Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River Thames (which Malcolm navigates often using his beloved canoe, a boat by the name of La Belle Sauvage) is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns they have a guest with them, a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua . .
Jan’s Review
I listened to this an audio book from audible. I love the golden compass and the movie that was created around the story. I eagerly waited to get this book and it is read spectacularly by the narrator. The story is split into two main sections. The first involves Malcolm being drawn into the world of the resistance, a shadowy cabal of spies and secrets. And the second half is a gruelling, breathless journey set during a biblical flood.
It was a delight to read as you ride along on the boat protecting lyra from several powerful figures. It’s up to Malcolm to keep her safe from the menacing figures that pursue her – and start the chain of events that leads to His Dark Materials.
You got a full glimpse of the Magisterium who is very intolerant of religious fervor to the point that start an army in elementary schools to inform on those that might be against what is to believed. Seriously that a scary thought.
I loved how we got more of the demons and how inter connected they are within this world. The main action happens towards the end of the book which is where the audio book came in nicely as the narrator read it with the intensity it deserved.
It does a great job of being a prologue to the previous series. With a nod to the fae as the story closes. I am excited to see what happens in The Secret Commonwealth to be published sometime in the future.
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