Lyra's Oxford

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Lyra's Oxford is a short book by Philip Pullman depicting an episode involving the heroine of His Dark Materials, Pullman's bestselling trilogy. Lyra's Oxford is set when Lyra Silvertongue is sixteen, shortly after the end of the trilogy. It was released to whet the appetite of fans of the trilogy while they wait for the unspecified release of The Book of Dust, and also to expand upon Pullman's themes from the trilogy.

The book consists mainly of an illustrated short story, Lyra and the Birds. A fold-out map of "Oxford by Train, River and Zeppelin" is bound in the book, a fictional map of the Oxford that exists in Lyra's world. It also includes some advertisements for books and travellers' catalogues. Two pages from a Baedeker published in Lyra's world, a postcard from the character Mary Malone, and a brochure for the cruise ship Zenobia are also included. Pullman compares the movement of these objects to particles in a cloud chamber. The idea is that they've floated accidentally through an inter-world window.

The preface by Pullman begins:

"This book contains a story and several other things. The other things might be connected with the story, or they might not; they might be connected to stories that haven't appeared yet. It's hard to tell."

External Links

• [BridgetotheStars.Net Lyra's Oxford section]
• [HisDarkMaterials.org Lyra's Oxford Information], a fansite.

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