Malcolm Polstead’s parents run an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his daemon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue. He finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust --- and the spy it was intended for finds him. When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he sees suspicious characters everywhere, and all are asking about the same thing: a baby girl named Lyra. Malcolm will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through the storm.

When Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon decide to spy on a presentation her uncle, the commanding Lord Asriel, is making to the elders of Jordan College they have no idea that they will become witnesses to an attempted murder—and even less that they are taking the first steps in a journey that will lead them into danger and adventure unlike anything Lyra's unfettered imagination has conjured up.