Book Series Guide
Philip Pullman

Author guide

Philip Pullman Books in Order

Philip Pullman (born 1946 in Norwich, England) is an English writer whose work spans fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, children's literature, plays, graphic fiction, retellings, and essays. He is best known for His Dark Materials, The Book of Dust, and the Sally Lockhart mysteries, and has also written standalone novels, fairy tales, picture books, nonfiction, and drama.

fantasyyoung adultchildren's literaturemysteryhistorical fictionscience fictionnonfictionplaysgraphic fiction

Catalog record updated .

Philip Pullman's Newest Book

Cover of The Rose Field

The Rose Field

novel · First published 2025

This landmark trilogy, set in the world readers first glimpsed in The Golden Compass, continues the story of Lyra: “one of fantasy’s most indelible heroines” (The New York Times Magazine). Picking up right where The Secret Commonwealth left off, this story finds Lyra alone in a city haunted by daemons, searching for her beloved Pan. Malcolm Polstead isn’t far behind, searching for Lyra. And they are both racing toward the desert of Karamakan, following the trail of roses said to hold the secret of Dust. Their allies and enemies are converging on the mysterious red building at the heart of the desert: Marcel Delamare and the military might of the Magisterium; the radical Men from the Mountains; scientists, scholars and spies; troops of witches and other people of the air. And awaiting them all is a previously unseen and chilling new threat that will change everything. The intertwining odysseys of Malcolm and Lyra, their journeys both internal and external, will test their limits and challenge even their most dearly held beliefs. As ever, Philip Pullman is using the language of fantasy to illuminate our world and to explore the deepest questions of what it means to be alive and awake to all the splendors and horrors around us. The extraordinary novels of The Book of Dust speak powerfully to today’s readers and will take their place alongside the forever-favorites of His Dark Materials.

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Northern Lights

The best entry to Pullman's signature world and the core His Dark Materials trilogy.

Cover of The Ruby in the Smoke

The Ruby in the Smoke

The opening Sally Lockhart mystery and an accessible standalone introduction to his historical adventure fiction.

Read in order

Books by series

trilogy · complete

His Dark Materials

A trilogy of fantasy novels about Lyra, Will, parallel worlds, Dust, and the struggle against authoritarian religious power, accompanied by related short works.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    Northern Lights

    Book 1 · novel · 1995

  2. 2
    The Subtle Knife

    Book 2 · novel · 1997

    Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels. Each is searching—Lyra for…

  3. 3
    The Amber Spyglass

    Book 3 · novel · 2000

    Will is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel - by the command of his dying father. But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only…

  4. 4
    Lyra's Oxford

    Book 4 · novella · 2003 Optional

    An exciting new tale set in the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials saga. This collectible hardcover volume includes a short story by Mr. Pullman, plus a fold-out map of Oxford and various "souvenirs" from the past. The book is…

  5. 5
    Once Upon a Time in the North

    Book 5 · novella · 2008 Optional

    Lyra is studying at Oxford University, she comes across the story of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnisson's first meeting, many years ago, along with much evidence of the adventure that brought them together . . . When a young Texan…

  6. 6
    The Collectors

    Book 6 · short-story · 2014 Optional

    ‘But the thing is,’ said Horley, ‘they didn’t know each other at all. Never heard of each other. It wasn’t about the makers. Only about the works.’ On a dark winter’s night in 1970, Horley and Grinstead huddle for warmth in the Senior…

  7. 7
    Serpentine

    Book 7 · novella · 2020 Optional

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

trilogy · complete

The Book of Dust

A trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials, following Malcolm, Lyra, and the changing relationship between Lyra and her daemon.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    La Belle Sauvage

    Book 1 · novel · 2017

  2. 2
    The Secret Commonwealth

    Book 2 · novel · 2019

    **LYRA SILVERTONGUE** thought her adventuring days were long over. Now a twenty-year-old undergraduate at St. Sophia's College, she could almost begin to doubt that she'd once traveled to the world of the dead were it not for the painful…

  3. 3
    The Rose Field

    Book 3 · novel · 2025

    This landmark trilogy, set in the world readers first glimpsed in The Golden Compass, continues the story of Lyra: “one of fantasy’s most indelible heroines” (The New York Times Magazine). Picking up right where The Secret Commonwealth…

quartet · complete

Sally Lockhart

A quartet of Victorian mystery-adventure novels centered on Sally Lockhart and her friends and associates.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    The Ruby in the Smoke

    Book 1 · novel · 1985

    Soon after Sally Lockhart's father drowns at sea, she receives a strange anonymous letter. The dire warning it contains makes a man die of fear at her feet. Determined to discover the truth about her father's death, Sally is plunged into…

  2. 2
    The Shadow in the North

    Book 2 · novel · 1986

    In 1878 in London, Sally, now twenty-two and established in her own business, and her companions Frederick and Jim try to solve the mystery surrounding the unexpected collapse of a shipping firm and its ties to a sinister corporation…

  3. 3
    The Tiger in the Well

    Book 3 · novel · 1990

    In London in 1881, twenty-four-year-old Sally finds her young daughter and her possessions assailed by an unknown enemy, while a shadowy figure known as the Tzaddik involves her in his plot to defraud and exploit the hordes of Jewish…

  4. 4
    The Tin Princess

    Book 4 · novel · 1994

    In 1882 sixteen-year-old Becky applies for a tutoring job in London and becomes embroiled in assassination, intrigue, and dangerous politics in the small European kingdom of Razkavia.

