interview1

Why can't Will and Lyra have another window? From the very beginning, the tragic nature of their love was an intrinsic part of my conception of the story. Tragic in the sense of being subject to fate, or necessity. I don't know why; it was just inevitable, and I couldn't argue with it.

My views on religion and science...That's a long one. In a sense I prefer just to point to the story and say "There it is." I'll say a brief word about the Authority, though. The God who dies is the God of the burners of heretics, the hangers of witches, the persecutors of Jews, the officials who recently flogged that poor girl in Nigeria who had the misfortune to become pregnant after having been forced to have sex - all these people claim to know with absolute certainty that their God wants them to do these things. Well, I take them at their word, and I say in response that that God deserves to die.

The Authority, then, is an ancient IDEA of God, kept alive artificially by those who benefit from his continued existence.

Now then, Dust. Dust permeates everything in the universe, and existed before we individuals did and will continue after us. Dust enriches us and is nurtured in turn by us; it brings wisdom and it is kept alive by love and curiosity and diligent enquiry and kindness and patience and hope. The relationship we have with Dust is mutually beneficial. Instead of being the dependent children of an all-powerful king, we are partners and equals with Dust in the great project of keeping the universe alive. It's a republican relationship, if you like, not a monarchial one. I don't find it difficult to think that Dust might suggest a new kind of relationship with a God.

Did it pain me to write about the parting of Will and Lyra? You bet. But I had no choice.

What would my dameon be? Well, you can't choose, as Lyra learns in her conversation with the old sailor on the way to the north. You have to make the best of what it turns out to be. So I don't know; but I sometimes say that she might well be a magpie, or a jackdaw, or one of those birds that pick up bright shiny things and take them back to their nests. That's what I do as a storyteller - pick up little shiny ideas or bits of experience, and steal them.

Why are all the church characters bad? That was due to a flaw in my artistry, no doubt. But I was trying to hit a target that deserved hitting, and there's no merit in pulling punches when important issues are at stake. Anyway, every time I thought I was overdoing it, up came another scandal about brutal monks mistreating children in Irish schools, or sadistic nuns tormenting children in Scottish orphanages, to name but two that came up recently. These things do happen.

What am I working on now? A film script, but not from one of my books. I think it's a mistake to adapt yourself. This is a trilogy called THE CHANGES, by the great Peter Dickinson - a strangely prophetic science fiction or fantasy story first published thirty years ago.

Will there be a movie of HDM? I haven't the faintest idea. I shant's have anything to do with it if there is; "take the money and run" are the wisest words of advice ever spoken on the subject of writers and films. Casting: I like the idea of Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter, myself and the voice of James Earl Jones as Iorek Byrnison.

Temptation: I've been asked this question a lot, or a variation of it. The event is signaled as clearly as I could without making it ridiculously overt. Mary in her marzipan story is giving them the information they need to progress to the next stage of their development. It isn't represented as transgressive because in the mulefa world growing up was never seen as a loss, but a gain: their story of the snake and the wheel shows that. Mary is told to play the serpent, and in that world, that means bring wisdom. And next day she actually gives them some fruit, and it's fruit that Lyra lifts to Will's mouth, knowing exactly what it will mean. The signals are all there.

As for what they actually DO - it's none of my damn business. My imagination withdrew at that point. If you want to follow them under the tree and watch what happens, you must bear the responsibility for what you see. Personally, I think privacy is a fine and gracious thing. I describe a kiss: and there are some turning-points in life for which a kiss is quite enough.