The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

*This review will contain spoilers for the first book in this series, The Golden Compass"*

After reading (and heartily enjoying) The Golden Compass earlier this month, I was excited to pick up the second novel in the series, The Subtle Knife. With the HBO adaptation coming out at the start of November, I wanted to get it read. Plus, I was excited to see how Lyra's story would continue. I went into my reading hoping that this book would be as fantastic as the first one was, and luckily, I was (mostly) not disappointed.

Chronologically speaking, the story picks up right where the last one ended, with Lyra walking into another universe in order to learn more about the Dust. However, we start from the perspective of a new character, a young boy named Will Parry. Will lives in England, and has a heavy weight on his shoulders. He is struggling to care for his mentally ill mother and prevent anyone from finding out how sick she is. Through a series of misadventures, he manages to cross over into a different universe. He finds himself in a deserted city called Cittágazze, and after wandering around for a bit, he runs into Lyra, who also traveled to Cittágazze from her world.

As both children are in difficult spots, they decide to help each other on their respective missions. Lyra wants to determine what the Dust is, and Will wants to try and help his mother by finding his father, an explorer who has been missing (and presumed dead) since he was a baby. Both head back into Will's world to seek answers to their questions, setting into motion a chain of events that draws them deep into Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel's continuing and complex schemes. Along the way, Will comes into possession of a curious artifact known as the Subtle Knife, a small blade with the powers to cut through anything - even through the veils between different worlds.

As the children begin to move between universes, it becomes clear that there is more to Will's father's disappearance than anyone realized. Understanding this, Lyra and Will embark on a treacherous journey to find him, hoping to unlock the mystery of the Dust in the process. Old friends from Lyra's first adventure arrive to help support them, including the witch queen Serafina Pekkala and the balloon navigator Lee Scoresby. All the while, underneath the characters' more immediate concerns, the boundaries between the universes are weakening and a terrible war is brewing. Lyra and Will will have a part to play in all of it, and unbeknownst to them, they are inching closer and closer to the center of everything.

I definitely enjoyed The Subtle Knife, but it felt like a middle book to me. There was a lot of universe building going on, and it lacked the action and suspense of The Golden Compass. That being said, it was still an engaging and complex entry into the series. It is the shortest book out of the three, and having already starting reading The Amber Spyglass, I assume it will be the weakest as well.

One of the elements of the story that I didn't particularly enjoy was the shift away from Lyra as the main character. I really enjoyed her spunky, brave personality in the first book, and I missed focusing on her exclusively here. Will was fine as a character, but bland in comparison. His goal of finding his father becomes the whole plot of the novel, and Lyra is relegated to being a supporting character. She pledges her complete loyalty to his wishes, and even stops using the alethiometer unless he asks her to. After seeing her grow so much and become so strong in The Golden Compass, this was a letdown. 

Also a letdown: my favorite character, the armored bear Iorek Byrnison, wasn't part of this story. I already know he's in the last one though, so at least I have something to look forward to in The Amber Spyglass.

On a more positive and intriguing note, I was surprised to see how deep a role religion plays in the overall themes of the story. It was a powerful force in the first novel, but it becomes more clearly defined in the second, with angels and God (known as The Authority) becoming part of the plot. Usually, I'm not the biggest fan of religious themes in books, but the way it is handled here is quite subversive. Religion is not shown in a positive light at all. It is a corrupting and controlling element in the characters' lives, which is an interesting angle for a children's novel to take. I'm very interested to see how this develops throughout the rest of the series.

So, while I did not enjoy The Subtle Knife quite as much as The Golden Compass, I still had a good reading experience and I'm still loving the series as a whole. I'm already working on the final book, and I'm really looking forward to finding out how the story ends.


Challenge Tally
Finally in 2019: 42/6 Books Read - Complete!

Total Books Read in 2019: 66