Synopsis: Thirty-five years before a girl named Lyra Belacqua came to change their lives, a Texan balloonist meets an armoured bear in the frozen lands of the wild north. In this untamed frontier, where ruthless corporations strive to exert their authority and the noble race of bears live as second-class citizens to the pioneers who have taken their lands. It is a place where the rule of law gives way easily to the rule of the gun, where killers can find fortune and courage invites a quick death.

Review: Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials prequel has a lot to live up to, or live down, but it has a lot going for it. I can’t say for certain that Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison are the most popular characters in the series, but they must be in most people’s top five, so that’s a good start. The setting is another plus, letting Pullman play with all the tropes of the western genre, just with more snow. And of course the title is a cracker, as well as clearly signalling the intent of the narrative. *

As a story, Once Upon a Time in the North is very true to its western roots and more specifically of course to Once Upon a Time in the West (with added bear). Scoresby is perfectly cast as the honest wanderer, struggling to make a difference against forces of change which he can not hope to bring down, and the ruthless gunfighter he can. Honest and honourable, yet corrupted by human greed, the panserbjorn have always been a hirsute allegory for displaced cultures, and while their obvious nordicness avoids any tendency for too obvious a Native American parallel, that is the role they play here. 

 Thus this small story (at one hundred pages, the hardback edition sells at about ten pages a pound) becomes a powerful, but not preachy, parable of exploitation and corruption, as well as a fine adventure yarn with bears and gunfights. Meanwhile, there are just enough nods to the future of the series (such as Scoresby receiving the Winchester he will have in his hands at the end of his life) to make it a real part of the world of His Dark Materials, and a nifty little board game to boot.

Sunday Telegraph Book Club

2008-04-05