series · complete

The New Cut Gang

Two historical adventure novels about a group of street children in Victorian Lambeth.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    The New Cut Gang: Thunderbolt's Waxwork

    Book 1 · novel · 1994

    The New Cut Gang is a group of urchins ranging from 6-year-old Sharkey Bob to 13-year-old Bridie Malone. They inhabit the streets around Lambeth Walk and the New Cut. In 1892, it is a place full of gangsters, bookies, pickpockets,…

  2. 2
    The New Cut Gang: The Gas-Fitters' Ball

    Book 2 · novel · 1995

    The New Cut Gang is a group of urchins in 1892. Lambeth Walk and the New Cut bristles with gangsters, bookies, pickpockets, swindlers, horse thieves and the occasional tentative policeman. The gang discover a cache of counterfeit gold…

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (14)
  1. The Haunted Storm

    novel · 1972

  2. Ancient Civilizations

    nonfiction · 1978

  3. Galatea

    novel · 1978

  4. Count Karlstein

    novel · 1982

    In the mountains of Switzerland the wicked Count Karlstein plots to abandon his two orphaned nieces in a hunting lodge as prey for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds.

  5. How to Be Cool

    novel · 1987

  6. Spring-Heeled Jack

    graphic-novel · 1989

    Three children make their escape from a London orphanage and after a series of misadventures are reunited with their father through the efforts of the legendary Spring-Heeled Jack.

  7. The Broken Bridge

    novel · 1990

    Over the course of a long summer in Wales, sixteen-year-old Ginny, the mixed-race, artist daughter of an English father and a Haitian mother, learns that she has a half-brother from her father's earlier marriage, and that her own mother…

  8. The Butterfly Tattoo

    novel · 1992

    Seventeen-year-old Chris, living and working in Oxford, falls in love with an elusive girl and while searching for her discovers the devastating consequences of placing his trust in the wrong person. Suggested level: secondary.

  9. The Firework-Maker's Daughter

    novella · 1995

    In a country far to the east, Chulak and his talking white elephant Hamlet help Lila seek the Royal Sulphur from the sacred volcano so that she can become a master maker of fireworks like her father.

  10. Clockwork, or All Wound Up

    novella · 1996

    Long ago in Germany, a storyteller's story and an apprentice clockwork maker's nightmare meet in a menacing, lifelike figure created by the strange Dr. Kalmenius.

  11. I Was a Rat!, or The Scarlet Slippers

    novel · 1999

    A re-working of the Cinderella story from the point of view of the rat, come boy.

  12. The Scarecrow and His Servant

    novel · 2004

    Outrageously zany and filed with non-stop surprises, Simon Reade's theatrical adaptation of The Scarecrow and His Servant, renowned author Philip Pullman's fictional children's tale, is an enchanting play for young readers and performers.…

  13. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

    novel · 2010

    This is a story. In this ingenious and spell-binding retelling of the life of Jesus, Philip Pullman revisits the most influential story ever told. Charged with mystery, compassion and enormous power, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel…

Essays and speeches (2)
  1. Imaginary Friends

    nonfiction-pamphlet · 2017

  2. Dæmon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling

    essay-collection · 2017

    From the internationally best-selling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, a spellbinding journey into the secrets of his art--the narratives that have shaped his vision, his experience of writing, and the keys to mastering the art…

Children's books (3)
  1. Mossycoat

    picture-book · 1998

    In this adaptation of the classic tale, Cinderella, a loving mother spends years making her daughter a magic coat of moss and gold thread. When she is wearing the coat, whatever she wished would come true. Then it was time for her to…

  2. Puss in Boots

    picture-book · 2000

    A clever cat wins his master a fortune and the hand of a princess.

Plays (2)

Frequently asked questions about Philip Pullman

Who is Philip Pullman, and what is he best known for?

Philip Pullman is an English novelist, playwright, and essayist best known for the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. His writing is published for both younger and adult readers.

Sources: philip-pullman.com (opens in a new tab)exeter.ox.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)

Where was Philip Pullman born, and where did he study?

Pullman was born in Norwich, England, in 1946. After growing up in several countries and settling in North Wales, he attended Exeter College, Oxford, where he studied English.

Sources: philip-pullman.com (opens in a new tab)exeter.ox.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)

Did Philip Pullman work as a teacher before becoming a full-time writer?

Yes. He entered teaching at 25, taught in Oxford middle schools, and later taught students on the B.Ed. course at Westminster College.

Sources: philip-pullman.com (opens in a new tab)newyorker.com (opens in a new tab)

What literary influences shaped Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials?

John Milton's Paradise Lost was a major inspiration; Pullman said he loved the poem from the time he studied it at school. William Blake was another important influence, particularly Blake's visionary approach to imagination and religion.

Sources: theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)philip-pullman.com (opens in a new tab)

What awards has Philip Pullman won, and what is his legacy in children's literature?

Pullman won the Carnegie Medal, and his work later received the Carnegie of Carnegies; The Amber Spyglass was the first children's book to win the overall Whitbread Book of the Year Award. He also shared the 2005 Astrid Lindgren Award and was knighted in 2019 for services to literature.

Sources: philip-pullman.com (opens in a new tab)carnegiegreenaway.org.uk (opens in a new tab)exeter.ox.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)