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Serpentine cover art

Serpentine

By: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: Olivia Colman
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.  

A story in the Arctic from the world of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust by master storyteller Philip Pullman, read by Olivia Colman.  

‘Lyra Silvertongue, you’re very welcome.... Yes, I know your new name. Serafina Pekkala told me everything about your exploits.’

Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon have left the events of His Dark Materials far behind.  

In this snapshot of their forever-changed lives they return to the North to visit an old friend, where we will learn that things are not exactly as they seem.... 

The perfect re-entry for fans of His Dark Materials and a wonderful companion to The Book of Dust, Serpentine is a brand-new special listen for Pullman fans old and new. 

©2020 Philip Pullman (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"It’s a stunning achievement, the universe Pullman has created and continues to build on." (New York Times)

"Pullman is an easeful storyteller and an intricate and inventive world-builder, and everything he has to write is worth reading." (Telegraph)

What listeners say about Serpentine

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Disappointed

I’m so disappointed, I thought it was the next instalment and not a pointless 26 minutes. I can’t believe I wasted one of my credits, at least I didn’t buy it outright. How can you justify the price of this? It was very disappointing!

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27 people found this helpful

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not worth one credit

26 minute story for one credit is very disappointing, would have been cheaper to purchase on amazon!!
short story was good but thought it was follow up to secret commonwealth .

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18 people found this helpful

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Ludicrously expensive for 28 minutes

Ludicrously expensive for 28 minutes. Very disappointing. 50p a minute is what you might be charged for a premium line phone call. Extortionate.

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9 people found this helpful

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  • -
  • 30-11-20

Disappointingly short

I'm a big fan of Pullman but I regret spending a full credit on 26 minutes of material.

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8 people found this helpful

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Great short story

As with all the HDM books, its brilliantly written, i just wish it was a full book. I pre ordered back earlier in the year and have been looking forward to it being released, unfortunately i didn't notice that it was only 26 minutes long, so was a little disappointed when i found out.
However as a stand alone short story, its great.

I do hope that Mr Pullman writes more in this world he created, more Will Parry and Mary Malone stories would be Amazing.

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5 people found this helpful

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Far too short

I love the His Dark materials trilogy and have both books of dust that have been released, this just felt like a pointless little story with not a lot of content which didn’t seem to particularly fit in with Lyra’s timeline. Olivia Coleman reads it beautifully but it’s just far far too short. There is a large gap between the end of the amber spy glass and the secret commonwealth, this doesn’t help much.

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4 people found this helpful

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I Loathe Leaving This World.

An utter joy to have just a few more moments in this world. can't wait for the final Book of Dust installment. A great little addition and wonderfully read.

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2 people found this helpful

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with a deft touch of the authors pen.....

Phillip turns la belle sauvage and the book of dust into a trilogy with this delightful re invigoration of pan and lyra.s relationship. It has indeed been much battered not only when lyra betrayed pan late into his dark mysteries but also as we have seen , later in the narrative in the book of dust when pan is forced to seek out lyras imagination alone.

Splashing in the Serpentine, not only do we read of very current melting polar caps, the discovery of previous civilizations and high water levels past; but we also delight in some marvelous repartee between this particular delightful dynamic duo

In this very short read, inserted almost as an afterthought, forgive me if i am wrong, to become book the first of the dust trio, the trilogy number two the author leaves his much devoted readers as the best authors do , wanting more not only then, to re read what we have been given, and the other books and trilogies written by the master storyteller, but perhaps, dare I say it , rather like one famous rich kid in a workhouse, asked for .......more please sir.....can i have some more. as with the faerie queen then, so too with lyra surely, a third and concluding , cross referencing and possibly inerlocating third trilogy please Phillip. MORE....... ENCORE!!!

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2 people found this helpful

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very short very very good

It is a very short story but just long enough to give a deeper understanding of Lyra Pantalaimon.

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1 person found this helpful

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short and sweet

the only issue with this, I find is I now want more little stories like this of the time between the end of His Dark Materials and the beginning of the Secret Commonwealth! bring on book 3 of the SC!

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1 person found this helpful