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Fun Facts About Once Upon A Time in the North by Philip Pullman

24 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in His Dark Materials Tags: 20th anniversary his dark materials, fun facts, His Dark Materials, once upon a time in the north, philip pullman

Once Upon A Time in the North is a prequel of sorts to His Dark Materials, another companion piece that provides more information about certain characters who appear in the trilogy and their lives before the events in Northern Lights. Despite being set before the series, Pullman references a few things that happen in the future, clues and great titbits if you understand the references, but nothing too substantial if you haven’t read the series.

Published in 2008 the narrative focuses on a young Lee Scoresby, specifically an adventure where he lands on a small island and gets involved with a few local dramas and mishaps. It also provides an insight into his aeronautical beginnings, plus the origin of friendship with the armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison. At 104 pages it is short but long enough and offers wonderful insight into the lives of two beloved characters.

This book is wonderful because it satisfies anyone who read His Dark Materials longing to know more about Lee Scoresby, Hester, and his past with Iorek Byrnison; Pullman having tempted numerous times with references to past events and the long and solid friendship. Before this book existed I would read the trilogy wanting to know more about Lee, wanting another book dedicated just to Lee’s adventures and his friendship with Iorek. With Once Upon A Time in the North these needs have been satisfied.

An exclusive extract was printed by The Guardian under the heading Winds of Chance in March 2008 before publication with the official launch taking place on 31 March 2008 at the Oxford Literary Festival where over 700 fans gathered to hear Pullman speak about his new novella.

Like Lyra’s Oxford, there are a few bits and pieces included with the book. Some of the things included are letters from Lyra, newspaper articles, plus a playable board game that is the same as the one mentioned in the story.

While it has yet to receive any awards, reception of the book was positive with the first reviews appearing less than two weeks before publication. It was described as “a joy” by The Times, while Ian Giles from BridgetotheStars.net dubbed it “an absolute triumph”. An audiobook has also been produced which was released the same day as the novella. Once again Philip Pullman and a full cast perform, with Garrick Hagan as producer.

Lyra’s Oxford (#3.5) by Philip Pullman

23 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Fantasy, His Dark Materials, Novella Tags: 20th anniversary his dark materials, fantasy, five stars, His Dark Materials, lyra's oxford, novella, philip pullman

Published: 28th October 2003
Publisher: Knopf Books
Pages: 64
Format: Hardback
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Lyra’s Oxford begins with Lyra and Pantalaimon spotting a witch’s daemon. Lyra shelters the daemon from the pursuit of a frenzied pack of birds, and then attempts to help by guiding the daemon to the home of an alchemist living in a part of Oxford known as Jericho. The journey through Oxford reveals more dangers than Lyra had anticipated.

This is a great little story and reads just as if it had been plucked from the trilogy itself, Pullman falls back into Lyra’s world wonderfully and from the beginning it’s easy to lose yourself in the world and the characters that are so familiar.

In true Pullman style he holds nothing back and keeps the story as honest and realistic as need be. While it may be a quick story, it is one that is filled with important detail, information, and insight. Lyra is two years older and settling into her life back at Oxford, but Pullman demonstrates that Lyra is still Lyra, while more mature and grown up, wiser and respectful, she is just as curious and just as willing to help.

It’s hard to imagine anything substantial could happen in such a brief snippet of Lyra’s life and yet in a small number of pages, Pullman adds another layer of complexity and mystery to Lyra’s world and her place within it, raising many more questions than answers, making it much more than a short story.

There is a feeling as you read that it’s acting as an introduction into something bigger, whether this will be seen in The Book of Dust is uncertain, but even if it isn’t, the things implied is enough to surprise and mull over, pique interests, and realise that Lyra’s importance and the layers of meaning in the world did not end at the conclusion of The Amber Spyglass.

Pullman manages to provide intrigue and mystery, as well as depth, understanding, and information from the first page to the last. It is a joy to have further closure and new details, no matter how small, and it once again a delight to lose yourself in the world of daemons and Oxford, even if it’s only for 64 pages.

You can purchase Lyra’s Oxford via the following

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Depository | Booktopia

Bookworld | QBD

Dymocks | Kobo

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Characters in Lyra’s Oxford

22 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in His Dark Materials Tags: 20th anniversary his dark materials, characters, His Dark Materials, lyra's oxford, philip pullman

Being such a short and isolated story, there are only two key characters in Lyra’s Oxford, this being Lyra herself, and of course Pantalaimon. Both characters have changed a lot since being introduced in Northern Lights, Pan has settled on his form and Lyra has wisdom and strength from her time away and it’s great to see she hasn’t forgotten what she went through.

Lyra

Lyra is such a complex character, she is filled with contradictions but there is no denying what a wonderful character she is. Seeing her grow up as you read is delightful, she begins as curious and indignant, mischievous and wild, but as she experiences new things and is exposed to new people and situations there is a gradual change evident in her behaviour that she herself reflects on which is touching to see. By the time we revisit Lyra when she is 15 it is clear how much she has grown up from the child in Northern Lights, but there are still signs of the old Lyra there as well, a part of her never changing, maintaining the sense of doing what’s right and following that spark of curiosity.

