黑暗物质之四莱拉的牛津(His Dark Materials Ⅳ Lyra’s Oxford)简介：
Attention all serious book collectors and fans of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. This undoubtedly beautiful package--cloth-bound in a classy red and adorned by numerous illustrations by master engraver and illustrator John Lawrence--is a must-purchase. A pint-sized pocket volume, Lyra's Oxford packages together a short story set in the same universe as his famous trilogy, a fold-out map of the alternate-reality city of Oxford, a short brochure for a cruise to The Levant aboard the S.S. Zenobia, and a postcard from the inventor of the amber spyglass, Mary Malone. Pullman, in his introduction, suggests that the peripheral items within "might be connected with the story, or they might not; they might be connected to stories that haven’t appeared yet. It's difficult to tell."
A very sumptuous and lovingly crafted but tantalizingly brief book , Lyra's Oxford begins when Lyra and Pantalaimon spot a witch's daemon called Ragi being pursued over the rooftops of Oxford by a frenzied pack of birds. The daemon heads straight for Lyra (the creature was given Lyra’s name as somebody who might help) and is given shelter. Together Lyra and Pan try to guide the daemon to the home of Sebastian Makepeace—an alchemist living in a part of Oxford known as Jericho--but it is a journey fraught with more danger than they had at first anticipated.　　「这本书收录了一则故事，和几样别的东西。这些别的东西或许和故事有关，也或许无关；这些东西可能和尚未发生的故事有关。世上到处都是那类玩意儿：老明信片、戏院节目单、为你的地下室安装防空设备的广告传单、问候卡、照片集、度假的宣传品、机械工具的使用手册、地图、目录、火车时刻表、远航邮轮的餐牌，各式各样的东西，一度实际又实用，此时却独自飘泊，离开了与它们相关的人和事。
　　「它们可能来自任何一个地方。它们可能来自另一个世界。那写着潦草注记的地图，那出版商的目录，或许在另一个时空被人无意间地放了下来，窗户打开，一阵风碰巧吹过，它们给吹走了，经历许多惊险，最后在我们世界的小摊贩上落脚。这些零碎的老旧小玩意儿都有段历史，以及意涵。它们群聚在一起，看起来像是气泡室里的粒子离子化后遗留下来的轨迹：它们画出一条路径，供太过神秘而难以理解的某种东西通过。当然，这路径也是一则故事。制造了这些轨迹的粒子有些什么故事，当科学家望着玻璃上的气泡轨迹时，他们的工作就是找出这些故事：它过去必定是哪一种粒子，是什么东西令它如此移动，它大概可以持续多久？
　　「玛丽．玛隆博士在她寻找黑暗元素的一路上，应当很熟悉这类故事了。但她也有可能尚未遇过，举个例子，她首次前往牛津，抵达后不久就给老朋友寄了一张明信片，这名信片本身将会追着故事中的一环，但当她写信时，这故事都还未发生。或许有些粒子走回了时光中，或许过去以某种我们不理解的方式影响了未来，也或许，宇宙就是比我们更具知觉。这世上有很多事，我们还没学会如何去读。
　　「这本书里的故事，在某种程度上，就是在谈这个过程。」