The Secret Commonwealth

by Philip Pullman

First published 2019

Lyra Silvertongue is twenty years old now, no longer the child who once saved worlds. Seven years have passed since she parted from Will Parry in Oxford's Botanic Gardens. Her relationship with her daemon Pantalaimon has grown strained in ways she never expected. Complex factions emerge around them, pulling Lyra into a dangerous world she never knew existed. Malcolm, the boy who once saved baby Lyra from floods, has become a man driven by duty and moral purpose. He embarks on his own parallel journey. Together they must venture far from Oxford's familiar streets, crossing Europe and pushing into Asia. They search for what has been lost: a city where daemons roam freely, secrets buried in desert sands, and the truth about Dust itself. Their quest will test everything Lyra believes about herself and her world.

Genres: literary-fiction, adventure, coming-of-age, fantasy

Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, quest

Setting: Oxford, Europe, Asia

Period: 20th-century, 21st-century

633 pages · Hardcover · Alfred A. Knopf

Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness

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