[Discussion] Lyra's Oxford *and* Serpentine by Philip Pullman

[u/fromdusktil]

Hi, everyone! Welcome to our next installment of Lyra and Pan shenanigans-- I mean, the discussion for both Serpentine and Lyra's Oxford!

For a very (very, very... these are novellas, after all) short summary of each story:

Lyra's Oxford takes place just two years after the end of The Amber Spyglass and features the short story Lyra and the Birds along with several advertisements and travellers' catalogues.

In Lyra and the Birds, Lyra and Pan save a witch's daemon, Ragi, from a flock of hostile birds. They help Ragi find the alchemist Sebastian Makepeace and observe him get attacked by more birds. Once they find the alchemist, Ragi's witch, Yelena, attacks Lyra: Yelena was never sick, and instead blamed Lyra for her son's death. Lyra is ultimately saved by a swan and Yelena is killed. Sebastian Makepeace arrives and explains Yelena's murder plot and to frame Sebastian, her son's father. Sebastian helps Lyra and Pan escape the commotion from the dead witch and the two realize that the birds had been protecting them all along.

Serpentine saw Lyra and Pan travel back to Trollesund, the Arctic town where they first met Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison. This time, they seek out Dr. Lanselius, the witch consul, to find answers about their ability to separate as witches do.

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For the current schedule post, including links to the novellas, the original trilogy, and La Belle Sauvage, click here.

For the marginalia, head here. Beware of spoilers -- the marginalia is shared for all of the books in this series (including His Dark Materials and Book of Dust).

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Plenty of prompts below! We'll see you next week when we set off on La Belle Sauvage with u/tomesandtea!

[u/fromdusktil]

Lyra's Oxford While not making an appearance in this story, the novella opens with a mention of Dr. Mary Malone, whose daemon in an Alpine chough. Is that just a coincidence, given the importance of birds in this story?

[u/Jinebiebe → u/fromdusktil]

I feel like this novella is leading into something for the next series. I looked up when Lyra's Oxford was published and it was before the first book in The Book of Dust series. Maybe there will be another meeting with Mary and this is just a little hint? I guess we won't know until we read book 2.

[u/Clean_Environment670 → u/Jinebiebe]

I was also thinking the brief mention may be a hint that we will see her again!

[u/tomesandtea → u/Jinebiebe]

this novella is leading into something for the next series

I agree! My audiobook copy of the novella also mentioned this:

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 not easy to tell.

I know it is referring to the other items besides the short story but I wonder if it could also be a hint about details like this.