The Collectors

His Dark Materials #0.6

by Philip Pullman, Bill Nighy (Narrator)

'D'you - er - have you seen her before?'
'Yes. I know who she is.'
'But, Grinstead, this painting is seventy years old - probably nearer eighty! You're not being serious - I mean . . . What do you mean?'

On a dark winter's night in 1970, Horley and Grinstead huddle for warmth in the Senior Common Room of a college in Oxford. Conversation turns to the two impressive works of art that Horley has recently added to his collection.


What the two men don't know is that these pieces are connected in mysterious and improbable ways; and they are about to be caught in the cross-fire of a story which has travelled time and worlds.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult, Horror, Mystery

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published December 10, 2014

About the author

Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945". In a 2004 BBC poll, he was named the eleventh most influential person in British culture. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to literature.
Northern Lights, the first volume in His Dark Materials, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal of the Library Association as the year's outstanding English-language children's book. For the Carnegie's 70th anniversary, it was named in the top ten by a panel tasked with compiling a shortlist for a public vote for an all-time favourite. It won that public vote and was named all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" in June 2007. It was filmed under the book's US title, The Golden Compass. In 2003, His Dark Materials trilogy ranked third in the BBC's The Big Read, a poll of 200 top novels voted by the British public.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(B+) 79% | Good
Notes: A richly furnished allegory, meticulous and mannered, it’s a deftly crafted Jenga tower of intrigue and apprehension.

[Lisa of Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever felt a magnetic attraction, a pull towards something or someone, like you couldn’t be separated even if you tried?

One winter night, two gentlemen start a discussion over a fire. One has newly acquired two pieces in his art collection. What could they be?

This is a delightful short story by Philip Pullman and is perfect for those His Dark Materials fans. It would make a great stocking stuffer!

I purchased this book from Book Depository for less than $9 USD, and it has free international shipping.

This is a story that I will remember for a long time….

Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old painting of a young woman is inexplicably linked to a statue of a terrifying monkey, and all who try to separate the two fall victim to some truly terrible accidents. Or so the rumors say...



This was such a deliciously creepy story that drops hints of His Dark Materials left, right and center. At the same time, it stops just short of explicitly stating any facts. Of course, this will in no way prevent fans of the series from recognizing any of the characters and concepts being referenced.

Score: 3.4/5 stars

I loved the mystical atmosphere surrounding the two objects, as well as one character's theory of how objects pass between parallel universes. This is what extras to a main book series should look like.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short out to Jayson for bringing this to my attention!

A short story set in the Dark Materials universe, centering on the mysterious painting of a young fair haired woman, a brass monkey statue and two collectors at a university college. I enjoyed this. Although it was short, and hence didn’t have time to build on character development, it still provided me with a glimmer of mystery and intrigue while introducing an interesting plot. The little tit buys about Mrs Coulter I found wonderful, as always. I love this world.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't mind me, just trying to stay in the His Dark Materials universe for as long as possible!

This short story is about two art collectors recounting an intriguing tale about a young Marisa Coulter.
Not a lot of information is given and whilst this was very enjoyable, it left me wanting more.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 32 minute Christmas gift to its members from Audible, this prequel to a series of books by Pullman benefits from being read by the excellent Bill Nighy. I'm sure it would have been helpful if I'd had some knowledge of the series (I don't) as I did struggle to know quite where the story was leading. However, it's all very engaging and well executed and is quite powerful in and of itself.

I'd be tempted to tune in to the series if it weren't for the fact that there are huge hints of supernatural 'things' going on... something that makes me run in the opposite direction faster than green grass through a goose.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

BWAHAHAHAHA. Another wonderful trinket of a story in addition to the His Dark Materials trilogy. This one is narrated by the impeccable Bill Nighy who perfectly captures the lazy arrogance of the collector as much as the silliness of the circumstances before switching to his ominous voice for the spooky bits. A satirical piece by Pullman brought to life perfectly by the narrator. Love it!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this thirty minute HDM tale, Philip Pullman spins a very creepy horror tale worthy of Poe or Lovecraft at their best. The first time I read this (when it was first released) I only gave it 3 stars; I honestly don’t know what I was thinking! This time it actually gave me chills.

Bill Nighy does a superb job of the audiobook; suitably macabre! I’d love him to read a collection of Pope’s creepier tales.

