★★★★☆ Marissa Coulter and her demon Ozymandias are back, sort of

His Dark Materials: The Collectors

Philip Pullman, (Tom Duxbury, illustrator)

Despite the title, The Collectors is not really part of His Dark Materials proper, by which I mean the story as told in Books 1-3, The Golden Compass, The Amber Spyglass, and The Subtle Knife. It doesn't even, strictly speaking, include any of the characters from that story. It doesn't take place in Lyra's universe. Readers of His Dark Materials will not be surprised to learn that it takes place at Oxford. It begins with two art collectors, Horley and Grinstead, in the common room of Horley's college, discussing two art works: a painting of a young lady and a bronze of a monkey. It is immediately obvious to readers of His Dark Materials that these are Marissa Coulter and her demon Ozymandias.

Horley and Grinstead, however, live in a universe like ours, where ones soul is not a separate being from oneself. How a portrait of Mrs Coulter and a bronze of her demon made its way into our universe is a mystery. Things happen, which I will not spoil. It makes a nice creepy story, well-timed for Halloween. (Not really. It was first published 10-Dec-2014. However, I did not see it until yesterday, 29-Oct-2022.) I was a little disappointed that the mysteries were never cleared up. A certain amount of lingering mystery contributes to the creepiness, but I would have liked a little more clarification. This will, of course, be a matter of personal taste.

The story is nicely illustrated by creepy dark line drawings by Tom Duxbury, which work quite well on kindle.

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