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His Dark Materials #2
效褍写械褋薪褘泄 薪芯卸
"效褍写械褋薪褘泄 薪芯卸" - 胁褌芯褉邪褟 泻薪懈谐邪 褌褉懈谢芯谐懈懈 "孝械屑薪褘械 薪邪褔邪谢邪" 肖.袩褍谢屑邪薪邪.
协褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 泻邪泻 懈 "小械胁械褉薪芯械 小懈褟薪懈械", - 褍写懈胁懈褌械谢褜薪邪褟 褋泻邪蟹泻邪 写谢褟 写械褌械泄 懈 胁蟹褉芯褋谢褘褏, 泻芯褌芯褉邪褟 薪邪褔懈薪邪械褌褋褟 褋 芯斜械褖邪薪懈泄, 邪 蟹邪泻邪薪褔懈胁邪械褌褋褟 褑械谢芯泄 袙褋械谢械薪薪芯泄.
袚谢邪胁薪邪褟 谐械褉芯懈薪褟 - 袥懈褉邪 - 锌械褉械褋械泻邪械褌 谐褉邪薪懈褑褍 屑懈褉芯胁 懈 芯泻邪蟹褘胁邪械褌褋褟 胁 袗薪谐谢懈懈 泻芯薪褑邪 XX 胁械泻邪, 谐写械 蟹薪邪泻芯屑懈褌褋褟 褋 校懈谢谢芯屑. 校懈谢谢褍 12 谢械褌. 袨薪 胁褘薪褍卸写械薪 褋芯胁械褉褕懈褌褜 锌褉械褋褌褍锌谢械薪懈械. 小锌邪褋邪褟褋褜 芯褌 锌褉械褋谢械写芯胁邪薪懈褟, 锌芯谢薪褘泄 褉械褕懈屑芯褋褌懈 褍蟹薪邪褌褜 锌褉邪胁写褍 芯 锌褉芯锌邪胁褕械屑 屑薪芯谐芯 谢械褌 薪邪蟹邪写 芯褌褑械, 芯薪 褋谢褍褔邪泄薪芯 锌芯锌邪写邪械褌 胁 效懈褌褌邪谐邪褑褑械 - 褋褌褉邪薪薪褘泄 谐芯褉芯写 斜褉芯褕械薪薪褘褏 写械褌械泄. 袙 蟹邪谐邪写芯褔薪芯屑 效懈褌褌邪谐邪褑褑械 袥懈褉褍 懈 校懈谢谢邪 卸写褍褌 芯锌邪褋薪褘械 锌褉懈泻谢褞褔械薪懈褟, 锌褉懈蟹褉邪泻懈, 锌芯卸懈褉邪褞褖懈械 写褍褕懈 胁蟹褉芯褋谢褘褏 懈 薪械 褌褉芯谐邪褞褖懈械 写械褌械泄, 胁械写褜屑褘 懈 邪薪谐械谢褘. 袟写械褋褜 芯薪懈 薪邪褏芯写褟褌 懈 褌械褉褟褞褌 斜谢懈蟹泻懈褏 懈 谢褞斜懈屑褘褏 谢褞写械泄, 蟹写械褋褜 卸械 校懈谢谢 褋褌邪薪芯胁懈褌褋褟 褏褉邪薪懈褌械谢械屑 效褍写械褋薪芯谐芯 薪芯卸邪, 胁褘褉械蟹邪褞褖械谐芯 芯泻薪邪 胁 褔褍卸懈械 屑懈褉褘. 袥懈褉邪 懈 校懈谢谢 锌褉懈褕谢懈 胁 褝褌芯褌 屑懈褉 褉邪蟹薪褘屑懈 写芯褉芯谐邪屑懈, 褍 薪懈褏 褉邪蟹薪褘械 褑械谢懈, 薪芯 懈褏 芯斜褗械写懈薪褟械褌 胁械谢懈泻芯械 锌褉械写薪邪蟹薪邪褔械薪懈械鈥�
协褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 泻邪泻 懈 "小械胁械褉薪芯械 小懈褟薪懈械", - 褍写懈胁懈褌械谢褜薪邪褟 褋泻邪蟹泻邪 写谢褟 写械褌械泄 懈 胁蟹褉芯褋谢褘褏, 泻芯褌芯褉邪褟 薪邪褔懈薪邪械褌褋褟 褋 芯斜械褖邪薪懈泄, 邪 蟹邪泻邪薪褔懈胁邪械褌褋褟 褑械谢芯泄 袙褋械谢械薪薪芯泄.
袚谢邪胁薪邪褟 谐械褉芯懈薪褟 - 袥懈褉邪 - 锌械褉械褋械泻邪械褌 谐褉邪薪懈褑褍 屑懈褉芯胁 懈 芯泻邪蟹褘胁邪械褌褋褟 胁 袗薪谐谢懈懈 泻芯薪褑邪 XX 胁械泻邪, 谐写械 蟹薪邪泻芯屑懈褌褋褟 褋 校懈谢谢芯屑. 校懈谢谢褍 12 谢械褌. 袨薪 胁褘薪褍卸写械薪 褋芯胁械褉褕懈褌褜 锌褉械褋褌褍锌谢械薪懈械. 小锌邪褋邪褟褋褜 芯褌 锌褉械褋谢械写芯胁邪薪懈褟, 锌芯谢薪褘泄 褉械褕懈屑芯褋褌懈 褍蟹薪邪褌褜 锌褉邪胁写褍 芯 锌褉芯锌邪胁褕械屑 屑薪芯谐芯 谢械褌 薪邪蟹邪写 芯褌褑械, 芯薪 褋谢褍褔邪泄薪芯 锌芯锌邪写邪械褌 胁 效懈褌褌邪谐邪褑褑械 - 褋褌褉邪薪薪褘泄 谐芯褉芯写 斜褉芯褕械薪薪褘褏 写械褌械泄. 袙 蟹邪谐邪写芯褔薪芯屑 效懈褌褌邪谐邪褑褑械 袥懈褉褍 懈 校懈谢谢邪 卸写褍褌 芯锌邪褋薪褘械 锌褉懈泻谢褞褔械薪懈褟, 锌褉懈蟹褉邪泻懈, 锌芯卸懈褉邪褞褖懈械 写褍褕懈 胁蟹褉芯褋谢褘褏 懈 薪械 褌褉芯谐邪褞褖懈械 写械褌械泄, 胁械写褜屑褘 懈 邪薪谐械谢褘. 袟写械褋褜 芯薪懈 薪邪褏芯写褟褌 懈 褌械褉褟褞褌 斜谢懈蟹泻懈褏 懈 谢褞斜懈屑褘褏 谢褞写械泄, 蟹写械褋褜 卸械 校懈谢谢 褋褌邪薪芯胁懈褌褋褟 褏褉邪薪懈褌械谢械屑 效褍写械褋薪芯谐芯 薪芯卸邪, 胁褘褉械蟹邪褞褖械谐芯 芯泻薪邪 胁 褔褍卸懈械 屑懈褉褘. 袥懈褉邪 懈 校懈谢谢 锌褉懈褕谢懈 胁 褝褌芯褌 屑懈褉 褉邪蟹薪褘屑懈 写芯褉芯谐邪屑懈, 褍 薪懈褏 褉邪蟹薪褘械 褑械谢懈, 薪芯 懈褏 芯斜褗械写懈薪褟械褌 胁械谢懈泻芯械 锌褉械写薪邪蟹薪邪褔械薪懈械鈥�
413 pages, Hardcover
First published July 22, 1997
7,445 people are currently reading
94.6k people want to read
About the author
Philip Pullman
257听books25k听followersSir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945". In a 2004 BBC poll, he was named the eleventh most influential person in British culture. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to literature.
