Some of the very best movies and TV shows set in the fantasy genre are based on books, with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy arguably as a standout example of how an adaptation can succeed with the right approach to the source material. On the other side of the spectrum, Game of Thrones had wildly diverged from George R.R. Martins's A Song of Ice and Fire by the end and resulted in the infamous final season. And then we have His Dark Materials.
The His Dark Materials saga has been the source of controversy going back to the content of the first book (called Northern Lights before being brought over to the U.S. as The Golden Compass) of the original trilogy, published by Philip Pullman back in 1995. Throw in a movie adaptation called The Golden Compass that failed to created a film franchise, and the later HBO adaptation starring Dafne Keen and James McAvoy had a lot working against it.
Now, Philip Pullman is set to finish the second trilogy in the saga about Lyra Silvertongue, and the news really makes me want to revisit the seriously underrated TV show.
The Next Book
The novel trilogy following His Dark Materials is technically separate, falling under the title The Book of Dust instead. That said, the second trio of novels still heavily features characters from The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, and they're set in the same world that was saved by Lyra and Will.
La Belle Sauvage was the first of the sequel trilogy to be published, back in 2017. The Secret Commonwealth was up next in 2019, and then the wait began for the third and final book. While fans like me who are enduring George R.R Martin's lengthy delays in releasing the next A Song of Ice and Fire book might have despaired a bit as the years passed without Pullman's next book, readers can now celebrate.
The Book of Dust: The Rose Field is officially set to be released on October 23, 2025 with a North American first printing of 300,000 copies. The timing couldn't be better, as 2025 also marks the 30-year anniversary of the publication of Northern Lights, which would of course be retitled The Golden Compass for American markets. (Maybe George R.R Martin could take notes on finishing The Winds of Winter, as 2026 will be the 30-year anniversary of A Game of Thrones' release as his first book set in the world of Westeros.)
I won't go deeply into plot details here since the news has me back in a His Dark Materials state of mind, but news of the release date comes with confirmation that The Rose Field will pick up where The Secret Commonwealth left off for Lyra and Pantalaimon. Will Parry of course isn't Lyra's main friend/foil in the Book of Dust trilogy after how His Dark Materials ended, but Lyra does have a cast of post-HDM characters around her... and who knows? Maybe Will will somehow get a cameo.
Adaptations Of His Dark Materials
As an adaptation of fantasy novels, the HBO/BBC joint production of His Dark Materials somehow never quite took off like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones or even The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with its journey into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic. That's not altogether shocking, as it lacks the magic and whimsy of Harry Potter but never gets nearly as dark and bloody as A Song of Ice and Fire.
Plus, controversies about His Dark Materials and religion became mainstream when the Golden Compass film released in 2007 and failed to launch a franchise. The movie was in fact so widely panned both as a film and an adaptation of Philip Pullman's book that a prevailing opinion about the TV series ahead of its premiere was potential viewers hoping that it wouldn't suck. If this sounds like a lot of naysaying as part of a feature about how I think an adaptation is underrated, bear with me.
The intricacies of the books always meant that a movie would have to cut a lot of the details that make them so engrossing to read and tear-jerking to finish, and television was an ideal way to bring the world of Lyra to life in live-action. My point is that the HBO/BBC series had a lot going against it from the start, and I truly wish more people were talking about it when it aired from 2019-2022.
His Dark Materials TV Show
I can be a bit of a stickler for details when it comes to book adaptations, to the point that I am one of the people who took issue with the Wuthering Heights castings, and the nearly three years since Netflix released its unfortunate take on Jane Austen's Persuasion evidently are not enough for me to get over it. But some adaptations handle the source material with enough care that the changes just work, like Keira Knightley's 2005 production of Pride & Prejudice...and, as it turns out, HBO's His Dark Materials.
The show was faithful in most of the ways that mattered, in my opinion, even if I didn't get my wish for certain moments from The Amber Spyglass not to be cut. Aging up Lyra (Dafne Keen) and Will (Amir Wilson) was a great move for a show that was going to run for multiple seasons with the same two young stars, since teenagers can get away with playing the same age for a few years, whereas there's a big difference between 11 and 19. (See: the Stranger Things kids.)
The series also expanded on the roles of James McAvoy's Asriel and Ruth Wilson's Mrs. Coulter, and a whole episode dedicated to Asriel's off-screen adventures would have been produced if not for COVID production challenges.
Is His Dark Materials a fantastical romp with a happily-ever-after for all the heroes? It is not. (Kudos to the show, though, because I was convinced that I wouldn't cry since I already knew the ending, and Will and Lyra got me at the very end anyway.) It's not as magical as Harry Potter or as brutal as Game of Thrones, and perhaps His Dark Materials would have caught on more as a TV show if it was clearer who the target audience was.
The books probably should be classified as novels aimed at kids, and the two protagonists are kids, but there are certainly adult themes, and I doubt I would have appreciated the show as much when I first read the books as a teen as I did as an adult. On the whole, though, I'm always happy to recommend His Dark Materials to any fantasy fan. So, would I like to see the novels of The Book of Dust adapted into a show like the previous trilogy once The Rose Field is available?
Well, that might be trickier when it comes to the timeline of the books, and characters would likely have to be recast if the two shows were meant to be canonical to each other. At the very least, I can look forward to the final book of Philip Pullman's saga... and perhaps even stop being petty about George R.R. Martin and The Winds of Winter in the process.
If you want to check out the His Dark Materials TV show or just rewatch it, you can find all three seasons streaming with a Max subscription now.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
'No Ma'am, No Sir': The White Lotus' Natasha Rothwell Shares Her Reaction To Belinda Taking The Money And Rejecting Pornchai At The End Of Season 3 (And I Think She's Right On The Money)
‘He Hated This’: Will Smith Apparently Developed Bad Acting Habits While Working On Fresh Prince, And An Ex Showrunner Reveals What He Did To Handle That
