It should be noted that the clue is in the title, and what is under discussion here is indeed beyond His Dark Materials. Those works are mentioned and referenced, but this is not a book where the trilogy, specifically, is examined in great depth. Instead, Susan Redington Bobby concentrates on Pullman's other works, including his stand-alone titles, the Sally Lockheart books, and his short stories. Among the themes put under the author's microscope -- as related to Pullman -- are fairy tale and folklore revisions, quest-driven tales, the influence of German Romanticism and the Gothic, orphaned displaced and dispossessed children, socially conscious penny dreadfuls, fantasy and realism through social satire, and the impacts of the sins of the father in young adult contemporary novels.

If the above description makes the book sound rather intellectual and somewhat lacking in fun, it's because Beyond His Dark Materials is not intended to compete with that which it describes. As an assistant professor of English at Wesley College, Delaware, Bobby teaches classic and contemporary fairy tales and adolescent literature. Writing fantasy novels is not her game. This book is intended for the purpose of academic reference, and as a catalyst for further discussion within such circles. If the question was whether Beyond His Dark Materials is a Bobby dazzler, my answer would have to be no. Especially when the price of $40 for paperback or almost $25 for a Kindle version is taken into consideration. But, for readers interested in having Pullman's themes examined in an almost forensic manner, or for those engaged in academic study of fantasy works, this book may have a place on the shelf.