Pantalaimon

Pan’s name comes from the saint in the Orthodox churches, St Pantalaimon, which means “all-compassionate” in Greek. He has a wide range of changes through the entire series, introduced to readers as a dark brown moth, changing into numerous forms such as an eagle, an owl, and a seagull, to a tiger, leopard, and a cheetah, even at one point a dolphin. His favourite forms however are a snow-white ermine, a mouse, and a wild cat.

Pan is a great companion to Lyra, he balances her perfectly; his cautious and level-headed nature balancing her impulsive, curious, and sometimes reckless behaviour.

Fun Facts About Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman

21 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in His Dark Materials Tags: 20th anniversary his dark materials, fun facts, His Dark Materials, lyra's oxford, philip pullman

Lyra’s Oxford was published in 2003 and is a short book set two years after the trilogy when Lyra is 15 years old. While being an extension to the trilogy and expanding on the themes, it was also released to sate fans while they waited for the then unspecified release of The Book of Dust which Pullman said will be published “when it’s finished, and not a day sooner” (now finally given an expected release date of 2016).

This book is technically #3.5 in the His Dark Materials series, in Pullman’s words “a stepping stone to the book that’s coming next”. This refers to not just the short story, but also the many fun bits and pieces Pullman has included from and about Lyra’s world. He also teases on his website that “if you look very closely, you may find some clues about the future course of Lyra’s story.”

This secretive nature is reflected in the preface as well. Cryptically he writes: “This book contains a story and several other things. The other things might be connected with the story, or they might not; they might be connected to stories that haven’t appeared yet. It’s hard to tell.”

One of the “other things” Pullman has included is a fold-out map, bound to the book that depicts the Oxford of Lyra’s world, entitled ‘Oxford by Train, River, and Zeppelin’. There are also little titbits such as advertisers for books and catalogues, brochures, a postcard from Mary Malone, and even pages from a Baedeker published in Lyra’s world. It is in these that you can find clues about Lyra, as well as gain more information about events in the trilogy, such as seeing Mary’s office, and a detailed look at the Oxford Lyra knows and loves.

This book is short, a mere 64 pages, but for those who need to know what happened to Lyra after The Amber Spyglass, this is a great thing to hold on to. After the emotional experience of reading His Dark Materials, it is comforting to know Lyra is ok and it provides enough interest and new information to be a great additional story.

Special Editions of His Dark Materials

20 Jul 2015 3 Comments

by Amy in His Dark Materials Tags: 20th anniversary his dark materials, His Dark Materials, northern lights, philip pullman, the amber spyglass, the subtle knife

2005 marked the 10th anniversary of His Dark Materials, and as such Scholastic Press released beautiful hardback editions.

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Not only do they have gorgeous metallic covers and a bound bookmark to help you keep your place, but each book has an appendix filled with additional snippets of information. These bits and pieces are in the form of letters, notes, and drawings by Lord Asriel currently housed in Jordon College Library, notes and drawings from Dr Grumman, and papers by Dr Mary Malone from Secret Magisterium files.

Pullman also includes a small introduction at the start of each appendix offering details about where these files were found, are being stored etc to give a great authentic element that keeps it in the realm of the story.

In Northern Lights the appendix reads:

These papers were discovered among the effects of an anonymous scholar after his death in Oxford. They were sent for auction with all his other books and papers and their significance was recognised by Mr Ian Beck, the celebrated artist, who bought them for a small sum.

How they arrived in this universe is still a mystery. It is possible that there exists wormholes, or doorways, opening from one universe into another, and that somewhere in the Oxford of this world there is such an opening into the library of a college in another Oxford entirely.

If that is the case, there may be other such items in this world still awaiting discovery.

There are a few drawings but it’s mainly notes by Lord Asriel with random thoughts he has jotted down relating to Grumman, Lyra, and the witches, plus inventory for his trip to the North.

Lord Asriel’s notes

Lord Asriel’s notes

In The Subtle Knife the appendix reads:

The provenance of these papers is obscure. It is possible that they came into the possession of Lord Asriel and were deposited with his own papers in Jordon College Library, but the absence of a library stamp makes that unlikely. It is known that Dr Grumman travelled widely in the Arctic and Siberia, and had numerous acquaintances among the witch-clans and the native people of the north as well as in the worlds of scholarship, politics, and science. Any of them might have acquired such things and inadvertently, or even deliberately, allowed them to slip out of one world and into another.

Items such as these papers are not uncommon. They turn up frequently in auctions, in book-dealers’ catalogues, and the like. Usually their significance remains mysterious; it is only when they are seen in the context of a larger narrative that their meaning suddenly becomes apparent.

This appendix is filled with drawings of the local landscape and points of reference, instructions for making bloodmoss, Grumman’s thoughts about Lord Asriel and his documentation of witch-clans, plus various shaman related notes.

Drawings by Dr Grumman

Notes and drawings by Dr Grumman

While the others have long introductions, The Amber Spyglass appendix simply has:

Papers of ‘Mary Malone’

Archive of the Magisterium

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

In this appendix are various pages of Mary’s notes about the world she went into and her studies on what she found.

Dr Malone’s notes

Dr Malone’s notes

What is wonderful about these items, as hinted by some of the introductions, is when they’re read in the wider context of the narrative you get more to the story. Seeing Mary’s notes upon her arrival in the new world, drawings by Dr Grumman and even Lord Asriel’s papers gives you insight into their character, an extra side of the story, motivations, and discoveries. In these snippets of letters and diary entries it can reveal a lot more about these characters and the wider story itself.