La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One: From the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials - now a major BBC series

I was blown away by this book. As a huge fan of His Dark Materials, also by Phillip Pullman, I just had to know what happened at the beginning of Lyra's story. Malcolm is the kind of person you'd want as a friend, and the kind of student every teacher wants in their class. He is inquisitive and interested in scientific ideas that would have blown my mind as a twelve-year-old. He is courageous and caring; the dramatic sacrifice he makes at the end of the novel proves this. I was utterly hooked from start to finish. This book would be suitable for a range of readers, particularly those who want to explore the world of daemons first introduced in Northern Lights. There are some more grown up themes and scenes in the book, so younger readers may want to discuss some of these with a trusted adult.

Really great apart from lots of swearing. Teenagers, this book is for you!

Fiction book - great to find out more about Lyra’s back story!

Sadly interesting

This was a really thrilling book which I enjoyed. My favourite character was Alice because she was funny. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy the author’s dark material books.

Really enjoyed this book.
One disturbing scene makes me think it is best for students aged 14 and over who are mature.
Have already read the second installment and can't wait for the third!
Enjoyed getting a greater depth of understanding about characters from Northern Lights and how Lyra came to be at the College in the first place.

so good

I loved this book because of how well it was written, I have already read the northern lights so this was a brilliant little back round story on how Lyra came to Jordon college.
My favourite character is Malcom because he is very brave, rescuing Lyra and his Daemon Asta is brilliant!

I liked everything about it.

quite good but could have made a better story line.
fiction, all the characters were amazing.
i would recommend this to a philip pullman fan or an avid reader

I found the Book of Dust an amazing book because I liked the dæmons every person had. It was interesting because I found it fun to see which dæmons everyone had.
I thought Gerard Bonneville and the three legged hyena dæmon was never going to die and be immortal. I thought this because when Malcolm sliced Bonneville in the leg with his knife. I was shocked that he recovered because there was a lot of blood!
Something I liked was Lyra's personality. She was really funny but stubborn as well. I hope in volume 2 she will have the same personality.
My favourite character is Lyra and her dæmon Pan but I liked Malcom (his dæmon Asta) and Alice (her dæmon Ben).
I would definitely recommend this book. All ages would like this funny, twisting book.

Initially I was thrown out of the timeline I was expecting but soon I was part of the plot and whirling down river where the unexpected became the norm. Pullman expertly manipulates us to support the main characters, even when they are least like heros, and despite knowing that Lyra will live, we fear for her. Loved it, for any age, for anyone who enjoys the twists of life.

I am a crazy fan of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and I MASSIVELY enjoyed this written-after prequel! It is very long and extremely well written! I can't wait to read Volume Two! This is a great book!

Aimed at an older audience and contains a fair amount of swearing and violence.

This is a prequel to His Dark Materials and gives some background to Lyra’s start in life. The characters are endearing and the first part of the book focuses on the life around an inn called ‘the Trout’.

The second half of the book is an action packed adventure filled with obstacles and danger. It’s is fast paced and tense.

I loved His Dark Materials and this book is a nice accompaniment.

This book is full of action and tension. It is full of wonderful vocabulary and can be read by anyone from the age of 8 to 80. My favourite character is Alice as she is brave and strong. I would recommend this to anyone who loves action, adventure or fantasy novels.

I really enjoyed this book because it was an exciting adventure I rate it for 13+ because there is a lot of bad language

It is a really good book that I would recommend to His dark materials fans.

It was fab

I think this is a great book, everyone should read it!!!
Asta is my favourite character. I am waiting for The Secret Commonwealth to come out.

i thought it was really amazing and i got comletly hooked in to the world of lyra once again like all the other books of phillip pullman in this world.