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Posted by Ian on April 3, 2008 at 6:09 pm
 The latest installment in the His Dark Materials series has been released in the UK and Ireland today and is available to buy in all good bookshops and online. It’s available in hardback and also on audio CD. If you want to see what BridgetotheStars thought, then have a read of our review here. The book will published in North America on April 8th and in Australasia on May 1st.
Posted by Ian on April 2, 2008 at 3:54 am
The Oxford Mail reports on Philip Pullman’s appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival last night to discuss his new book, Once Upon A Time In The North, at which he was interviewed by journalist James Naughtie on a range of themes, but primarily his new novella. Over 700 people had packed into Oxford Town Hall to hear Pullman speak, including many younger fans. You can read about the evening in full here.
Posted by krebbe on March 28, 2008 at 6:00 am
Publisher’s weekly has featured a telephone interview with Philip Pullman discussing his recent work, including inspirations for Once Upon a Time in the North, his writings for a British comic book ( covered earlier) and progress on the long-awaited Book of Dust:
“When I’ve finished the story I’m writing for the comic, I’ll say no to everything else. I wonder how many times I’ve said that now….”
Read the whole interview here.
Posted by Ian on March 27, 2008 at 7:00 pm
BridgetotheStars have seen and read the new Philip Pullman book. Here’s our review:
The latest ’His Dark Materials’ related instalment from Philip Pullman is an absolute triumph.
It seems that ‘Once Upon A Time In The North’ is not destined for the same fate as ’Lyra’s Oxford’. Initial hopes about that book had been high but restrained; for all its strengths, however, it was seen by many as a disappointment. ‘Once Upon A Time In The North’ is by comparison quite the converse.
Pullman has arguably produced some of his best writing… - Read more -
Posted by jessia on March 25, 2008 at 5:40 am
Amanda Craig from The Times has reviewed the newest installment in His Dark Materials describing it as a joy to be reunited with Pullman’s beloved characters after a less than satisfactory experience with the truncated film release this past season. “It is exuberant, intelligent fun, in a way that his previous novella, Lyra’s Oxford, was not, and the exquisite engravings by John Lawrence and small size of the book make it a joy to look at, touch and hold.” Read more.
Posted by krebbe on March 23, 2008 at 12:55 am
With the approaching release of Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman talks to Rosa Silverman of The Times newspaper. The interview topics include the effects of corporate forces on our lives and the environment, his hopes and reservations regarding the movies, and the difficulties of writing stories that impress both the critics the public. “A lot of things about [The Golden Compass movie] were good. Nothing’s perfect. Nothing can bring out all that’s in the book. There are always compromises.” Pullman also describes his optimism that the sequels will be made and concedes that he wants to appeal to a wide audience partly because “the more readers you get, the more money you get.” It’s a candid comment, befitting a man who has built up a reputation for speaking his mind on controversial ideas. Read the whole article here.
Posted by Ian on March 22, 2008 at 5:01 am
Today’s Guardian newspaper features an extract from the soon-to-be-released His Dark Materials follow up, Once Upon A Time In The North. It’s roughly what has been heard previously at the occasional reading, but it’s quite long, so beware, there is the odd spoiler. Read it here.
Posted by jessia on March 20, 2008 at 8:20 am
Philip Pullman will be speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival Monday, 31st March to launch upcoming title Once Upon a Time in the North. “The book recounts the very first meeting of these two heroes - Lee Scoresby and his hare daemon, Hester, crash land their trading balloon on to Novy Odense, a port in the far Arctic North, and so find themselves right in the middle of a political powder keg that threatens to explode into a street-fight. Honour is at stake and Lee is not a man to duck a matter of honour.”
Tickets (£15, or £10 for children) are available at the Oxford Playhouse.
Posted by jessia on March 20, 2008 at 8:12 am
 Philip Pullman speaks to free lance journalist A.S.H. Smyth in this Tuesday’s Spectator about his upcoming book Once Upon a Time in the North and especially Lee Scoresby. Moving beyond God and towards British politics, globalisation, and the environment, Pullman arrives at a story where Lee and Iorek Byrnison, “finding that their interests mutually coincide with those of a Dutch merchant whose cargo has been illegally impounded, pool their strengths, automatically and almost wordlessly, in defence of the little man,” upon inspiration from The Magnificent Seven. Fans will also discover the origins of Lee’s balloon and Winchester rifle. Read more
Once Upon a Time in the North comes out April 3rd.
Posted by jessia on March 17, 2008 at 8:09 am
 Susannah Herbert from the Sunday Times spoke to Philip Pullman recently to discuss his upcoming release, Once Upon a Time in the North and reveals a number of concerns that are informing not only the author’s writing but also his lifestyle and ideas on the state of things. Drawing upon his childhood imagination of a heroic father and his favourite Western, The Magnificent Seven, he says about this story dedicated to the much loved Texan cowboy Lee Scoresby, “It wasn’t until I was some way into it that I realised: it’s about honour… Of course.”
More pressing, however, is the environmental message behind the story: ‘While the evil forces of the trilogy were all linked to an oppressive theocracy, their equivalents in Once Upon a Time in the North are allied to an oil corporation that is trying to buy up politicians and subvert the rule of law.’ Discussing the worldwide obsession with the market, Pullman compares the violence of imperialism in Roman Antiquity to the globally destructive damage done today and recalls a time just before his birth when consumption was controlled by wartime rations. “Humanity needs to evolve morally if it is to survive. We have to change and it will be very uncomfortable. But if we don’t, the alternative will be worse.” Read more.
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The latest installment in the His Dark Materials series has been released in the UK and Ireland today and is available to buy in all good bookshops and online. It’s available in hardback and also on audio CD. If you want to see what BridgetotheStars thought, then have a read of our review here. The book will published in North America on April 8th and in Australasia on May 1st.
