<P> The Book of Dust is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman . It is a companion to Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy . The plot focuses on a battle for free speech and thought against a theocratic totalitarian organisation . The books touch on research into Dust, the cosmic matter that governs consciousness, as well as the portrayal of religion in His Dark Materials . </P> <P> 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 novel in the trilogy, La Belle Sauvage, was published in October 2017; it is set 10 years before Northern Lights (known as The Golden Compass in some countries) and centres on Lyra Belacqua, one of the protagonists of the original trilogy . Alethiometers, dæmons and the Magisterium return, alongside new characters, including a new hero, 11 - year - old Malcolm Polstead . </P> <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>

Philip pullman the book of dust volume 2