[Susy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
Nice creepy short story about Mrs Coulter and her daemon, or at least, a picture and sculpture of them. Listened to the audio book narrated by Bill Nighy who does an excellent job.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I knew when I picked this up that it was part of the His Dark Materials world, but it doesn’t really matter that it is. It does add another dimension if you can identify why certain things go together, but it works as an atmospheric creepy story, too. Especially as read by Bill Nighy — I don’t often read something only as an audiobook, but this seems very much designed to be an audiobook. The action is almost entirely in dialogue.

The feeling of the story… it’s something like Neil Gaiman’s style, now I think about it. And it feels more like Clockwork, of Pullman’s work, than His Dark Materials. That’s not a criticism, despite the fact that Clockwork is aimed at a younger audience. I think both capture something creepy and bring it across in just the right number of words.

For an audiobook I got for free, this is definitely worth the half hour’s listening. Especially if you are a fan of Pullman in general.

Originally posted here.

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic short. I had not read the description before I started to read it so I had no idea that it was a prequel to the, "His Dark Materials" series. I loved the movie, "The Golden Compass", and as this went along I figured that it must be tied to it somehow. The writing was so smooth that it made me want to read the series even though I know what happens in the first book. The full cast of narrators was amazing.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deliciously mysterious and delightfully creepy.

“No one can meet Mrs. Coulter without being damaged." — Phillip Pullman

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

The Collectors is a slightly abstract part of the His Dark Materials series, only connected by an indirect mention of Mrs Coulter and her daemon. The story is gripping, fast-paced, and more interesting with every page. Every character receives their just rewards, and the mystery is never fully explained or solved. I loved it. This short story is exactly the right length and is the perfect mix of vague and descriptive. The Collectors left me wanting more, but in a "because this story is awesome" kind of way, not a "this should have been longer" way.

Review originally posted here on Britt's Book Blurbs.

Other books in the His Dark Materials series:
#0.5: Once Upon a Time in the North ⭐⭐⭐⭐
#1: Northern Lights ⭐⭐⭐⭐
#2: The Subtle Knife ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#3: The Amber Spyglass ⭐⭐⭐
#3.5: Lyra's Oxford ⭐⭐⭐
#3.6: Serpentine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Blog | Bookstagram | Reddit | Twitter

[Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

¡Muy bueno!
Es una historia tétrica, intrigante y muy bien desarrollada para ser tan breve, que se puede leer perfectamente sin conocer la historia principal.
Es un argumento aislado que tiene cierta relación (por una mención más que nada) con la saga, pero que se entiende sin ningún problema leyéndolo como cuento aislado. Me parece que está ambientado en otro universo paralelo al nuestro, y que tampoco es el de Northern Lights.

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little short story involving the mystery of a painting of Mrs Coulter, and a statue of her monkey daemon.

I don't really think it added anything to the universe and just left me with a ton of questions.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oo, now I want to listen to the trilogy again 😊

[Carmen de la Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Collectors cuenta la historia de dos hombres discutiendo sobre arte mientras estaban sentados alrededor de un fuego en el Oxford College (el que está en este mundo), y durante la mitad del tiempo ni siquiera se siente como parte del mismo universo el resto de la serie. Son solo dos viejos que hablan de dos obras de arte antiguas: una pintura de una mujer hermosa y la otra una escultura de bronce de un mono de aspecto enojado. (Cualquiera que haya leído los libros reconocerá instantáneamente cómo se conectan la pintura y la escultura). Y a pesar de que son objetos inanimados, las dos piezas han estado inexplicablemente unidas durante décadas. Cuando un coleccionista compra uno, de alguna manera el otro siempre termina en su posesión también, meses o años más adelante. Pero debido a que estos movimientos abarcan años y continentes, nadie realmente nota esta extraña coincidencia.

Por supuesto, no es una coincidencia, o al menos no parece ser así. En la moda típica de Pullman, que nunca exagera nada, solo proporciona un boceto ligero que sugiere algo más grande. Eso es definitivamente cierto para el misterio en el corazón de The Collectors: lees el desarrollo de los eventos, pero nunca recibes una respuesta exacta sobre lo que está sucediendo o por qué. Es ambiguo en el buen sentido, el tipo de historia que hará que los fanáticos profundicen en su memoria para tratar de conectarla con el resto de los vastos mitos de La Materia Oscura.