Northern Lights, the first volume in His Dark Materials, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal of the Library Association as the year's outstanding English-language children's book. For the Carnegie's 70th anniversary, it was named in the top ten by a panel tasked with compiling a shortlist for a public vote for an all-time favourite. It won that public vote and was named all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" in June 2007. It was filmed under the book's US title, The Golden Compass. In 2003, His Dark Materials trilogy ranked third in the BBC's The Big Read, a poll of 200 top novels voted by the British public.
Northern Lights, the first volume in His Dark Materials, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal of the Library Association as the year's outstanding English-language children's book. For the Carnegie's 70th anniversary, it was named in the top ten by a panel tasked with compiling a shortlist for a public vote for an all-time favourite. It won that public vote and was named all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" in June 2007. It was filmed under the book's US title, The Golden Compass. In 2003, His Dark Materials trilogy ranked third in the BBC's The Big Read, a poll of 200 top novels voted by the British public.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 13,480 reviews
February 28, 2021
(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: Changes direction from the last book, expanding the mythology and affirming religion as the key theme of the series.
Notes: Changes direction from the last book, expanding the mythology and affirming religion as the key theme of the series.
January 7, 2008
The second entry in a trilogy is often, in my opinion, the best. The author doesn't have to introduce the universe or the characters, as they did in the first installment, but they don't need to worry about wrapping up all the plot points either. Instead, the focus can be on 'the good stuff': elaborating on the story, teasing us more, giving action, chopping off Luke's hand and so on. Instead of the good stuff, in The Subtle Knife I feel as though we've had a bait and switch pulled on us.
In , we were treated to a rich alternate universe that had elements that were similar to our own, like some of the geopolitical structure, and elements that were entirely fantastical, like armored polar bears and witches. The Subtle Knife, however decides that most of this is insignificant and takes place almost entirely in different universes. It seems like wanted to reel us in with fantasy before he could preach at us.
Some of these elements are expanded upon in , which I'm currently reading, so forgive me if they don't all apply. I had heard before I started the series that they were 'about killing God.' This seemed highly unlikely, and was probably a knee-jerk reaction from people who heard it from other people who read a synopsis of the book, etc. But... no. Some of the main characters have decided to wage war on 'The Authority.'
Herein lies my main concern with the series as a whole: it's not (excuse the pun) subtle. I'm an agnostic, so these complaints don't come from someone insulted by the material, they come from someone unhappy by their handling. I love plots that put a spin on traditional religion (, for example), but it seems like Pullman came up with a story involving a culture's religion and then decided to make it fit with the Judeo-Christian framework no matter how hard he had to push.
The concept of Dust is interesting. Adapting it to fit with concepts of physics in our world works because it uses something we only know a little about. Once you try to toss in angels and consciousness and so on (which is insulting in a children's book, as he's claiming that children are entirely self involved until puberty), though, it seems contrived and silly.
I may have been more willing to swallow his philosophy, such as it is, if there hadn't been a complete lack of the elements I liked in The Golden Compass: there were no Gyptians, there were no 辫补苍蝉别谤产箩枚谤苍别... they seem to make a reappearance in the final book of the series, but why spend so much time on their culture in the first book if you aren't going to include them in the second? (I know that the 辫补苍蝉别谤产箩枚谤苍别's culture is basically that of any warrior society, but they're still armored polar bears and the ten year old in me think that's awesome)
It's not so much that the book is bad, per se, though I do think it becomes too dark for the age group I initially thought it was written for. I just don't think Pullman is writing for the same reason I want to read: he wants to write religious commentary while I want to read fantasy.
In , we were treated to a rich alternate universe that had elements that were similar to our own, like some of the geopolitical structure, and elements that were entirely fantastical, like armored polar bears and witches. The Subtle Knife, however decides that most of this is insignificant and takes place almost entirely in different universes. It seems like wanted to reel us in with fantasy before he could preach at us.
Some of these elements are expanded upon in , which I'm currently reading, so forgive me if they don't all apply. I had heard before I started the series that they were 'about killing God.' This seemed highly unlikely, and was probably a knee-jerk reaction from people who heard it from other people who read a synopsis of the book, etc. But... no. Some of the main characters have decided to wage war on 'The Authority.'
Herein lies my main concern with the series as a whole: it's not (excuse the pun) subtle. I'm an agnostic, so these complaints don't come from someone insulted by the material, they come from someone unhappy by their handling. I love plots that put a spin on traditional religion (, for example), but it seems like Pullman came up with a story involving a culture's religion and then decided to make it fit with the Judeo-Christian framework no matter how hard he had to push.
