6 things you need to know about The Book of Dust
1. The Book of Dust is a story in three parts. The first part is set ten years before the events of His Dark Materials, and the rest of the story takes place twenty years after that: in fact, ten years after Lyra comes home to Jordan College after her adventure in the Arctic at the end of The Amber Spyglass.
2. Alethiometers, daemons and the Magisterium all feature!
3. The story will focus on some new characters, as well as an ordinary boy who eagle-eyed readers may have spotted in Lyra’s story before. With Lyra, he is caught up in a terrifying adventure that takes him into a new world…
4. Their tale is pretty topical - it centres on the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organisation that wants to stifle speculation and enquiry, and those who believe that thought and speech should be free.
5. Rather than a prequel or a sequel to His Dark Materials, Philip describes The Book of Dust is as an 'equel' - a new story that stands beside his previous trilogy.
6. Like His Dark Materials, it will be released in three parts. Part One will be published on 19th October 2017 - 22 years after Northern Lights was published in July 1995.
Check out the most anticipated YA books hitting shelves in 2026.
Discover the best crime books to gift this Christmas. From chilling thrillers to clever mysteries, these six page-turners will keep readers hooked.
Penguin Random House publisher, Ali shares her current pick: The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns. Read her review here!
A furious, brilliant woman stepped from the pages of a notebook – and inspired Laguna’s new novel, The Underworld.
Take this quiz to find out whether you're a Meg, Liza or Benny – the key characters from the new YA psychological thriller.
Check out the Penguin Random House titles that made the cut for ABC Radio National's 'Top 100 Books of the 21st century' list, as voted by over 280,000 readers.
We’re happy to share that an impressive twenty-five Penguin Random House titles made the list this year.
Want to read the Reacher series but not sure where to start? This guide will tell you how to read the Jack Reacher books in order, so you can start with book one and work your way through all thirty!
Everything you need to know about the Jack Reacher books. Learn about Lee and Andrew Child, figure out which order to read them and quiz your Reacher knowledge.
The shortlist for the 2025 Booker Prize has been announced, with four Penguin Random House titles named this year.
Take this quiz to find out what type of mullet you are, in honour of Nick Sharratt’s book, Mullets.
Here’s what you need to know about Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series – including which order to read the books!