La Belle sauvage is the first book of a prequel trilogy to [b:His Dark Materials|18116|His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442329494s/18116.jpg|1943518] that will show how Lyra Belacqua came to be at Jordan College in Oxford at the beginning of [b:Northern Lights|70947|Northern Lights (His Dark Materials, #1)|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327235223s/70947.jpg|1536771]/[b:The Golden Compass|119322|The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1505766203s/119322.jpg|1536771]. It follows the adventures of Malcolm Polstead, who works at an inn in Oxford, and his coworker Alice, as they bring the McGuffin to London.
On its own, La Belle sauvage is a fairly ordinary young adult fantasy adventure — for young adults of all ages, I hasten to add. The first part sets up the characters and situations, and the second is a series of adventures in increasingly-fantastic settings. This is quite enjoyable, but not really out of the ordinary.
However, this book is clearly laying the groundwork for the next two books, and I am looking forward to reading them.