The Oxford Mail spoke to Philip Pullman at the London premiere of The Golden Compass and has more details of upcoming His Dark Materials releases. The Book of Dust is forecast to be finished by 2009 but in the meantime, fans can look forward to Once Upon a Time in the North, the trilogy’s second companion book, due out 3rd April 2008. Like Lyra’s Oxford, it will be illustrated by John Lawrence and include extra fold outs. The April release will coincide with the film’s DVD release as well as the Oxford Literary Festival. Fans can also look forward to a little green book in the future about Will. Read more.

French fansite and community member Cittagazze first revealed this release in September with a press release from David Fickling Books following quickly. Said Pullman of writing the book, “Writing this story was a matter of pure enjoyment. The two characters at the heart of it, Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison, were old comrades-in-arms when Lyra met them first in Northern Lights. It was obvious that they had a history, and it was my son Jamie who first suggested that I should write about it.”