Philip Pullman will write a follow-up to ‘His Dark Materials’ — and it’ll be a trilogy

Philip Pullman will bring back the world of “His Dark Materials� in not one but three new books for young adults, NPR reports.

The English author announced he’s writing a follow-up series to his massively successful fantasy trilogy for young readers. The new trilogy, called “The Book of Dust,� will launch on Oct. 19 with the first novel, which doesn’t yet have a title.

Pullman told NPR that the new series won’t be a sequel, but rather a “companion� to “His Dark Materials.�

“The [new] story begins before ‘His Dark Materials’ and continues after it,� Pullman said. “You don’t have to read it before you read [the original trilogy] ... this is another story that comes after it, so it’s not a sequel, and it’s not a prequel, it’s an equal.�

The original trilogy, which debuted in 1995 with “The Golden Compass,� tells the story of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry. Lyra lives in a parallel universe where people have animal familiars called “daemons.�

Pullman followed “The Golden Compass� with “The Subtle Knife� in 1997 and “The Amber Spyglass� in 2000. All three books were bestsellers.

A 2007 film adaptation of “The Golden Compass� opened to a disappointing box office and tepid critical reviews.

The first book in the new trilogy will be set 10 years before “The Golden Compass,� with Lyra making an appearance as a baby. Lyra will appear in the second and third books, which will be set 10 years after “The Amber Spyglass.�

“I sensed a big story,� Pullman said. “I sensed the presence, in the way that you do, of another story that hadn’t been told, and I went closer and ... thought about it and lived with it for a while and discovered that yes, it was a big story, and it did deserve to be told, it deserves its own books.�

Pullman told BBC Radio 4 that he was eager to revisit his most iconic character.

“So we see Lyra both as a baby and we see her in the second book as an adult; she’s 20 years old,� he said. “There she can fully take agency of the story, so to speak.�

The first volume of “The Book of Dust� will be published in the U.S. by Knopf Books for Young Readers. As of Wednesday morning, the book was available for preorder on Amazon, where it was ranked No. 285.