The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust, Volume 1)

Philip Pullman

Oct 2017 · The Book of Dust Book 1 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Michael Sheen

About this audiobook

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

2018 Odyssey Honor 
2018 ALSC Notable Children’s Recording
The Washington Post Best Audiobook of 2017
Slate Best Audiobook of 2017
Booklist Editor’s Choice Audio for Youth
AudioFile Best YA Audiobooks of 2017

"Too few things in our world are worth a seventeen year wait: The Book of Dust is one of them." —The Washington Post

Philip Pullman returns to the parallel world of his groundbreaking novel The Golden Compass to expand on the story of Lyra, "one of fantasy's most indelible characters." (The New York Times Magazine)

Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy....

Malcolm's parents run an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his daemon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue. 

He finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust—and the spy it was intended for finds him. 

When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he sees suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl—just a baby—named Lyra.

Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. And Malcolm will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through the storm.

"The book is full of wonder. . . . Truly thrilling." —The New York Times

"People will love the first volume of Philip Pullman's new trilogy with the same helpless vehemence that stole over them when The Golden Compass came out." —Slate

Note: This audiobook was recorded from the U.K. edition.

Ratings and reviews

La Belle Sauvage was a wild leap from the original trilogy in terms of adult content. I LOVED it. I was shocked and in awe and on the edge of my seat. Michael Sheen was a brilliant narrator and I am so excited to see the rest of The Book Of Dust. 5 stars.

a great book, after finishing it I feel like I got dumped, making me get all the other books immediately to feel the Gap that this book left me :-(

Stunning. The narration is captivating, and the story is something you can chew on long after you've finished. The second half is thick with symbolism and pulls from some of the greatest stories from the ages.

About the author

PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been named one of the top 100 books of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. Pullman was knighted for his services to literature in the 2019 New Year Honours.

The Book of Dust, Pullman’s eagerly anticipated return to the world of His Dark Materials, will also be a book in three parts. It began with La Belle Sauvage and continues with The Secret Commonwealth.

Philip Pullman is the author of many other beloved novels. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!, Count Karlstein, Two Crafty Criminals!, Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess), The White Mercedes, and The Broken Bridge. He has written a magnificent collection, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, and his essays and lectures on writing and storytelling have been gathered in a volume called Dæmon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling.

Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England.