Serpentine: A short story from the world of His Dark Materials and The… (edizione 2020)

An all-too-brief return to the lovely feeling His Dark Materials used to give me. But I thought the green book was supposed to be Will's? ( )

A very short story featuring Lyra, Pan, and Dr. Lanselius. This piece provides an interesting perspective on the new trilogy Pullman's writing now. Nicely illustrated by Tom Duxbury. ( )

The third of these short story additions to the His Dark Materials world. This one focuses on Daemons and separation. ( )

I truly enjoy the writing style of Philip Pullman he has a great way of creating a believable but still fantastical world and populating it with interesting and intriguing characters. I do not enjoy the ending to this series at all but I can still enjoy the series as a whole even if the ending deeply irks me. ( )

Not one to miss out on another adventure set in the world of Lyra Silvertongue and her daemon Pan, I picked up this slim volume as soon as it came into the library and devoured it shortly afterwards. Like Lyra’s Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North Pullman has written a brief, but powerful narrative that gives us more depth of character, a quick adventure, and another glimpse into a fascinating world that keeps us waiting with baited breath for the next full-length novel. With Serepentine we see a slowly paced story, which acts as a bridge between the youthful and exuberant tone of the first trilogy of His Dark Materials and the more contemplative narrative style that is dominating The Book of Dust. Lyra and Pan are once again on an adventure, visiting an archeological dig - which one would think would be a nice way to reveal a small hint towards the larger story through the history of Lyra’s world. Yet, Lyra and Pan quickly abandon the dig and go in search of one of their old friends to see if they can get some answers about the emotional quandries that are plaguing them since the events that wrapped up The Amber Spyglass. We see Lyra question their friend about the relationship between the witches and their daemons, and try to find answers as to why they are arguing so much with each other, but in the end they are left with more questions and wondering how well they really know this individual. As we see in the events that are forthcoming in The Book of Dust novels, Pan and Lyra’s troubles are only beginning, so our foreknowledge makes the story take on a much more melancholy tone than is apparent in its actual writing. By the time we reach the final pages as Lyra and Pan journey back to the dig camp we know that the themes emerging about emotional turmoil are only just beginning for our protagonists, so while the story is enjoyable to read we’re left with a lingering feeling of foreshadowed sadness. ( )