Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, collated into a single e-book, has subtly knifed Lee Child in the back to claim the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one. It is Pullman’s fourth week in the weekly e-book chart top spot—though he remains the only children’s author ever to hit the number one—following success with La Belle Sauvage in 2017 and The Secret Commonwealth in October this year.

His Dark Materials follows in the footsteps of fellow books-turned-blockbuster-television-adaptations, including George R R Martin’s A Game of Thrones, which wore the e-book crown in the week that the eight-...