Michael Sheen to narrate the audiobook for Phillip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage

Award-winning Welsh actor Michael Sheen (Passengers, Frost/Nixon, The Twilight Saga) is to narrate the audiobook edition of Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One to be released by Penguin Random House UK Audio in association with David Fickling Books.

Sheen, a self-confessed His Dark Materials fan, will bring Pullman’s legendary world to life almost 20 years after readers left it in The Amber Spyglass in 2000. The result is a unique and unforgettable experience that will delight listeners both old and new.

Michael Sheen commented: “The His Dark Materials trilogy had a profound effect on me. Rarely have I felt such loss on coming to the end of a story. So, as a reader and a fan, I was hugely excited on hearing that Phillip was returning to the story of Lyra and Dust and challenging the Authority. And, as an actor, it was a true privilege to be asked to record La Belle Sauvage, the first book of this new work. It was genuinely one of the most thrilling and enjoyable experiences I've had as a performer to sit in that darkened recording studio for three magical days and live inside the story of Malcolm and Lyra and their extraordinary journey.”

Video courtesy of The Guardian

Philip Pullman added: “I’ve long admired Michael Sheen not only for his astonishing versatility but also for the passion and energy he brings to all his roles. I was delighted to learn that he’d be willing to read the audiobook of La Belle Sauvage, and I’m sure that listeners will be very excited by the result.”

Richard Lennon, Editorial Director, Penguin Random House UK Audio also comented: “At Penguin Random House UK we are proud to bring together the world’s finest authors and some exceptional narrators. In this very special recording Michael Sheen’s passion for Philip Pullman’s writing is evident in every moment, and his magnificent reading brings La Belle Sauvage brilliantly to life.

The long-awaited publication of the first volume of The Book of Dust is a hugely exciting publishing moment this Autumn, and I hope that many readers will disc over the magical world of Philip Pullman through this brand new recording.”

La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One will be published simultaneously on 19 October 2017 by David Fickling Books in association with Penguin Random House Children’s in the UK, and Random House Children’s Books in the US.

One of the most highly-anticipated publications of 2017, it return readers to world of His Dark Materials. It opens ten years before Northern Lights and introduces a new hero: eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, who live across the river from Godstow Priory, where the nuns are sheltering a special guest – a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua.

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