‘His Dark Materials’ universe draws Philip Pullman back for new trilogy

Pullman posing during a photo call at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, where he lives and where much of La Belle Sauvage is set. Photo: AFP

Seventeen years after he ended his landmark fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, British author Philip Pullman is returning to the universe whose parallel worlds, polar bears in armour, and plucky heroine captured the imaginations of millions.

After detours into theological writing and other children’s books – as well as a bout of ill health – he has finally circled back with The Book Of Dust trilogy, which he describes as an “equel” (neither prequel or sequel, he says).