The concept of Dust is interesting. Adapting it to fit with concepts of physics in our world works because it uses something we only know a little about. Once you try to toss in angels and consciousness and so on (which is insulting in a children's book, as he's claiming that children are entirely self involved until puberty), though, it seems contrived and silly.
I may have been more willing to swallow his philosophy, such as it is, if there hadn't been a complete lack of the elements I liked in The Golden Compass: there were no Gyptians, there were no 辫补苍蝉别谤产箩枚谤苍别... they seem to make a reappearance in the final book of the series, but why spend so much time on their culture in the first book if you aren't going to include them in the second? (I know that the 辫补苍蝉别谤产箩枚谤苍别's culture is basically that of any warrior society, but they're still armored polar bears and the ten year old in me think that's awesome)
It's not so much that the book is bad, per se, though I do think it becomes too dark for the age group I initially thought it was written for. I just don't think Pullman is writing for the same reason I want to read: he wants to write religious commentary while I want to read fantasy.
November 29, 2016
When I read this the first time I completely overlooked a main component of the book. I approached it as if was the second book in the series, a massive mistake. I wrote a review criticising the fact that the novel felt awkward; it had no beginning or end: it just felt like the typical content you鈥檇 find in the middle of the story. The ironic point of this is that most critics take the trilogy as one whole book, rather than three separate works. And this really is the best way to approach the story.
The Golden Compass is the beginning of it all, the setting of the stage. This, then, is the middling part of the work. The second protagonist of the series, the Adam to Pullman鈥檚 Eve, takes the lead here. Initially, I was very resistant to this idea. I had grown to respect Lyra; she鈥檚 a really strong heroine, but after a while it started to make sense. Pullman has expanded his story considerably. Lyra has three chapters told from her perspective. The same amount, roughly speaking, is told from the perspective of Will. The rest of the chapters are from side characters of the previous book. So there鈥檚 a strong move away from a Lyra centred story.
I have mixed feeling about this. It felt like an odd authorial decision. At times this felt like an entirely different series altogether, again, something I eventually got over. There is no sense of closure at the end of this. The first book had a strong ending, but this has very little. This book seemed to be a mere set-up for the next instalment, which makes it rather difficult to review; it鈥檚 like picking out the middle bit of a story and trying to criticise it as a separate entity from the rest of it: it鈥檚 not easy to do. Any criticism you make are negated by the fact that this is not a separate book: it鈥檚 a chunk of a greater work.
So I鈥檓 going to read the third book before I speak any more about this- I need to see where these elements Pullman added go to. Perhaps a review of all three works together would be the best option. At this moment though, I find the witches one of the most interesting aspects of the work. I鈥檓 not entirely sure what to make of them as of yet. Hopefully, the third book will give me all the answers I need.
"All through that day the witches came, like flakes of black snow on the wings of a storm, filling the skies with the darting flutter of their silk and the swish of air through the needles of their cloud-pine branches. Men who hunted in the dripping forests or fished among melting ice-floes heard the sky-wide whisper through the fog, and if the sky was clear they would look up to see the witches flying, like scraps of darkness drifting on a secret tide."
The Golden Compass is the beginning of it all, the setting of the stage. This, then, is the middling part of the work. The second protagonist of the series, the Adam to Pullman鈥檚 Eve, takes the lead here. Initially, I was very resistant to this idea. I had grown to respect Lyra; she鈥檚 a really strong heroine, but after a while it started to make sense. Pullman has expanded his story considerably. Lyra has three chapters told from her perspective. The same amount, roughly speaking, is told from the perspective of Will. The rest of the chapters are from side characters of the previous book. So there鈥檚 a strong move away from a Lyra centred story.
I have mixed feeling about this. It felt like an odd authorial decision. At times this felt like an entirely different series altogether, again, something I eventually got over. There is no sense of closure at the end of this. The first book had a strong ending, but this has very little. This book seemed to be a mere set-up for the next instalment, which makes it rather difficult to review; it鈥檚 like picking out the middle bit of a story and trying to criticise it as a separate entity from the rest of it: it鈥檚 not easy to do. Any criticism you make are negated by the fact that this is not a separate book: it鈥檚 a chunk of a greater work.
So I鈥檓 going to read the third book before I speak any more about this- I need to see where these elements Pullman added go to. Perhaps a review of all three works together would be the best option. At this moment though, I find the witches one of the most interesting aspects of the work. I鈥檓 not entirely sure what to make of them as of yet. Hopefully, the third book will give me all the answers I need.
"All through that day the witches came, like flakes of black snow on the wings of a storm, filling the skies with the darting flutter of their silk and the swish of air through the needles of their cloud-pine branches. Men who hunted in the dripping forests or fished among melting ice-floes heard the sky-wide whisper through the fog, and if the sky was clear they would look up to see the witches flying, like scraps of darkness drifting on a secret tide."
October 24, 2022
The second book in the His Dark Materials sadly ventures outside of Lyra's Oxford, but have no fear we get introduced to a number of other dimensions! Cittigazze, is like a ghost town... the world Lyra arrives in looks like everyone literally left in the middle of whatever they were doing. Pulman manages to create yet another really interesting reality and look at it from the perspective of Lyra.
Lyra and a new companion continue the sort of ongoing random, but often connected missions, Lyra began from a cupboard in New Oxford. With many more surprises and a sadly rather less detailed characterised supporting cast, we begin to see that a war may be brewing. One of the cooler things about the series is also watching Lyra mature, as in the situations she finds herself in, she has to. The only downside to this sequel... no bears! 8 out of 12, as good as the first book, but more for the creativity than the plotting and characterisations.
2019 read; 2004 read
Lyra and a new companion continue the sort of ongoing random, but often connected missions, Lyra began from a cupboard in New Oxford. With many more surprises and a sadly rather less detailed characterised supporting cast, we begin to see that a war may be brewing. One of the cooler things about the series is also watching Lyra mature, as in the situations she finds herself in, she has to. The only downside to this sequel... no bears! 8 out of 12, as good as the first book, but more for the creativity than the plotting and characterisations.
