The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

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The Subtle Knife

(#2 - His Dark Materials)

November 13, 1996 / 304 pages / Fiction

"The most magnificent fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings." --The Oregonian

Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will--a boy on the run, a murderer--a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.
Each is searching--Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father--but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, their destinies are bound together . . . until they are split apart.

A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time
An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel

"The story gallops with ferocious momentum." --The New York Times Book Review
"Pullman's imagination soars. . . . A literary rollercoaster ride you won't want to miss." --The Boston Globe
"Destined to become a classic." --Detroit Free Press
"The Subtle Knife is as absorbing and irresistible as The Golden Compass--and even more so, as powerful forces are set in motion. A brilliantly conceived work." --Lloyd Alexander, author of the Prydain Chronicles, and Newbery Medalist for The High King

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"The most magnificent fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings." --The Oregonian Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will--a boy on the run, a murderer--a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels. Each is searching--Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father--but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, their destinies are bound together . . . until they are split apart.   A #1 New York Times Bestseller A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel   "The story gallops with ferocious momentum." --The New York Times Book Review "Pullman's imagination soars. . . . A literary rollercoaster ride you won't want to miss." --The Boston Globe "Destined to become a classic." --Detroit Free Press "The Subtle Knife is as absorbing and irresistible as The Golden Compass--and even more so, as powerful forces are set in motion. A brilliantly conceived work." --Lloyd Alexander, author of the Prydain Chronicles, and Newbery Medalist for The High King

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Introduction of a great new character, starkly different from Lyra but just as easy to root for. This book also introduces the idea of multiple worlds, which is fascinating but not abused in the storyline. Very suspenseful and surprising, but not quite as captivating as the first or last in the series.

Grade: B+ / HeathersCorner

/ Jul 14, 2018

This book confused me as a child and I didn't like it as much as the other two. Still, it's an engaging and captivating story that can be surprisingly deep and part of a good series overall.

Grade: C+ / Muisje / Oct 5, 2014

It's incredible that Pullman introduces a whole new, very different protagonist in book 2, yet you end up loving Will as much as Lyra. The plot thickens wonderfully, & we lose some beloved characters in heartbreaking ways. My one complaint is that it was too short. Important, built up plot events happen in shockingly quick succession, & Will & Lyra's relationship deepens really fast, & not as seamlessly as Lyra's relationships in book 1. More pages could have been used to even things out.

Grade: B+ / epaulettes

/ Jan 8, 2020

His Dark Materials has excellent world building, with both huge ideas and careful details. There is a sense that it is written for younger readers, and yet it is very intellectual. It succeeds in making you care deeply for the main characters. "The Subtle Knife" is where the rubber meats the road with this series. It reveals the other main protagonist, and the larger HDM universe.

Grade: B+ / smithmts

/ Mar 17, 2021

I love the characterisation in this novel, the pacing, the descriptions and the plot. Philip Pullman delivers an excellent second book in this trilogy. Lyra finds herself in a new world, similar to ours and encounters a third one. She finds out more about her destiny, finds a new ally and faces new dangers. The book alternates between various point of views. Will, a boy from our world, trying to protect his mother and find his father. Seraphina Pekkala, whom we met in the first book and Lee Sco

Grade: B / Vinjii / Oct 11, 2016

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