3.5 stars.

While this book had definite echoes of everything I loved in His Dark Materials, it felt watered down somehow — maybe because it’s the first book in a new series and there’s still so much world-building and character-introducing to do? I guess we’ll find out in the next book.

Malcolm is absolutely as lovable and admirable as Lyra (in HDM; there’s not much to say about an infant who’s currently more of a plot device/tie-in than a real character with choices to make), and I love getting to see the events set into motion even before Lyra goes on her prophecied adventures. We gain a different, or at least more nuanced, understanding of both sides of the philosophical/political war; readers familiar with HDM will have greater knowledge of Mrs. Coulter’s plans and motives, but it’s not at all necessary to understand this series.

All in all, The Book of Dust is pretty well set up to both stand alone from and complement HDM, and I look forward to seeing where it takes us.