[Paul Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little short from Pullman. This is a gem of a story, wonderfully crafted and creepy, set in the same reality (I think 'universe' is the wrong term, considering) as the wonderful His Dark Materials trilogy. An Oxford don and his visitor discuss a pair of works of art that always seem to end up together and may be connected to some deaths.

Atmospheric, and somewhat bringing to mind a Tales of the Unexpected vibe.

[bailey elizabeth smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

My last little treat from this series, and it didn’t disappoint! It was nicely narrated by bill nighy too.

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Collectors was Audible’s Christmas gift to its members in 2014 and I was intrigued by it because of the narrator primarily. Bill Nighy is a reknowned actor and I though an audiobook by him would be an interesting listen.

With the audiobook being just 32 minutes long, the characters were not very developed but the plot kept me engaged throughout. To be honest, I wish this was longer because the mystery involved could be expanded and explained a little more.

Bill Nighy as a narrator was delightful to listen to and the voices he gave to the characters were distinct from each other and easy to distinguish.

Overall this is a short story that is definitely worth listening to and although it took me a few minutes to really grasp what was going on, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my warm-up for starting the new His Dark Materials series, The Book of Dust. Ominous and foreboding.

I do hope that Pullman uses this second opportunity to explore why he wrote Lyra as a girl in the first place. This isn't meant as any kind of bashing: Lyra has grown on me a great deal over the years: my first time thorough The Golden Compass she annoyed the hell out of me. Will, on the other hand, I found instantly appealing and sympathetic. I'm just looking forward to seeing her character development, because I'm counting on Pullman to make her just as difficult as she was before. Grown-up Lyra is going to be badass.

But the art! The creepy art! Great way to bring me back in and remind me that there is danger ahead and not just cool armoured bears.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A glimpse of the His Dark Materials world. This short story doesn't include characters from the novels. The Collectors is about two art collectors discussing two recently acquired pieces and the dark and mysterious history associated with those pieces.

Quick, spooky, and entertaining. I enjoyed this short story more than I enjoyed the other books in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

[Spens (Sphynx Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5

An interesting story but altogether too short for it to leave any real impression on me.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time that I have read/listened to anything that Philip Pullman has written. And I only got this, as it was a 'Members' freebie from Audible.co.uk.

The story takes place in a university between 2 men discussing two pieces of art that seem to turn up in the same place, no matter where it is over the last 70 years.

Mr Pullman has the sense of macabre like Roald Dahl's Tales of The Unexpected, always with a twist in the tale.

It was an interesting story to listen to, and very well narrated by Bill Nighy.

If you like the review and would like to read my other reviews on books I have read, visit my blog at www.finalchapterreadersgroup.wordpres...... like, comment and follow.

[Holly Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story connected to the His Dark Materials trilogy. It’s more or less a conversation between two professors about a painting and a statue of a monkey. It was well written and intriguing, but it really left me wanting more. I think if this were a part of a short story collection it would have been fine, but on its own it didn’t work so well for me. I actually went and re-read the HDM trilogy because this reminded me how much I miss Philip Pullman's writing and world-building.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro to the universe, though the novels are better.

[Rebecca Crunden]

❧ audiobook review

Bill Nighy could narrate dry socks and they would be interesting - thankfully, Philip Pullman is also a brilliant storyteller, and thus we have a perfect match. ♡

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a very pretty girl. D’you know who she is?’ ‘No idea,’ said the Bursar, ‘but she looks mighty pleased with herself.’

“A sad tale’s best for winter,” opines a character in The Winter’s Tale, thus confirming that the tradition for ghostly, tragic accounts has a long and distinguished pedigree. Many and varied are the expected ingredients for such narratives, their purpose to excite shivers of nervous anticipation. The author of this short story duly delivers the shivers with his particular concoction.

In order to give grounding to some aspects of the unspecified ivory-towered institution mentioned in the story Pullman seems to have based it on his own Oxford alma mater, Exeter College, setting it a couple of years after he’d graduated in 1968. But this college seems to be an altogether spookier place, and that’s down to the recipe typically specified for such winter tales.

