The Imagination Chamber: Cosmic Rays from Lyra’s Universe by Philip Pullman
The Imagination Chamber: Cosmic Rays from Lyra’s Universe is the latest work from Philip Pullman. He is my favorite author!
Way back on January 21, Philip Pullman announced the release of The Imagination Chamber on Twitter, and I put in my order at Waterstones, a UK bookstore.
This short book, 85 pages in length, is simply gorgeous and high quality. The cover feels like linen, and the pages themselves are extremely thick. In other words, the feel of this book in your hands is magic. Usually, I like to have ebooks to conserve my limited space, but this book is such a tactile phenomena. Additionally, the pages are tinted red. The publisher, Scholastic, spared no expense putting this delightful book together.
This book is a bit different than any of Philip Pullman’s other works. For example, it is not exactly a short story. Most pages only contain one paragraph. Some pages contain as many as four paragraphs. This book is meant to be cosmic rays from the imagination chamber. They are very short little bursts of brilliance. Each one of the pages could lead to a book or chapter in its own right. This would make a great gift to anyone with a penchant for writing.
The Imagination Chamber proves just how brilliant Pullman is. He has developed a world that has so many interesting characters with rich backstory. Who will make it into the final book?
Pullman, I saw it. Page 51. “A beautiful blue cat-daemon was gazing up at her. When Lyra was nine or ten she went there on her own, often, and sat in front of the picture, whispering to her.”
As for the writing itself, Pullman does not disappoint. However, The Imagination Chamber does refer to characters in His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust. This book will make much more sense if you have read the two series first.
The last page of the book makes me cry. I can’t help but think of the parallels between Farder Coram and Philip Pullman, how he is starting to contemplate how everything will come to an end. Can he find the words to pull off one last spectacular novel? The play on words in the previous sentence is intentional.
The Imagination Chamber might give some hints as to what is to come in the third book of The Book of Dust series. Fans (including myself) have been asking for the release date of the final installation in The Book of Dust for years now. In the beginning of the book, Pullman shares his experience writing the final book in the series. There is some hope though! In the “Selected Works by Philip Pullman” page, under THE BOOK OF DUST, it states, “Book three coming soon”!!!!!!!
The Imagination Chamber is a perfect gift for those fans of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust, especially those still waiting, patiently or impatiently, for the final book in The Book of Dust series.
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