Lyra's Oxford

infobox Book |
name = Lyra's Oxford
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Philip Pullman
cover_artist = John Lawrence
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy short story
publisher = Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
release_date = October 28, 2003
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 64 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-375-82819-2
preceded_by = The Amber Spyglass
followed_by = The Book of Dust

"Lyra's Oxford" is a short book by Philip Pullman depicting an episode involving the heroine of "His Dark Materials", Pullman's best-selling trilogy. "Lyra's Oxford" is set when Lyra Silvertongue is 15, two years after the end of the trilogy [Lyra's Oxford, page 30: "Since she and Will parted two years before"] . 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 (including entries for the Eagle Ironworks, the Oxford Canal, the Fell Press and the Oratory of St Barnabas the Chymist, all in the Jericho area of Oxford), 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 have floated accidentally through an inter-world window. The postcard contains four images of significant sites in the His Dark Materials trilogy: the physics lab in which Mary Malone works, the house occupied by Lord Boreal, the row of hornbeam trees where Will first discovered a window between the worlds, and the bench where Lyra and Will have pledged to visit each other at least in spirit once a year.

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."

"Lyra and the Birds" Plot summary

Lyra is looking at a flock of birds from the tower of Jordan college, when she notices that the birds are attacking what turns out to be a dæmon in a bird shape. This dæmon must be a witch's because there is no human near. Lyra saves the dæmon, called Ragi, from the flock, and he urges Lyra to help him find a man called Sebastian Makepeace. Lyra cleverly finds out where to find him and that he is the last remaining alchemist, and promises Ragi to bring him to the alchemist after school. In the evening, Lyra escapes from St. Sophia's School and leads Ragi from Norham Gardens to Juxon Street where Sebastian Makepeace lives. Ragi flies above Lyra and hides on roofs to avoid suspicion. On the way, Ragi is attacked by some pigeons, but manages to save himself. Ragi also tells Lyra why he needs Sebastian Makepeace's help: his witch, Yelena Pazhets, is seriously ill. This new illness causes witches to die while not affecting their dæmons, leaving them alive and lonely after their witch's death. Lyra is shocked by this.

Reaching Makepeace's house at the end of Juxon Street, near the Oxford Canal, Lyra's dæmon Pantalaimon manages to look through Makepeace's window without being noticed by Ragi. Pan sees the alchemist lying on the floor and witch's instruments nearby. Sensing something is wrong, Lyra continues walking, past Makepeace's house, at which Ragi cries for his witch. Lyra realises it was a trap and now finds herself being attacked by the witch. She moves towards the canal and decides to fight the witch, because this is what Will would do. When Yelena charges, a swan rushes past Lyra and attacks the witch. The witch dies shortly after. Lyra carries the swan back to the canal, after which a recovered Sebastian Makepeace takes her into his house and explains that Yelena wanted to kill Sebastian and Lyra: Yelena was once Sebastian's lover and their son died in the war that was waged in "The Amber Spyglass". Yelena blamed Lyra for her son's death. Sebastian helps to get Lyra away unnoticed (the dead witch in the middle of the street caused some consternation) and she gets back to St. Sophia's. Back home Lyra and Pan contemplate that day's events: the birds were actually helping her and, looking for some meaning behind the events, Lyra feels that Oxford is protecting her.

References