The ingredients, many chosen from late Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories, include a cloistered setting with academics, curious objects which exude a baleful influence, a hint of mysterious or even otherworldly origins, and of course an unexplained death or two. What gives The Collectors its especial flavour is its implicit link with the worlds of Pullman’s 'His Dark Materials' and 'The Book of Dust', but – as with any good winter’s tale – it has to stand on its own merits. Does it do so?

Horley has rooms in this currently fog-bound college, but it’s in the Senior Common Room we first find him entertaining his male visitor Grinstead after the evening meal. Horley is regaling the younger Grinstead with details of the provenances of the newest acquisitions for his private art collection – an ugly bronze statuette of a fearsome monkey, and a small portrait, which back in his rooms he reveals to his visitor:

The young woman stood modestly, hands entwined, head slightly tilted, fair curly hair loosely restrained behind her neck with a red ribbon.

But, uncannily, the painting appears able to show “characteristic shifts of meaning” such as “a little curve of triumph somewhere in the lines of the model’s mouth and her eyes,” and Horley wonders how that is so. But now he is distracted – he’s suddenly not feeling well; meanwhile his guest is talking about parallel worlds of existence, and discrepancies in time; who in fact is this man whom he scarcely knows, and why is he himself having problems opening up the packing case with the statuette?

This is such a tight little tale, full of unanswered questions but also revelations. The young woman is identified as the 18-year-old Marisa van Zee, and fans of 'His Dark Materials' will gather this is the maiden name of Lyra’s mother Mrs Coulter, while readers of 'The Book of Dust' will link Marisa to her brother Marcel Delamare; both Delamare and van Zee mean “of the sea” in, respectively, French and Dutch, while Marisa is the Italian equivalent. The monkey then clearly represents her dæmon from which, in the trilogies, she is able to separate.

For the first appearance of The Collectors in print Pullman has chosen to feature an early twentieth-cemtury painting by the artist Balthus entitled 'Portrait of the young woman dressed as an Amazon', which we must assume represents Marisa in the fictional portrait. This isn’t the first time that Pullman used a Balthus image to front a novel – the artist’s 1944 'Young girl in green and red' was on the cover of the ‘adult’ edition of Northern Lights – but the author’s wide artistic interests not only feature prominently in this story’s text but also in previous fiction, such as The Broken Bridge.

Then there’s Tom Duxbury’s atmospheric engravings which grace almost every page and capture the essential M R James vibe Pullman’s after, just as was evident in the earlier Serpentine. And it’s noteworthy that one of Duxbury’s illustrations demonstrably portrays Exeter College’s Front Quadrangle, though the college is never identified by name.

But it is the malign if indirect influence of the mesmerising Marisa Coulter and her dæmon that dominates this chilling narrative, clearly meant to be an indication of her charisma operating over distance in time and between worlds. With a dedication and acknowledgement to singer Kate Bush for “telling the original” many years before, that makes two powerful women who will have made their mark in The Collectors.

[talia ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yes, I do see that. Perfectly reasonable point. Well, in theory, all these worlds are mutually unreachable. The physics wouldn't allow things to be otherwise. In practice, the whole structure ... leaks. Things get picked up and put down on a windowsill, for example, that opens just once, just briefly, into another world; someone passing by takes a fancy to it, and off it goes, never to be seen again. Your little pottery elephant, Marisa van Zee, here a blackbird, there a bus timetable. A small boy has an imaginary friend--they play together for hours, whisper secrets, swear eternal love, pretend to be king and queen. But she's not imaginary, she comes through that tumbled bit of wall behind the green-house, and one day he finds that someone's mended it, and she's lost forever."

😭😭😭

[Beary Into Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 4

I was overjoyed when this one randomly showed up at my house. The book itself is so nice and instantly reminded me of my childhood. I remember buying The Golden Compass at Barnes & Noble back when I was in middle school. I read it over the summer and absolutely loved it. I truly had no idea this short story existed but am so glad I do now and that I had the opportunity to read it. This book is perfect for any fan of the Golden Compass universe. You will feel like you're right back in that world. I won’t say much because this is a short story so I don’t want to give anything away. Just know, it is well written, was a fast read, that kept me engaged the whole way through. I would definitely recommend it!

Thank you so much to the publisher for the gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.