When I finish a good book, it can take ages for me to stop thinking about a character, a scene, a feeling I got from the book. (There were a few weeks when I couldn’t go to bed without thinking about vampires — more on that later.) After consuming the His Dark Materials trilogy in the span of only a few weeks, I was a little fixated on Lyra.
Lyra had courage and an adventurous spirit that I admired. Wonder Boy is reading The Golden Compass now and I am truly jealous of him as he gets to meet Lyra for the first time. And if I haven’t been able to shake Lyra, what of the author, Philip Pullman?
When an author writes a book, or a series, or even a short story, he or she lives with the character for some period of time. Perhaps the idea of the character ruminates in their head for years before being expressed on paper. And so it seems obvious that publication would not cause an end to that relationship. In my mind, Lyra’s Oxford is one little scene that Pullman kept replaying and felt he need to get down on paper. Loyal readers, wanting for more, would of course buy it.
Pullman published Lyra’s Oxford after His Dark Materials and it is nothing more the endearingly sweet. My copy of the story is hardbound and no more than 4 inches by six inches. There are illustrations on the pages and a fold-out map. The 49 pages detailing Lyra’s adventure with a witch are a quick read. While in no way as satisfying as any part of His Dark Materials, Lyra’s Oxford does quench a little of your thirst thirst for more of Pullman’s creation.
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