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A review by sonofatreus
The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, Volume 2) by Philip Pullman
4.0
I would have liked to have enjoyed this more. The heart of the story is that Lyra and Pan are coping with the personal consequences of the events from the main trilogy. Of course, this is a new trilogy, so it is also connected with events of the first book, La Bella Sauvage, and some characters return from that book. Malcolm returns and has his own storyline here but he isn't the main character by any means.
For a second book in a trilogy, I think this works rather well. It expands upon some themes and the characters of the first book really well. We learn about the titular secret commonwealth that was introduced in La Belle Sauvage (without our knowing, perhaps). The Secret Commonwealth also does a good job teeing up for the third book in the trilogy by tying up some loose ends that were central to this book but also providing new ones to follow.
Unfortunately, as a single book, not everything works well. The Malcolm storyline is left hanging, and not with a cliffhanger, per se, so much as just...left there. Another storyline is likewise not really ended by the end of this book (but I won't say which). There are also some story choices that don't seem to have any real reward in this book; maybe they will in the third of the trilogy but that's yet to be seen. One character is in love with another in a relationship that seems somewhat problematic for a few reasons. These feelings are never really explored either, so we get a questionable expression of love that never really goes anywhere. Separately, there is an attempted rape scene that also doesn't seem to have any reason for being since it comes very close to the end of the book.
That said, it felt like a good followup to La Belle Sauvage, if not quite His Dark Materials.
For a second book in a trilogy, I think this works rather well. It expands upon some themes and the characters of the first book really well. We learn about the titular secret commonwealth that was introduced in La Belle Sauvage (without our knowing, perhaps). The Secret Commonwealth also does a good job teeing up for the third book in the trilogy by tying up some loose ends that were central to this book but also providing new ones to follow.
Unfortunately, as a single book, not everything works well. The Malcolm storyline is left hanging, and not with a cliffhanger, per se, so much as just...left there. Another storyline is likewise not really ended by the end of this book (but I won't say which). There are also some story choices that don't seem to have any real reward in this book; maybe they will in the third of the trilogy but that's yet to be seen. One character is in love with another in a relationship that seems somewhat problematic for a few reasons. These feelings are never really explored either, so we get a questionable expression of love that never really goes anywhere. Separately, there is an attempted rape scene that also doesn't seem to have any reason for being since it comes very close to the end of the book.
That said, it felt like a good followup to La Belle Sauvage, if not quite His Dark Materials.