The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) (ISBN 0786241241)

Amazon.com Review:
With The Golden Compass Philip Pullman garnered every accolade under the sun. Critics lobbed around such superlatives as "elegant," "awe-inspiring," "grand," and "glittering," and used "magnificent" with gay abandon. Each reader had a favorite chapter--or, more likely, several--from the opening tour de force to Lyra's close call at Bolvangar to the great armored-bear battle. And Pullman was no less profligate when it came to intellectual firepower or singular characters. The daemons alone grant him a place in world literature. Could the second installment of his trilogy keep up this pitch, or had his heroine and her too, too sullied parents consumed him? And what of the belief system that pervaded his alternate universe, not to mention the mystery of Dust? More revelations and an equal number of wonders and new players were definitely in order. The Subtle Knife offers everything we could have wished for, and more. For a start, there's a young hero--from our world--who is a match for Lyra Silvertongue and whose destiny is every bit as shattering. Like Lyra, Will Parry has spent his childhood playing games. Unlike hers, though, his have been deadly serious. This 12-year-old long ago learned the art of invisibility: if he could erase himself, no one would discover his mother's increasing instability and separate them. As the novel opens, Will's enemies will do anything for information about his missing father, a soldier and Arctic explorer who has been very much airbrushed from the official picture. Now Will must get his mother into safe seclusion and make his way toward Oxford, which may hold the key to John Parry's disappearance. But en route and on the lam from both the police and his family's tormentors, he comes upon a cat with more than a mouse on her mind: "She reached out a paw to pat something in the air in front of her, something quite invisible to Will." What seems to him a patch of everyday Oxford conceals far more: "The cat stepped forward and vanished." Will, too, scrambles through and into another oddly deserted landscape--one in which children rule and adults (and felines) are very much at risk. Here in this deathly silent city by the sea, he will soon have a dustup with a fierce, flinty little girl: "Her expression was a mixture of the very young--when she first tasted the cola--and a kind of deep, sad wariness." Soon Will and Lyra (and, of course, her daemon, Pantalaimon) uneasily embark on a great adventure and head into greater tragedy. As Pullman moves between his young warriors and the witch Serafina Pekkala, the magnetic, ever-manipulative Mrs. Coulter, and Lee Scoresby and his hare daemon, Hester, there are clear signs of approaching war and earthly chaos. There are new faces as well. The author introduces Oxford dark-matter researcher Mary Malone; the Latvian witch queen Ruta Skadi, who "had trafficked with spirits, and it showed"; Stanislaus Grumman, a shaman in search of a weapon crucial to the cause of Lord Asriel, Lyra's father; and a serpentine old man whom Lyra and Pan can't quite place. Also on hand are the Specters, beings that make cliff-ghasts look like rank amateurs. Throughout, Pullman is in absolute control of his several worlds, his plot and pace equal to his inspiration. Any number of astonishing scenes--small- and large-scale--will have readers on edge, and many are cause for tears. "You think things have to be possible," Will demands. "Things have to be true!" It is Philip Pullman's gift to turn what quotidian minds would term the impossible into a reality that is both heartbreaking and beautiful. --Kerry Fried

Overhyped fantasy:
I actually liked this better than "The Golden Compass". Pullman still continues to show creativity, even more in this one. Who doesn't like the idea of kids pulling themselves through different dimensions? I also like the introduction of Will--it's good to see a champion from our own dimension. Sadly, the characters are rather flat and stereotypical, and it seems to me that the only evidence for any of their personalities is what the author unsubtly writes in. I've never liked to be forced into liking a character, and we just aren't given much reason for care for these rather one-dimensional characters. Still, it's the absolute creativity and thought that makes these books work.

the best book in the Trilogy.............and probably one of the best children's book i have ever read........:
as far as i can remember this book took me 2 to 3 days to finish...and tht was along time ago and thts a HUGE thing......... this book was even more gripping than the previous one with more Mysterious BEings and all the parallel worlds.......... this kept me hooked till the very end............. PHILLIP PULLMAN has written probably the most IMAGINATIVE book ever which doesnot follow any OBVIOUS storyline........... its unpredictable and its ever so Un-understandable characters are worth to be discussed.............