2019 read; 2004 read
April 25, 2022
The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2), Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife, the second book in the His Dark Materials series, is a young-adult fantasy novel written by Philip Pullman and published in 1997. The novel continues the adventures of Lyra Belacqua as she investigates the mysterious Dust phenomenon and searches for her father. Will Parry is introduced as a companion to Lyra, and together they explore the new realms to which they have both been introduced.
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦禺賳噩乇 馗乇蹖賮禄貨 芦賱鈥嵺屸€嵷必� 賵 禺鈥嵸嗏€嵷€嵷� 丕爻鈥嵷必ж必①呪€嵺屸€嵷猜回� 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 賮賱蹖倬 倬賵賱賲賳貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 乇賵夭 丿賴賲 賲丕賴 丌诏賵爻鬲 爻丕賱2008賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
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The Subtle Knife, the second book in the His Dark Materials series, is a young-adult fantasy novel written by Philip Pullman and published in 1997. The novel continues the adventures of Lyra Belacqua as she investigates the mysterious Dust phenomenon and searches for her father. Will Parry is introduced as a companion to Lyra, and together they explore the new realms to which they have both been introduced.
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鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 25/02/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 04/02/1401賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
January 11, 2022
鈥淚 found folly everywhere, but there were grains of wisdom in every stream of it.鈥�
I鈥檓 a bit torn about the second instalment in , . The whole story feels a bit rushed and short, on which I feel Pullman put a lot of weight on, wanting to introduce new characters, giving the old and the new characters psychological depth and development, having a lot of action, engaging in scientific thought experiments, commenting on politics and anthropology and giving a critique of religion and Christian God. It is a lot of expectations for ya/children's fantasy book with 250 pages. But one thing is certain, Pullman knows how to write a gripping story, as the pace is perfect and prose simply flows which makes the reading process undemanding and pleasurable.
I like the newly introduced character of Will Perry, the male protagonist that accompanies Lyra on her adventures. Will is a child of a mentally ill mother that he needs to take care of, and an absent father explorer he is endlessly longing for. The rawness of emotion that this longing is described with made me think Will is in a way mirroring Pullman himself, and interestingly, later on, I found out that Pullman sadly lost his father when he was 7 when his father was killed as a pilot in a plane crash.
鈥淗e wiped the sweat out of his eyes with his right hand. What he couldn鈥檛 say was that he longed for his father as a lost child yearns for home. That comparison wouldn鈥檛 have occurred to him, because home was the place he kept safe for his mother, not the place others kept safe for him. But it had been five years now since that Saturday morning in the supermarket when the pretend game of hiding from the enemies became desperately real, such a long time in his life, and his heart craved to hear the words 鈥淲ell done, well done, my child; no one on earth could have done better; I鈥檓 proud of you. Come and rest now.鈥︹€�
We again have a strong theme of parent/authority figure absence in the life of a child, that is present throughout the trilogy. Lyra grew up with no parents by her side, and Will has no memory of a father and has a mother that is not well, for who he has to take care of as she is his child. Here we see the reverse of the role of parent and a child, so often seen in real life, where a child is in a way robbed from his own childhood due to the fact it has to take adult responsibility prematurely due to the parent inadequacy. Which can be caused by the mental or physical illness of a parent, substance or alcohol abuse or even just emotional immaturity, when the parent expects their child to solve his own problems and carry his burden. That can eventually create all kinds of psychological disturbances in a child identifying with a role of savior, creating overly expressed altruism, neglecting his own needs in relationships and having immense guilt about having own thoughts and emotions, depression, as well as a feeling of discomfort living for self, not exclusively for others in constant effort and overwork.
鈥�...and partly his longing for his mother. He was afraid for her, of course, and he knew she鈥檇 be safer if he was there to look after her; but he wanted her to look after him, too, as she鈥檇 done when he was very small. He wanted her to bandage him and tuck him into bed and sing to him and take away all the trouble and surround him with all the warmth and softness and mother-kindness he needed so badly; and it was never going to happen. Part of him was only a little boy still. So he cried, but he lay very still as he did, not wanting to wake Lyra.鈥�
A lot of stories also revolves around the theme of the chosen child, in both Lyra and Will, exploring the pressure children carry on themselves in being a new beginning for the generation, somewhat the savior that can lift the sins of predecessors and finish all the good deeds in which they failed and even do much more, having the pressure of righting all the wrongs in the universe, and in a way birthing a new way of life for the world.
"You witches know something about the child Lyra.... Tell me the truth.... Name her!" "Eve! Mother of all!... Mother Eve!"
鈥淥ne day, you鈥檒l follow in your father鈥檚 footsteps. You鈥檙e going to be a great man too. You鈥檒l take up his mantle.鈥�
Continuing on the theme of multiple universes we are introduced to the world of Cittigazze, the children鈥檚 world where only children prevail as the adults are haunted by Specters, creatures that feed of consciousness and induce a state of disintegration, the madness of the mind. Pullman toyed around with the idea of consciousness connecting it to physics of the dark matter in scientific ideas, and to Angels, spirits, in a religious manner which as an end result seemed somewhat confusing, but acceptable in the vain that different disciplines may explore and try to understand the same thing under a different name.
As Katia N brilliantly pointed in the comment of my review of the first instalment, Pullman鈥檚 theory of dust is akin to panpsychism, the concept of consciousness in which "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists throughout the universe". Panpsychism has a long history in philosophical traditions of both East and West, and is also revived in analytic philosophy. Contrary to dualism, for Pullman, mind and matter are not fundamentally different kinds of things.
鈥淎ngels are creatures of Shadow matter? Of Dust? STRUCTURES. COMPLEXIFICATIONS. YES.
And Shadow matter is what we have called spirit? FROM WHAT WE ARE, SPIRIT; FROM WHAT WE DO, MATTER. MATTER AND SPIRIT ARE ONE.鈥�
Pullman certainly becomes more prominent in the theme of moral inversion, as he is bluntly opposed to the Church while depending heavily on Christian symbolism, basically creating a multiverse of different worlds, all Christian, in striving to re-write and Genesis, making the original sin the act of liberty in creating a new dawn for mankind and fallen Angels rightful rebels against the tyrant God. Pullman gives not an only critique of the Church, he declares a war on Christian God he wants to overthrow.
