<P> Pullman conceived The Book of Dust before the publication of Lyra's Oxford in 2003 . On his website in April 2005, he wrote that the book was "under way". In 2007, he described it as "a big, big book". In a 2009 interview with Oxford University newspaper Cherwell, Pullman stated that The Book of Dust was "growing" but that he was "encountering complexities that seem to be making it longer than I thought it would be ." In 2011, Pullman said that he was considering writing The Book of Dust in two volumes, one set before His Dark Materials and the other set afterwards . In September 2012, Pullman told the BBC that The Book of Dust was now his focus and that he had written 220 pages . In December, he told Wired that he had cleared 2013 and most of 2014 to write the book . In May 2016, he said he had vowed to not cut his hair until it was complete . </P> <P> On 14 February 2017, Pullman announced that The Book of Dust would be a new trilogy, and announced the publication of the first novel, La Belle Sauvage, published on 19 October 2017 . The books are jointly published by Random House Children's and David Fickling Books in the United Kingdom, and by Random House Children's Books in the US . </P> <P> The Book of Dust takes place before, during and after the original trilogy; Pullman described it as an "equel", rather than a sequel, which "will begin and end with Lyra". The plot focuses on a battle for free speech and thought against a totalitarian organisation . The books will touch on research into Dust, the cosmic matter that governs consciousness, as well as the portrayal of religion in His Dark Materials . Pullman said the trilogy addresses consciousness: "Perhaps the oldest philosophical question of all: are we matter? Or are we spirit and matter? What is consciousness if there is no spirit? Questions like that are of perennial fascination and they haven't been solved yet, thank goodness ." </P> <P> The first book, La Belle Sauvage, was published on 19 October 2017 . Set ten years before the His Dark Materials trilogy, the story follows 11 - year - old Malcolm Polstead, his dæmon Asta, a village girl named Alice and her dæmon Ben who become the protectors of the infant Lyra Belacqua and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, in their canoe, La Belle Sauvage, after a flood . The novel introduces the alethiometer specialist Hannah Relf, allied with the secret organisation Oakley Street, and a new villain, Gerard Bonneville, allied with the Consistorial Court of Discipline (CCD). Returning characters include Lyra's father Lord Asriel and mother Mrs Coulter, and the Gyptian elder Farder Coram . </P>

When will the second book of dust be released