Lyra's Oxford
Lyra's Oxford book cover

Lyra's Oxford

Paperback – September 25, 2007

by
Price
$248.16
Format
Paperback
Pages
49
Publisher
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0375843693
Dimensions
4.34 x 0.33 x 6.9 inches
Weight
2.82 ounces

Description

PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy ( The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass ), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly . He has also won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass (and the reader-voted "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the best children's book of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Award for The Amber Spyglass ; a Booker Prize long-list nomination ( The Amber Spyglass ); Parents' Choice Gold Awards ( The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass ); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of his body of work. In 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.xa0It has recently been announced that The Book of Dust , the much anticipated new book from Mr. Pullman, also set in the world of His Dark Materials, will be published as a major work in three parts, with the first part to arrive in October 2017. xa0xa0Philip Pullman is the author of many other much-lauded novels. Other volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra’s Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North , and The Collectors . For younger readers: I Was a Rat!; Count Karlstein; Two Crafty Criminals; Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet: The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess ; The White Mercedes ; and The Broken Bridge .xa0Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com and hisdarkmaterials.com. Or follow him on Twitter at @PhilipPullman.

Features & Highlights

  • *****
  • THE BOOK OF DUST,
  • the long-awaited new novel from Philip Pullman set in the world of His Dark Materials, has been
  • hailed by the
  • New York Times
  • as "a stunning achievement."*****
  • Lyra's Oxford
  • is an exciting tale set in the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials saga. This collectible volume includes a short story by Mr. Pullman, plus a fold-out map of Oxford and various "souvenirs" from the past. The book is illustrated throughout with woodcut illustrations by John Lawrence.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(710)
★★★★
25%
(592)
★★★
15%
(355)
★★
7%
(166)
★
23%
(543)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

No point, no entertainment, overpriced

I had just finished reading (nay, devouring!) the His Dark Materials trilogy, and thought it was excellent. When I was looking for more from Pullman, the first thing I spotted was Lyra's Oxford, so I decided to get it. Unfortunately, I didn't read the item description closely enough -- I had not realized that this was only a booklet, and not a book. As such, it is outrageously overpriced, even had it been a good read -- and it is not. No spoilers here, but I can tell you that this is a very brief and uninteresting vignette from Lyra's life after the close of the original trilogy. We learn nothing new about the world, the character is not developed any further, and there is essentially no plot; just the recounting of an at best mildly interesting incident.

This is forty pages of large-print text, and a couple of worthless "extras" inserted. That's less than a typical chapter of Pullman's original trilogy. Even the slowest of readers (that would be me) will be done with this in under an hour, and probably never give it a second thought. And although I don't know him personally, I'd guess that Pullman probably put about as much time and effort into writing it as I put into reading it. In short -- you are throwing away your money if you purchase this booklet; I did not look at it closely enough, and have no one to blame but myself. So here's fair warning to any others who might be tempted to make the same mistake I did.
21 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

complete waste of my time

This book was a totally, complete waste of my time. Dark Materials has long been one of my absolute favorite works in literature. I read it annually as a child, and have enjoyed it several more times as an adult. I had sold or lost my original copies and picked up a replacement. After recently re-reading the trilogy, I discovered in the back of the final book, Lyra's Oxford! What?? I'd never known about this additional content. I was so excited, I went on Amazon and purchased it immediately. What DID happen to Lyra after the trilogy?

The book is the shortest of short stories - 50 pages on small pages with large type and double spacing. The sentence structure is abysmal and sophomoric throughout most of the story and reads more like bad Phillip Pullman fanfiction than something the man wrote himself. Lyra and Pan read like flat, cardboard characters...not the characters and personalities I grew up loving at all. While the additional foldouts in the form of maps and postcards were a fun touch, they can't actually be removed to be used as art pieces and the map lists Jordan College as only a small blip. This book may as well have been written by whoever wrote the steaming turd of a screenplay that became The Golden Compass film. I was so excited to have a new piece of Dark Materials to love, and was so disappointed coming away from it.
7 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

This felt less like a "tease" and more like a broken promise

I'm honestly a little bit unsure of what to make of "Lyra's Oxford". It drops a large number of references to the larger universe of the His Dark Materials stories without really developing any of them ... I especially feel for poor Will, whose presence in Lyra's psyche is reduced to a "WWWD" (What Would Will Do?") catchphrase. It takes place a few years after the events of the trilogy but Lyra shows no newfound maturity, falling yet again into the most obvious of traps. It spends considerable time on the rather contrived and uninteresting mystery of the witch's daemon and leaves us groping for answers to more interesting ones ("What is Mr. Makepeace up to?", "What/who really protected Lyra?", "What is the cruise ship flier a reference to?", etc.). The ending is cheesy as well ... I mean, "the city is looking out for us"? Come on ...

And that's the problem--my gut reaction upon finishing this story was "What the hell was that?" There's little substance here, and just when the reader is starting to re-form the bond with Lyra's world, the story ends. It felt like a prologue or first chapter to a much better story, but there's no indication that that's what it is. Pullman is coy: maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But I felt a bit duped--not just for spending $7 on a story that took about 15 minutes to read, but for spending that time on a story that felt like mediocre fan fiction. Lyra's Oxford was a disappointment, and Pullman missed a great opportunity to draw upon the magical worlds and interesting characters he developed in the His Dark Materials trilogy.
7 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Should be called a booklet, not a book.

If you are looking for an excellent book (or books) by Philip Pullman, by all means get any or all of his His Dark Materials trilogy. I got all three for a great price on Amazon and enjoyed each one. Lyra's Oxford is just a little booklet that is an accompaniement to the Dark Materials and really defies credibility by calling itself a paperback (I guess 'cause it's made out of paper). Just a few pages and not really worth the $7 in my opinion.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Well I am completely amazed at this book

Well I am completely amazed at this book, smaller than I thought but great condition and the map blew my mind ❤️❤️❤️
5 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Older Fans, Don't Waste Your Time

I loved the Dark Material series and was excited to see another book featuring Lyra. Have to say I was disappointed. The book is fine, but only about 50 pages and starts a story the just stops. Not really worth the time.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

If you really must know, spend your money

SPOILER FREE: It may be another decent addition to Pullman's universe, but this book is a pamphlet. The book, at first hold loses half its weight once you remove the map, which by the way is all but familiar to me. Even though the story is exciting with a familiar face that we wanted to see more of, it just needs more text to satisfy a fan. I enjoyed the skinny novel, but I just wish it had more to offer. You can read it in an hour which makes it seem like Pullman just had to leave the party as soon as he arrived. So bottom line: if you really wish to know what happens next then spend your money. Keep in mind that it is SHORT and it will be over before you know it.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Very disappointing

If it was meant to supplement the trilogy, it didn't do a good job. If it was meant as a stand alone work, it wasn't entertaining enough.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Love this book its like a little teaser for whats ...

Love this book its like a little teaser for whats supossed to be coming out after it (the book called dust i think)
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A good story - There's more story to tell

Lyra's Oxford was good for what it was. I really wanted to know more about the other characters; how was Will doing? Or Dr. Mary Malone? It's a couple of years later. I feel like there is more story to tell.
1 people found this helpful

Related Books