鈥淭he God who dies is the God of the burners of heretics, the hangers of witches... [T]hat God deserves to die. The Authority, then, is an ancient Idea of God, kept alive artificially by those who benefit from his continued existence.鈥�
He perceives a Church as the morally corrupt, the wrong side of good, the machinery of lies, propaganda, cruelty and deceit for thousands of years of human history.
鈥淭hat is what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling.鈥�
Again, I already talked about how I think Pullman is influenced by 's philosophy which also becomes even more evident in this instalment. Pullman has a similar standpoint to Nitzsche's notion of Christian morals presented in ; that unconditional will of Christianity to recognize only moral values is dangerous 鈥渨ill to disown life鈥� in its core, and it surfeits life in the hatred of the world and fear of beauty and sensuality.
鈥淚t is the Magisterium, the Church. For all its history鈥攁nd that鈥檚 not long by our lives, but it鈥檚 many, many of theirs鈥攊t鈥檚 tried to suppress and control every natural impulse. And when it can鈥檛 control them, it cuts them out. 鈥�
This also confirms the opinion I expressed in the review for , that I believe that Pullman's main philosophy is Gnosticism, believing that evil creator God and his angels caused ignorance and imprisonment. And fallen angels are consciousness and they lead others to consciousness, freedom and the greater state of being.
鈥淭here are two great powers,鈥� the man said, 鈥渁nd they鈥檝e been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.鈥�
He puts the emphasis on personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis), found in alethiometer, shaman experiences, devotion to science experiments or magic of witches, above the teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. And to reach that kind of spiritual knowledge, Pullman gives instructions with quoting ; you have to be 鈥淐apable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason." You have to get into that state of mind.鈥�
Here is where I get confused about the genre of the book. The problem is, the book is written in style children or ya fantasy would be written, as I would expect for the adult fantasy to have a more solidly constructed world and characters and to be much more elaborate in ideas. But the thing is, for understanding the concepts Pullman unveils in the trilogy, you have to be fairly well-read and acquainted in both theology and philosophy, favorably even physics. I don't think that a child or even a young adult could grasp the essence of Pullman's ideas, which left me quite confused when I was reading His Dark Materials as a child, not even being able to pinpoint what I don't like (spoiler; I did not like that I could not understand the concepts I vaguely understand now, many years of education and books after). I'm struggling to determine who is the perfect audience for the novels, as they are not (at least the first two) in ideas enough developed to satisfy you as a philosophical debate and are maybe too philosophical for younger reads who just want to read fantasy. (As someone wittily put in their review; I just want to read fantasy, and Pullman wants to have philosophical debate).
But, no matter if one agrees or does not agree to core beliefs presented in the novels or with all the choices the author made, it is undeniable that Pullman is a brilliant craftsman of fantasy that created a legendary trilogy worth reading.
I鈥檓 a bit torn about the second instalment in , . The whole story feels a bit rushed and short, on which I feel Pullman put a lot of weight on, wanting to introduce new characters, giving the old and the new characters psychological depth and development, having a lot of action, engaging in scientific thought experiments, commenting on politics and anthropology and giving a critique of religion and Christian God. It is a lot of expectations for ya/children's fantasy book with 250 pages. But one thing is certain, Pullman knows how to write a gripping story, as the pace is perfect and prose simply flows which makes the reading process undemanding and pleasurable.
I like the newly introduced character of Will Perry, the male protagonist that accompanies Lyra on her adventures. Will is a child of a mentally ill mother that he needs to take care of, and an absent father explorer he is endlessly longing for. The rawness of emotion that this longing is described with made me think Will is in a way mirroring Pullman himself, and interestingly, later on, I found out that Pullman sadly lost his father when he was 7 when his father was killed as a pilot in a plane crash.
鈥淗e wiped the sweat out of his eyes with his right hand. What he couldn鈥檛 say was that he longed for his father as a lost child yearns for home. That comparison wouldn鈥檛 have occurred to him, because home was the place he kept safe for his mother, not the place others kept safe for him. But it had been five years now since that Saturday morning in the supermarket when the pretend game of hiding from the enemies became desperately real, such a long time in his life, and his heart craved to hear the words 鈥淲ell done, well done, my child; no one on earth could have done better; I鈥檓 proud of you. Come and rest now.鈥︹€�
We again have a strong theme of parent/authority figure absence in the life of a child, that is present throughout the trilogy. Lyra grew up with no parents by her side, and Will has no memory of a father and has a mother that is not well, for who he has to take care of as she is his child. Here we see the reverse of the role of parent and a child, so often seen in real life, where a child is in a way robbed from his own childhood due to the fact it has to take adult responsibility prematurely due to the parent inadequacy. Which can be caused by the mental or physical illness of a parent, substance or alcohol abuse or even just emotional immaturity, when the parent expects their child to solve his own problems and carry his burden. That can eventually create all kinds of psychological disturbances in a child identifying with a role of savior, creating overly expressed altruism, neglecting his own needs in relationships and having immense guilt about having own thoughts and emotions, depression, as well as a feeling of discomfort living for self, not exclusively for others in constant effort and overwork.
鈥�...and partly his longing for his mother. He was afraid for her, of course, and he knew she鈥檇 be safer if he was there to look after her; but he wanted her to look after him, too, as she鈥檇 done when he was very small. He wanted her to bandage him and tuck him into bed and sing to him and take away all the trouble and surround him with all the warmth and softness and mother-kindness he needed so badly; and it was never going to happen. Part of him was only a little boy still. So he cried, but he lay very still as he did, not wanting to wake Lyra.鈥�
A lot of stories also revolves around the theme of the chosen child, in both Lyra and Will, exploring the pressure children carry on themselves in being a new beginning for the generation, somewhat the savior that can lift the sins of predecessors and finish all the good deeds in which they failed and even do much more, having the pressure of righting all the wrongs in the universe, and in a way birthing a new way of life for the world.
"You witches know something about the child Lyra.... Tell me the truth.... Name her!" "Eve! Mother of all!... Mother Eve!"
