-ghost89 yeah there were some bits i found a bit weird, especially regaurding malcolm and lyra, really hoping it doesnt develop into a relationship in the next book, it just seems a bit forced and... creepy.
@@JKL-JKL-JKL it's more then that now that I have finished the book i will no longer be reading his book I'll always love the original trilogy but i like loads of people grew up with lyra my cat is even called lyra but reading about her and a graphic attatemped rape in the commonwealth and a full rape in la bell savage not only is it not important for the plot its juts completely unnecessary theres enough sexual assaults and rapes in the world without adding it to fictional characters for now reason
@@winters-ghost89 I suppose he's trying to create a more realistic world. Lyra's not a kid anymore. I know what you mean though and it bothered me too a bit at first. The fact that there's "proper" swearing in the last 2 books should prepare you for a more adult read I think. I mean, I'm not sure what age group these books are now aimed at. I'm guessing early teens at least. And they hear swearing at school surely. They know about sex and stuff I suppose. So maybe Pullmans treating them with a bit more respect.
One thing I find interest was Pan's obsession with the idea that Lyra's imagination was something physical that he could find, bring back to her, and everything would go back to the way they were before they started quarreling. I think it showed impatience and a reluctance to let go of the past on his part.
I'd also like to see a confrontation between Lyra, with Pan, and their grandmother. I think they'd learn a great deal from the encounter.
I love how different it is from His Dark Materials too. I was not fully sure how to understand La Belle Sauvage when I first read it (though I loved it), but a few chapters into The Secret Commonwealth it just 'clicked'. The pace, the tone, the subject matter, all fell more deeply into place for me. Terrific conception.
Agree with your comments! I loved Lyra’s developed layers of complexity and her diminished confidence, as you said it rings very true, psychologically. Also very much enjoyed the deeper focus on daemons. I love how effortlessly real Malcolm is - such a good person, but not two dimensional in any way. Adult Malcolm is exactly as i would have imagined and hoped. I felt this book does feel less of a complete entity than La Belle Sauvage - for good reason of course, in setting up for the final part. Loved it and will re-read very soon!
Jess K I really agree with what you’ve said. I found the novel quite complex and am going to read again. There’s the whole new understandings about humans and daemons, the powers at work, both openly and secretly; the magisterium versus science. I couldn’t help linking the terrorism and refugee crisis to our world and even the trade in daemons made me think of the organ trade. Then there’s the change in Lyra. Maybe she’s embraced this unimaginative rational materialism as a way of coping with what happened when she was twelve. I’m looking forward to the reread and hope PP is writing fast!
Francesca Heather-Hayes yes definitely the refugees and terrorists most definitely had something to say about our real world situation didn’t it, sadly! Yes I will re-read it very soon and can’t wait for the next! May all germs and illnesses steer clear of Philip Pullman 😁
I'm re-reading it now because I was so anxious to see what was going to happen to Lyra and Pan I mostly sped through it. Now I'm going to look up some of the places she visits to get a more visual idea of her world.
Halfway through the book. Thus far, #Masterpiece. Thanks for the review. I'd also recommend The Master and His Emissary, by Iain Mcgilchrist. The dialogue between Lyra and Pan is entirely symbolic of the relationship between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
I was so disappointed with this book tbh. I hope the next one is better and it answers some of the questions.
The secret commonwealth is actually 8 years after his dark materials, you were right about it being 20 years after La belle Sauvage. Lyra was only a few months old in la belle Sauvage, she was 12 in his dark materials and she is 20 in the secret commonwealth
Hi!
Does your edition have uncut pages?
I just recieved a book, and it has very uneven outer edge of pages, not sure if it is a factory defect or a feature...
pretty sure its a feature 😊 both my books are this way too
I think this is called "deckled" edging or something like that. Some people prefer it. I think its an American thing
Could anyone let me know please is Will in this story book?
He's been mentioned a few times, but I doubt he'll be making an actual appearance.
I had the same question too.
Maybe in the third
THANKS a lot! I learned about the release right now. Looking forward to ordering it on the internet so that I can plunge into reading it
Where did you get your copies of His Dark Materials?
Great informative review thanks for uploading I’m so excited to start reading this book I just got it today 📖😊
Did any of the previous books have swearing? I was dumbfounded when Malcom swore in chapter eleven
Lyra having a fuck buddy was more of a wtf moment for me lol
Not that I remember. The dialogues were more realistic and the story a little more complex since all the main characters are adults.
I enjoyed the story very much but would have preferred fewer cliffhangers at the end. I will have to make notes about which character was left where and wait for the sequel. I'm not sure what to think about a possible romance between Lyra and Malcolm; their age difference is about the same as my wife and I, but I didn't know her as a baby or teach her as a child.
I disagree about the cliffhangers, but I agree about the romance. I was expecting Malcolm to be an uncle figure for Lyra, in the end of the first book. And I was thinking too he and Alice make much more sense as a couple.
Thank You
Thank you for your review/reaction ... too many others are waa waa boo hoo Pullman didn't write the book I/we wanted waa waa!
this book is so underrated
I felt very hesitant to read the second installment of this series. But your review intrigued me to.
"I won't be giving anything away!".
Well... You will.
Wa wa wait trilogy???? There’s another one coming ?
I loved the book, but there are some parts that feels like fillers sometimes, I can point out to the furnace man chapter, what was the point of that? It feels like one of those useless Dragon Ball filler episodes, you can cut that part from the book and nothing will change, it gave us informations we already know. For the rest of it I really loved the book, I really want to know how it will end and having more answers because the Secret Commonwealth end it with lots of questions.
Personally I like the book of dust books better than his dark materials, I like the second one better and honestly the only part of the book that I don't like, well, one of the only parts, but my main criticism is the fact that Malcolm now has a crush on Lyra, like what? I might have been okay with it in any other circumstance, but he literally took care of her as a baby, I'm sorry I'm just like, no that's wrong.
I see peoples deamon s are like patron from hp
It's more adult hmmmm maybe that's because of all the sexual assault something is wrong with pullman he has a sick mind and he destroyed a series we all loved
Honestly does no one else think it's a bit to over sexual it's kind of crazy when u re read it as I did
It's just constant talking about rape and abuse old men been creepy repeatedly malcome is suddenly in love with lyra and a child who works in the pub is in love with malcome and hinted at that something happend between them
Did we read the same book?
@@winters-ghost89 yeah there were some bits i found a bit weird, especially regaurding malcolm and lyra, really hoping it doesnt develop into a relationship in the next book, it just seems a bit forced and... creepy.
@@JKL-JKL-JKL it's more then that now that I have finished the book i will no longer be reading his book I'll always love the original trilogy but i like loads of people grew up with lyra my cat is even called lyra but reading about her and a graphic attatemped rape in the commonwealth and a full rape in la bell savage not only is it not important for the plot its juts completely unnecessary theres enough sexual assaults and rapes in the world without adding it to fictional characters for now reason
@@winters-ghost89 I suppose he's trying to create a more realistic world. Lyra's not a kid anymore. I know what you mean though and it bothered me too a bit at first. The fact that there's "proper" swearing in the last 2 books should prepare you for a more adult read I think. I mean, I'm not sure what age group these books are now aimed at. I'm guessing early teens at least. And they hear swearing at school surely. They know about sex and stuff I suppose. So maybe Pullmans treating them with a bit more respect.