Richly imagined:
The Subtle Knife, sequel to The Golden Compass, is the second book in Pullman's His Dark Materials series. In this book, we follow Lyra as she hops between worlds. In her travels she (and we) learn that Lord Asriel is planning to mount an army that can succeed where previous attempts have failed - to overthrow the ultimate Authority (i.e. God). He is moving between worlds to assemble the most intimidating army possible in accomplishing his task. Needless to say, these are definitely weighty matters for young adult fiction. I can see now why there was so much controversy regarding organized religion and this series. During Lyra's journeys, she meets Will Parry, and young boy with his own role to play in these large events. Will becomes the chosen bearer of the subtle knife, which is the only known tool that can open doorways between worlds. (So now, Lyra is the bearer of the golden compass, and Will is the bearer of the subtle knife.) We know that their destinies are entertwined, but we are not completely sure how. By the end of book 2, the reader is still not certain which "side" Pullman is espousing - the side of the "Authority," which man seems to have perverted into an increasingly dictator-like theocracy; or the side of Lord Asriel, the contemporary rebel whose actions are shaking the very particles that make up reality. Intrigued, I did a little research on Pullman and his thoughts. (You'll remember that he got tons of press when the movie came out.) If you do a search on the Internet, you'll find several interviews with Pullman that will help you understand his point of view and his thought process when creating these books. I recommend reading those interviews either before or after moving forward with the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Good buy:
It is a very well done audio book with a whole cast of voices. Excellent listening for a long commute.

Darker, Sadder, but Still Amazing:
The second book in the His Dark Materials series still has you clamoring for more, though the ending leaves the reader more anxious and weary, than the first book. The amount of religious symbolism intertwined with plot devices is heightened and some of the choices that Pullman makes from a writer's perspective works well. There were other choices that he has made, which leaves me to wonder if the plot is taking control of him, rather than the author controlling the plot. The beginning you meet Will, a boy from our world. His mother carries a secret about his father, who last saw Will when he was still a baby. This forces him to put his mother in hiding. Will's introduction sets the reader up for what's to come. I can tell you I raced through those pages as my interest was in Lyra's departure from her world-not some boy named Will. The two, however turn out to be connected together in a dizzying plot, that leaves the two characters wondering where their free will has gone. All of the events that transpire was a catalyst that drives Will to make certain decisions, which you may or may not agree with. You even pity the characters as they realize at one point their lives are controlled by destiny then by their own choices. This is especially true once the purpose of the subtle knife is uncovered. I won't tell you who it belongs to or what it does, but rest assure you will be shocked at its "side effects." Several characters make a reappearance such as Serafina Pekkala, Lee, Miss Coulter (who is as devilish as ever) and others. The amount of character deaths increase, so for the reader who becomes invested in the series- beware. I know I was particularly unnerved by the death of one character. I truly didn't belive that Pullman would kill that character off. I was dead wrong! Speaking of the characters, what I found to be interesting was that a lot of the decisions they made forces the reader to reevaluate who are the villains and heroes. The characters' personalities do not change (such as the vile Miss Coulter), but their ultimate goals begin to fall under shades of gray that has no clear answers. Like the Harry Potter series, the violence increases and becomes more graphic, but nothing that would traumatize an older child. Though, this wouldn't be the book to buy a 6-8 year old I assume. Unless, the child in question is an advanced reader. What really differentiates this novel from the first one is the lack of hope expressed in the book. Every plan is overturned, ruined, made a mockery of. Pullman tortures his characters pulling them towards their final acts or to the beginning of the climax, which would unfold in the next book. I suppose because of the traveling from Lyra's world to ours, some of the magic is lost, coupled with the sense of desperation that characters such as Lyra feel. The book is still a work of art, each word tantalizing the reader. The first book, The Golden Compass is still a masterpiece. However, The Subtle Knife is a close second. A definite 4.5 out of 5 stars.