鈥淥ne day, you鈥檒l follow in your father鈥檚 footsteps. You鈥檙e going to be a great man too. You鈥檒l take up his mantle.鈥�
Continuing on the theme of multiple universes we are introduced to the world of Cittigazze, the children鈥檚 world where only children prevail as the adults are haunted by Specters, creatures that feed of consciousness and induce a state of disintegration, the madness of the mind. Pullman toyed around with the idea of consciousness connecting it to physics of the dark matter in scientific ideas, and to Angels, spirits, in a religious manner which as an end result seemed somewhat confusing, but acceptable in the vain that different disciplines may explore and try to understand the same thing under a different name.
As Katia N brilliantly pointed in the comment of my review of the first instalment, Pullman鈥檚 theory of dust is akin to panpsychism, the concept of consciousness in which "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists throughout the universe". Panpsychism has a long history in philosophical traditions of both East and West, and is also revived in analytic philosophy. Contrary to dualism, for Pullman, mind and matter are not fundamentally different kinds of things.
鈥淎ngels are creatures of Shadow matter? Of Dust? STRUCTURES. COMPLEXIFICATIONS. YES.
And Shadow matter is what we have called spirit? FROM WHAT WE ARE, SPIRIT; FROM WHAT WE DO, MATTER. MATTER AND SPIRIT ARE ONE.鈥�
Pullman certainly becomes more prominent in the theme of moral inversion, as he is bluntly opposed to the Church while depending heavily on Christian symbolism, basically creating a multiverse of different worlds, all Christian, in striving to re-write and Genesis, making the original sin the act of liberty in creating a new dawn for mankind and fallen Angels rightful rebels against the tyrant God. Pullman gives not an only critique of the Church, he declares a war on Christian God he wants to overthrow.
鈥淭he God who dies is the God of the burners of heretics, the hangers of witches... [T]hat God deserves to die. The Authority, then, is an ancient Idea of God, kept alive artificially by those who benefit from his continued existence.鈥�
He perceives a Church as the morally corrupt, the wrong side of good, the machinery of lies, propaganda, cruelty and deceit for thousands of years of human history.
鈥淭hat is what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling.鈥�
Again, I already talked about how I think Pullman is influenced by 's philosophy which also becomes even more evident in this instalment. Pullman has a similar standpoint to Nitzsche's notion of Christian morals presented in ; that unconditional will of Christianity to recognize only moral values is dangerous 鈥渨ill to disown life鈥� in its core, and it surfeits life in the hatred of the world and fear of beauty and sensuality.
鈥淚t is the Magisterium, the Church. For all its history鈥攁nd that鈥檚 not long by our lives, but it鈥檚 many, many of theirs鈥攊t鈥檚 tried to suppress and control every natural impulse. And when it can鈥檛 control them, it cuts them out. 鈥�
This also confirms the opinion I expressed in the review for , that I believe that Pullman's main philosophy is Gnosticism, believing that evil creator God and his angels caused ignorance and imprisonment. And fallen angels are consciousness and they lead others to consciousness, freedom and the greater state of being.
鈥淭here are two great powers,鈥� the man said, 鈥渁nd they鈥檝e been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.鈥�
He puts the emphasis on personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis), found in alethiometer, shaman experiences, devotion to science experiments or magic of witches, above the teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. And to reach that kind of spiritual knowledge, Pullman gives instructions with quoting ; you have to be 鈥淐apable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason." You have to get into that state of mind.鈥�
Here is where I get confused about the genre of the book. The problem is, the book is written in style children or ya fantasy would be written, as I would expect for the adult fantasy to have a more solidly constructed world and characters and to be much more elaborate in ideas. But the thing is, for understanding the concepts Pullman unveils in the trilogy, you have to be fairly well-read and acquainted in both theology and philosophy, favorably even physics. I don't think that a child or even a young adult could grasp the essence of Pullman's ideas, which left me quite confused when I was reading His Dark Materials as a child, not even being able to pinpoint what I don't like (spoiler; I did not like that I could not understand the concepts I vaguely understand now, many years of education and books after). I'm struggling to determine who is the perfect audience for the novels, as they are not (at least the first two) in ideas enough developed to satisfy you as a philosophical debate and are maybe too philosophical for younger reads who just want to read fantasy. (As someone wittily put in their review; I just want to read fantasy, and Pullman wants to have philosophical debate).
But, no matter if one agrees or does not agree to core beliefs presented in the novels or with all the choices the author made, it is undeniable that Pullman is a brilliant craftsman of fantasy that created a legendary trilogy worth reading.
January 31, 2023
鈥淓very little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.鈥�
March 19, 2019
4.5****
鈥漌hat is he? A friend, or an enemy?鈥�...
鈥淗e is a murderer.鈥�
This book has the introduction of Will; a young man/boy who is compassionate, caring, brave and a warrior. After a frightening account, Will has to go on the run where he escapes to a different world to the deserted city of Cittagaze, and meets an interesting girl called Lyra Belacqua, her Daemon; Pantalaimon and her ability to read a strange instrument called the alethiometer. This strange world runs parallel to his own.
They learn to begin to trust each other and their fates become intertwined, each relying on their developing friendship, courage and bravery. They discover strange mishaps in this strange city and learn of a powerful weapon- the subtle knife that is so powerful it can cut through worlds. A knife that will only respond to the hand intended to wield it.
Like the first book, this was a wonderful literary adventure. This book takes off where the first book ended and Lyra has travelled to another world, staying in the deserted city alone for a few days before the surprise meeting with Will. I loved the developing dynamics of Will and Lyra鈥檚 friendship.
This hold more multiple points of view than in the first book, with storylines from Lee Scoresby and Serafina Pekkala especially.
This, again contained heartbreak, deaths and dark creatures/story lines. However, there is the brightness of a developing friendship, strong bravery, and many connections between the plot lines are made and fit into place.
鈥漌hat is he? A friend, or an enemy?鈥�...
鈥淗e is a murderer.鈥�
This book has the introduction of Will; a young man/boy who is compassionate, caring, brave and a warrior. After a frightening account, Will has to go on the run where he escapes to a different world to the deserted city of Cittagaze, and meets an interesting girl called Lyra Belacqua, her Daemon; Pantalaimon and her ability to read a strange instrument called the alethiometer. This strange world runs parallel to his own.
