The Republic of Heaven

I think it would be REALLY neat if good ol' Phil, made a trilogy of the Book of Dust. It would not only be great for the fans of the original trilogy, but it would be just in time for a HDM craze, the movie coming out and all.

It would be kinda cool if he called the first one (duh) the Book of Dust, then the second the Book of Shadows, and the third the Book of Sraf. That would be interesting and a little wink for the book fans.

Basically no He won't. He doesn't have time, and frankly I don't think Mr Pullman could care any less about an "HDM craze" - he's a storyteller, and he's already said he has other stories to tell, and that after TBoD he has no more time for Lyra and co...

Makes sense. It is more important to a writer to tell a story then to just want to be popular. But I do like the concept. Maybe TBOD will be split into parts like NL (and I hope the parts would be called BOD, BOSh, BOSr )

You just want to get in all your titles Yes I imagine there will be some splitting. He seems to like that, and especially with the format of individual short stories, there will be more capacity for it. Just look at Lyra's Oxford - the book was called one thing, the story and entirely different thing. I suspect you're probably right in this respect!

Hm, I like those titles! I doubt he'll make three whole books more out of them, but the splitting sounds likely.

Hm, I like those titles!

Thanks! I hoped some fans would like it

The titles are cool, you know, related like the HDM ones, but as Ian said I don't think Pullman will have so much to tell... it would be great though...

it's a pity that he only seems to be talking about Lyra, isn't it? I mean, I understand why, but I do miss reading about Will...

Basically no He won't. He doesn't have time, and frankly I don't think Mr Pullman could care any less about an "HDM craze" - he's a storyteller, and he's already said he has other stories to tell, and that after TBoD he has no more time for Lyra and co...

Agreed! A book of Dust trilogy would also ruin it...

Yeah... I can see what you're saying. It would almost be too much

Well Pullman has been consistent in saying the BoD will be a big book, so as far as having more HDM, i think we'll have plenty.

But then one has to question what his definition of "big" is. My guess is around 700 pages or so. Or my hope. And if this is the case, who needs a whole trilogy?

Here's what I am wondering, is this still a big book of multiple storys? Pullman announced his plans to release a small book similar to Lyra's Oxford about Lee and Iorick, and hinted that he may do the same with Will in the distant future. Will this be more about Lyra in a large story or will it be what more of a book of stories?

I'm pretty sure the Book of Dust will be one long narrative, from the sound of it. It sounds very much like the story has gotten away from Pullman's original intentions. Which is good for all of us who hoped for another epic adventure with Lyra.

As we have said its wishful thinking, hough we'd all like somemore adventure, but, as said above, TBoD will be a big book. The possibilities are endless

it looks like the companion trilogy we're about to see coming into production is the series of little red, blue, and green books. when i think of the book of dust these days, i'm beginning to think of a series of vignettes and essays situated inside (but not about) the world of hdm... like a couple chapters of l-world genesis or the serafina-farder coram love story. (the blue book will cover the lee and iorek adventures it seems.)

I don't know if I want a huge story though anymore... I like how it ended, but I don't know. I won't complain if it comes out and is fantastic.

I wonder why he decided to make the red blue green miniature trilogy first? At first, Lyra's Oxford was supposed to be the bridging book between HDM and TBoD. Now it appears that this set of booklets will be the bridge. In my opinion, either he's trying to get away with writing as much as possible about his worlds, thus releasing these extras as well as TBoD... or he's procrastinating because he's stalled with the TBoD story. In either case, I have a feeling that releasing all this and a whole big book is going to dilute the effect TBoD was going to carry.
Just my 2 cents. Or $26.20, adjusted for inflation.

Unless it's a huge book(wich I doubt), I see no reason for him to make it a trilogy.


I love the idea of those titles though.

I keep forgetting this is coming....

It will be exciting to see an older Lyra. I really liked the direction her character development was taking at the end of The Amber Spyglass.

Also, this is a bit off topic, but tomorrow I'm buying the new edition of TAS and I was wondering whether I should pick up Lyra's Oxford as well. I remember it being quite expensive. Is it worth the money? Apparently the Book of Dust will feature a continuation of the story from that, and I don't want to miss anything.

Whether or not it's worth the money depends on how much you liked the story I guess. Some people found it too short, but I think it's worth owning. Especially because then you have all the HDM books handy whenever you feel like reading them...

I found it defiantly worth the buy, but I only had to buy it for like 5 or 7 bucks cause it was used. Since it looked exactly new, I didn't mind. I really enjoyed the story though because of its simplicity. The map of oxford is so cool anyway and with all it little side note things like the postcard made it all worth it