The Secret Commonwealth

The release of the second in the Book of Dust series, The Secret Commonwealth, in October 2019 was a fitting way to close the decade. The events of this book take place ten years or so after the conclusion of the Northern Lights trilogy. Lyra is grown up and halfway through a university degree, with Oxford and Jordan College as recognisable as ever. However, the Magisterium is gaining power, global trade is in uproar and sinister hints abound of an underground market for daemons. To top it all off Lyra and Pantalaimon are engaged in a coldness that threatens to undo their unity forever. They must each set out on a quest that tests their beliefs and loyalty to all they have known.

This book is heavy with political nods to our world. On her journey to the Blue Hotel, Lyra meets refugees whose conditions bear a striking resemblance to our daily news stories. Right-wing policies are clearly on the rise. Through the shortage of elite rose oil, we see the increasing power of corporations. The book is also aimed at a slightly older reader due to some references to sexual violence. While this jump in maturity could be the result of the vulnerable, adult Lyra being more in tune to the dangers of the world, at times I thought this came at the expense of some of the series’ iconic subtlety.

However, over the course of nearly 700 pages, Lyra’s world is developed with mature complexity. Don’t let the length put you off; the story carries the reader at such a pace that it ends far too soon, on a juncture that has left me eagerly anticipating the final instalment.

Deirbhile Brennan