They learn to begin to trust each other and their fates become intertwined, each relying on their developing friendship, courage and bravery. They discover strange mishaps in this strange city and learn of a powerful weapon- the subtle knife that is so powerful it can cut through worlds. A knife that will only respond to the hand intended to wield it.
Like the first book, this was a wonderful literary adventure. This book takes off where the first book ended and Lyra has travelled to another world, staying in the deserted city alone for a few days before the surprise meeting with Will. I loved the developing dynamics of Will and Lyra鈥檚 friendship.
This hold more multiple points of view than in the first book, with storylines from Lee Scoresby and Serafina Pekkala especially.
This, again contained heartbreak, deaths and dark creatures/story lines. However, there is the brightness of a developing friendship, strong bravery, and many connections between the plot lines are made and fit into place.
April 5, 2021
First reaction: SHOCK! Bec枚s...
(Sorry, if you're not Italian you won't get the joke, just google "Matteo Renzi" and you'll understand)
La mia recensione qui:
(Sorry, if you're not Italian you won't get the joke, just google "Matteo Renzi" and you'll understand)
La mia recensione qui:
June 15, 2016
隆Ese FINAL!!!
te deja con la NECESIDAD de saber que sigue.
Estos no son libros infantiles, no se que se le meti贸 al editor o a quien se lo ocurri贸 la brillante idea de clasificarlos de esa forma, pero a mi parecer que tengamos por protagonistas a ni帽os no hace que el libro ipso facto sea infantil. Esta vez el centro de la historia, al parecer, es la b煤squeda del padre de Will, pero una vez mas Pullman nos muestra que su trama es mas complicada de lo que aparenta ser.
Los puentes entre los mundos se han abierto, el caos ha comenzado, y por si fuera poco se esta preparando la mas terrible de todas la guerras del universo...
... Lord Asriel esta formando y comandando un ejercito como nunca antes se ha visto, con seres y guerreros de todos los mundos, pero 驴A que se enfrenta? 驴Qui茅n lidera el otro bando? nada menos que Dios
驴todav铆a siguen pensando que es un libro infantil?
Mientras todo esto sucede Lyra esta perdida en un nuevo mundo donde conoce a Will (un chico de nuestro mundo) juntos tendr谩n que atravesar una serie de dificultades entablando amistad en el proceso.
La expansi贸n del worldbuilding ahora siendo un multiverso, mas las nuevas incorporaciones como los espantos, los 谩ngeles, los chamanes, la daga sutil, y la antesala de la guerra neo-apocal铆ptica me hace amar este libro, ademas la trama tiene, conflictos religiosos y cient铆ficos, drama filos贸fico y mas sobre las brujas.
Lo que no me gusto, fue ese final porque te deja en suspenso, pero esto tiene su punto bueno, hace que quieras leer la continuaci贸n de inmediato, y es lo que hay que hacer para conocer el desenlace de la historia.
Para mas de mis rese帽as sobre los libros de La Materia Oscura pueden ver los siguientes enlaces:
Luces del norte 补辩耻铆
EL Catalejo lacado 补辩耻铆
El Oxford de Lyra 补辩耻铆
te deja con la NECESIDAD de saber que sigue.
Estos no son libros infantiles, no se que se le meti贸 al editor o a quien se lo ocurri贸 la brillante idea de clasificarlos de esa forma, pero a mi parecer que tengamos por protagonistas a ni帽os no hace que el libro ipso facto sea infantil. Esta vez el centro de la historia, al parecer, es la b煤squeda del padre de Will, pero una vez mas Pullman nos muestra que su trama es mas complicada de lo que aparenta ser.
Los puentes entre los mundos se han abierto, el caos ha comenzado, y por si fuera poco se esta preparando la mas terrible de todas la guerras del universo...
鈥擡xisten dos grandes poderes 鈥攄eclar贸鈥� que se enfrentan desde el comienzo de los tiempos. Todo avance en la vida del hombre, todo jir贸n de conocimiento, sabidur铆a y decencia que poseemos se lo ha arrancado de los dientes un bando al otro. Cada peque帽o incremento en la libertad humana se ha conseguido a costa de una lucha feroz entre quienes desean que sepamos m谩s y seamos m谩s sabios y fuertes y quienes pretenden que obedezcamos y seamos humildes y sumisos.
... Lord Asriel esta formando y comandando un ejercito como nunca antes se ha visto, con seres y guerreros de todos los mundos, pero 驴A que se enfrenta? 驴Qui茅n lidera el otro bando? nada menos que Dios
驴todav铆a siguen pensando que es un libro infantil?
Mientras todo esto sucede Lyra esta perdida en un nuevo mundo donde conoce a Will (un chico de nuestro mundo) juntos tendr谩n que atravesar una serie de dificultades entablando amistad en el proceso.
La expansi贸n del worldbuilding ahora siendo un multiverso, mas las nuevas incorporaciones como los espantos, los 谩ngeles, los chamanes, la daga sutil, y la antesala de la guerra neo-apocal铆ptica me hace amar este libro, ademas la trama tiene, conflictos religiosos y cient铆ficos, drama filos贸fico y mas sobre las brujas.
Lo que no me gusto, fue ese final porque te deja en suspenso, pero esto tiene su punto bueno, hace que quieras leer la continuaci贸n de inmediato, y es lo que hay que hacer para conocer el desenlace de la historia.
Para mas de mis rese帽as sobre los libros de La Materia Oscura pueden ver los siguientes enlaces:
Luces del norte 补辩耻铆
EL Catalejo lacado 补辩耻铆
El Oxford de Lyra 补辩耻铆
July 14, 2020
Weird like The Wizard of Oz, magical like Harry Potter, and interesting, totally unlike "Chronicles of Narnia." The symbolism is so agog, so strange... Obviously, it makes for a great young adult novel!
