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The Secret Commonwealth

The Book of Dust, Volume Two

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for Audiobook of the Year at the British Book Awards 2020.

Winner of Best Solo Narration at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2020

It is 20 years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is almost 10 years since listeners left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford's Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, best0selling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child....

The second volume of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now 20 years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. Pulled along on his own journey too is Malcolm; once a boy with a boat and a mission to save a baby from the flood, now a man with a strong sense of duty and a desire to do what is right.

Theirs is a world at once familiar and extraordinary and they must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost - a city haunted by daemons, a secret at the heart of a desert and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

The Secret Commonwealth is truly a book for our times; a powerful adventure and a thought-provoking look at what it is to understand yourself, to grow up and make sense of the world around you. This is storytelling at its very best from one of our greatest writers.

©2019 Philip Pullman (P)2019 Penguin Audio Coming of Age Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Fiction Fantasy Emotionally Gripping

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Critic reviews

“Michael Sheen throws himself wholeheartedly into narrating this sequel to La Belle Sauvage and listeners will be rapt. For the ever-expanding international cast of characters, Sheen conjures a multitude of accents and delivers rapid-fire conversations between them. He's in step with the text at every turn; when situations become fraught or dangerous, Sheen ramps up the tension exquisitely. Thanks to Pullman's intricate storytelling and Sheen's propulsive narration, listeners will be on the edge of their seats right up to the cliff-hanger ending.” (AudioFile)
Most relevant
MESMERISING.

Listened in my car on journey from Fort William to Berlin. We flew!

Narration is incredible.

Listened In One Go

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What a shame the reader didn’t listen to the original audio performances of His Dark Materials, and match the pronunciation of the names. So far, Serafina Pekala and the mulefa are different, and it spoils a decent reading.

Pronunciation

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I really liked it but it's an awfully long book to just set up for the third and final book.

I really liked it but

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After reading some slightly negative reviews about The Secret Commonwealth, I was in two minds whether to bother with it - I am so glad I did!

With Lyra now 20 years old, this is quite rightly a more adult story and I think the fact that Lyra seems to have lost some of her sense of adventure and imagination is only to be expected.

I found this novel really hit some emotional turmoils and there were parts that had me holding my breath and others that made me cry. This was down to the excellent writing of Philip Pullman together with wonderfully expressive narration from Michael Sheen.

I now feel bereft that I have concluded Part 2 of this amazing trilogy and hope I won’t have to wait too long for Part 3.

Cannot wait for the next instalment!

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why a girl educated at an Oxford college would sound like a west country farm girl defeats me and was irritating to boot. Lyra's naivety also was somewhat incongruous with her life experiences to this point.

Lyra's daft accent was absurd.

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As the first volume in the Book of Dust, The Secret Commonwealth is read by Michael Sheen whose virtuosity in characterisation leaves all other narrators lacking. His characters are amazingly vivid. The characters are rich of subtext and convey layers of meaning as accents and dialects, as well as notes social status carry through the speech of the players in the story. The story itself is a steampunkish saga, invoking memories from Arabian Lawrence and The Orient Express. The themes of the story are gathering darker tones as it develops. It resonates with the now grown up readers of His Dark Materials touching ageless themes of growing up towards the solitude of independent adulthood and finding ones place in the suddenly foreign world. It’s surprisingly current with glimpses to the lifes of refugees and the oppressed interwoven in the tapestry that is the addictive fable dealing with religion and the free will. The societal parallels are on the point and show us a harrying vision of a not so distant society of intolerance and injustice. Philip Pullmans writing has matured magnificently along with his characters.

A great story that leaves me wanting more.

A Tale well matured served by an orator of sublime talent

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It continues with the fluidity and growth that we have come to rely on, yet never disappointed by when we enter the world created by Mr Pullman.
I for one will look forward to the conclusion of Ms Silvertongues journey.

Wow

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Thank you so much Philip Pullman. I didn't want this to finish. Martin Sheen is a great reader.

Blood brilliant.

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Not what I expected from Book two as the time jumps so far forward. Thoroughly enjoyed, full of the usual wonder, twists and brilliant characters you can expect from this series and Pullman's writing. The performance by Michael Sheen is as always amazing. He brings it to life.

Great continuance of the story

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Yes, I wanted to know where the sotry was taking us. Yes, I wanted this world to unravell. Yes, it is intriguing, but what I really enjoyed with this book, was Michael Sheens' performance. Something to go to bed with and dream of more worlds.

Mostly for Sheen.

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