Yes. The His Dark Materials TV series is based on Philip Pullman’s trilogy of the same name, and it is not upcoming: all three seasons have aired. Season 1 adapted Northern Lights (published in the U.S. as The Golden Compass), season 2 adapted The Subtle Knife, and season 3 adapted The Amber Spyglass. If you want the source story, read those three novels in that order.
The series and the book behind each season
The show was a BBC One and HBO co-production made by Bad Wolf with New Line Productions, with Dafne Keen as Lyra, Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter and James McAvoy as Lord Asriel.
| Season | Episodes | Book adapted | First aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Northern Lights / The Golden Compass (1995) | November 3, 2019 (BBC One); November 4, 2019 (HBO) |
| 2 | 7 | The Subtle Knife (1997) | November 8, 2020 (BBC One); November 16, 2020 (HBO) |
| 3 | 8 | The Amber Spyglass (2000) | December 5, 2022 (HBO); December 18, 2022 (BBC One) |
The first book was also filmed earlier as The Golden Compass (released December 7, 2007), which covers only book one.
Reading order
Read the original trilogy first. It is the complete story the series covers:
- Northern Lights (UK, 1995) / The Golden Compass (U.S., 1996)
- The Subtle Knife (1997)
- The Amber Spyglass (2000)
In the U.S., Yearling publishes the trilogy in paperback: The Golden Compass (ISBN 978-0-440-41832-0), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass . Northern Lights and The Golden Compass are the same novel under two titles, so don’t buy both.
The Book of Dust and the companion books
Pullman returned to Lyra’s world with a second trilogy, The Book of Dust. It is not covered by the TV series.
| Book | Published | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| La Belle Sauvage | October 19, 2017 | Prequel: Lyra is a baby, and 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead protects her |
| The Secret Commonwealth | October 3, 2019 | Sequel: Lyra is 20, years after The Amber Spyglass |
| The Rose Field | October 23, 2025 | Sequel to The Secret Commonwealth and the final book about Lyra |
The Rose Field came out in hardcover from Knopf in the U.S. (672 pages; hardcover on Amazon ). Penguin Random House lists the paperback for October 20, 2026.
Four short companion books sit around the trilogies. They are extras, not required reading:
- Lyra’s Oxford (2003) is set two years after The Amber Spyglass.
- Once Upon a Time in the North (2008) is a prequel about Lee Scoresby’s first meeting with Iorek Byrnison.
- The Collectors (2014) touches on Mrs. Coulter’s early life. It was released as an audiobook first and printed in 2022.
- Serpentine (2020) is set after The Amber Spyglass and before The Secret Commonwealth.
Publication order works well for a first read: the original trilogy, then La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth and The Rose Field. La Belle Sauvage is a prequel, but it is written for readers who already know Lyra.
Audiobook editions
| Book | Narration |
|---|---|
| His Dark Materials trilogy | Two versions: a full-cast recording with Philip Pullman as narrator (Listening Library), and a newer solo reading by Ruth Wilson, who played Mrs. Coulter in the series |
| La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth, The Rose Field | Michael Sheen (The Rose Field runs 22 hours 35 minutes) |
| Lyra’s Oxford and Serpentine | Olivia Colman |
| Once Upon a Time in the North | David Harewood |
| The Collectors | Bill Nighy |
If you are choosing between the two trilogy recordings, the full-cast version gives each character a different voice, while the Ruth Wilson edition is a single narrator. Check the narrator name on the listing before you buy.
Sources
- Penguin Random House: His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, Yearling paperback
- Penguin Random House: The Book of Dust: The Rose Field (on-sale date, page count, narrator, running time)
- Penguin Random House: His Dark Materials audiobook series (full-cast and Ruth Wilson editions; novella narrators)
- Audible: La Belle Sauvage, read by Michael Sheen
- Audible: The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth, read by Michael Sheen
For another fantasy series with a TV version, see is The Wheel of Time based on Robert Jordan’s novels .