The Secret Commonwealth cover art

The Secret Commonwealth

The Book of Dust, Volume Two

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The Secret Commonwealth

By: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: Michael Sheen
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for Audiobook of the Year at the British Book Awards 2020.

Winner of Best Solo Narration at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2020

It is 20 years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is almost 10 years since listeners left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford's Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, best0selling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child....

The second volume of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now 20 years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. Pulled along on his own journey too is Malcolm; once a boy with a boat and a mission to save a baby from the flood, now a man with a strong sense of duty and a desire to do what is right.

Theirs is a world at once familiar and extraordinary and they must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost - a city haunted by daemons, a secret at the heart of a desert and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

The Secret Commonwealth is truly a book for our times; a powerful adventure and a thought-provoking look at what it is to understand yourself, to grow up and make sense of the world around you. This is storytelling at its very best from one of our greatest writers.

©2019 Philip Pullman (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Coming of Age Science Fiction & Fantasy Fiction Young Adult Fantasy

Critic Reviews

“Michael Sheen throws himself wholeheartedly into narrating this sequel to La Belle Sauvage and listeners will be rapt. For the ever-expanding international cast of characters, Sheen conjures a multitude of accents and delivers rapid-fire conversations between them. He's in step with the text at every turn; when situations become fraught or dangerous, Sheen ramps up the tension exquisitely. Thanks to Pullman's intricate storytelling and Sheen's propulsive narration, listeners will be on the edge of their seats right up to the cliff-hanger ending.” (AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Secret Commonwealth

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All Pullman’s signature magic

Brilliant, captivating characters and developments. Less foreboding than Belle Sauvage, Secret Commonwealth revisits the intoxicating magic of Northern Lights. Can’t wait for book 3.

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Excellent narrator

Best narrator I have ever heard! His voice alone made this story come to life and you won’t regret being entertained by him 😍

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Brilliant

It took a dark turn at the end but was so real and exciting

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Excellent! A great sequel to the series.

this was a great book, engrossing and well integrated to the previous books. this was well performed by the reader with the pace accents.

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Interesting continuation. hope third book is soon

I enjoyed this but it got a bit ponderous and the number of characters were more than could be handled well. The person-daemon relationship analysis was a little over done … but all in all I loved it.

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Extraordinary

The performance here by Michael Sheen is simply breathtaking. Bringing the story of so many unique characters to life requires considerable talent. I loved the story, it’s heartbreaking and emotionally draining, but has some tender moments where I felt lost in the grief of loss and desire for connection. Lovely. Can’t wait for the next one.

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Good story - unpleasant reading

The voice of the narrator was very annoying when pretending to be upset, with a lot of strange sighing that really impacted my pleasure in listening to this book. Otherwise the story was good, much better than the 1st book. It is good to see Pantalaimon and Lyra again.

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Michael Sheen is brilliant.

Probably the best audio I have listened to. Michael Sheen' s portrayal of the characters is utterly convincing and engaging. I enjoyed this reading very much!

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Brilliant

I didn’t want it to finish, I enjoyed every minute and Michael Sheen was outstanding. The story was so well written that anyone else but a great actor could not have done it justice. Thank you.

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Great story and exceptional narration

Incredible book. The narration was exceptional. I would highly recommend this book. Can’t wait for the next one in the series

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