January 2, 2008
I am not a fan of forwarded emails. They frustrate me, because they usually come from the same group of people, people I like a great deal but who never send me a normal "hey, how's it going?" message. Just "Support our Troops" or "Tell every woman you know she's special" or "Microsoft is running a test and if you send this you could get a check for $1,000!" When I see the letters FWD in the subject line, I usually simply delete it.
I lost track of the number of emails I received telling me about the Anti-God movie The Golden Compass and the need to boycott the movies and the books. It was well over ten. Ten people wanted me to send that email on to everyone I know, telling them the same thing. Don't see this movie! Don't read these books! Alert! Alert! Alert!
Nothing like calling attention to something like a planned boycott. I haven't seen the movie, because I'm cheap and it's not something I'd take my kids to or something I'd be prone to see anyway, but as I had already read the first book in the series, enjoyed it and hadn't found it to be Anti-God, I was curious to read the next to see what the fuss was all about.
I don't know if the emails worked and I read with a bias, but I did not enjoy this second book. Not because it is Anti-God...which it really isn't, but more anti organized religion and organized religion's version of god, but because the writing is bad.
Dialogue - choppy.
Descriptions - cliched. (how do I get that little accent marking over the e?)
Storyline - totally falters.
I felt enormously disappointed in the direction of this book. Lyra, the young female protagonist in search of dust and her father, all but disappears in this second story. She still plays a part, but now as the sidekick to Will, a new character who is a giant "young adult fiction" stereotype (in search of the father he never knew while protecting his mother from bad guys and seems to be gifted in the combat department). I don't remember the writing being bad in the first book. I thought it descriptive and unique and thoughtful. Not so, in The Subtle Knife. Pullman changes gears and loses focus. There is a lot more going on and none of it is developed well. I stopped caring about the characters and their goals.
I think these books had great potential. There could be a lot to discuss with adolescents (not young children...at all). The nature of the soul, the natural man, the costs and benefits of religions. All appropriate things to discuss with youth ready to question and discover on their own.
Pullman takes that conversation away with his lack of metaphor. It becomes impossible to argue, "I think the dust means this." or "what do you think The Authority is for Pullman?" when he throws his opinion at you with real life Christian beliefs. It's inappropriate and unfair. Write a fantasy or a satire or a parable if you want to. Other authors have done it...and done it well.
Pullman didn't.
I won't be reading the third book.
October 29, 2017
I share this review again in the fall of 2017 as a fourth volume (though Pullman later wrote two companion pieces to the trilogy, entitled Lyra's Oxford, and Once Upon a Time in the North), The Book of Dust, has been released, to encourage all ages to read. As with most great "children's" books, there are a range of levels on which Pullman is working. He's taking on the Roman Catholic view of reality, C.S. Lewis (in The Chronicles of Narnia), and is in conversation with John Milton, whose Paradise Lost he both loves and contends with in places. But you don't need to know any of that to love this series.
This is the middle book in the trilogy, and I like the first and third volumes more, big surprise. More exposition, less action, more trudging to final destinations, but you know, the writing is still exquisite, and it has surprises. One key surprise is that after focusing on Lyra in the first series, this second book opens with a focus on yet another central character, Will. When I first read this I was confused, and more than a little disappointed, as I saw a wonderful strong girl character shoved aside as usually happens in all books for a BOY main character.
That isn't quite how things work, really, though, as they share the stage, and they open up new vistas and back stories and new worlds together. This is seen as a sixth grade children's series, but in truth, the older you are, the more you will get out of it, as in all of the greatest "children's stories" of all time, including The Wrinkle in Time, and so on. Pullman is taking on our limited view of "reality"-- he's engaging in physics, theology, anthropology--with a laser beam on the Holy Roman Church in particular. It's not so much an attack on The Church as an exploration of the nature of true religion, and a wider, more generous, less sin-obsessed view of the world. It's a wonderful series, which I listened to while traveling around the country with the family, a wonderfully produced cd series. It's the second volume of a trilogy, so you obviously don't begin here, but you won't regret the time you spend on the adventure. It's awesome. And whether you have read it or not, I recommend this audio version, with Philip Pullman Himself narrating, joined by a wonderful cast of characters.
This is the middle book in the trilogy, and I like the first and third volumes more, big surprise. More exposition, less action, more trudging to final destinations, but you know, the writing is still exquisite, and it has surprises. One key surprise is that after focusing on Lyra in the first series, this second book opens with a focus on yet another central character, Will. When I first read this I was confused, and more than a little disappointed, as I saw a wonderful strong girl character shoved aside as usually happens in all books for a BOY main character.
That isn't quite how things work, really, though, as they share the stage, and they open up new vistas and back stories and new worlds together. This is seen as a sixth grade children's series, but in truth, the older you are, the more you will get out of it, as in all of the greatest "children's stories" of all time, including The Wrinkle in Time, and so on. Pullman is taking on our limited view of "reality"-- he's engaging in physics, theology, anthropology--with a laser beam on the Holy Roman Church in particular. It's not so much an attack on The Church as an exploration of the nature of true religion, and a wider, more generous, less sin-obsessed view of the world. It's a wonderful series, which I listened to while traveling around the country with the family, a wonderfully produced cd series. It's the second volume of a trilogy, so you obviously don't begin here, but you won't regret the time you spend on the adventure. It's awesome. And whether you have read it or not, I recommend this audio version, with Philip Pullman Himself narrating, joined by a wonderful cast of characters.
January 9, 2023
Note: This doesn鈥檛 impact my opinion on this book, but it鈥檚 worth noting that I don鈥檛 support the author鈥檚 personal views, specifically in regards to ethnic minority communities. I bought this book before I found out about Pullman鈥檚 views. Surprisingly I just went to check and the tweets of his that reveal his racist views are still up. He 鈥渁pologized,鈥� but he didn鈥檛 bother to take down the tweets. After I finish reading this series (only the trilogy - not the novellas), I will donate to a non-profit organization that works to fight racism.
TW//
Wow. My first two reads of the year are both books that I didn鈥檛 like. I am really not having good luck with the books that I鈥檓 picking up this year.
The Subtle Knife is the sequel to The Golden Compass (known as The Northern Lights in some countries). I had been looking forward to reading this one for a while since The Golden Compass was so enjoyable to me, but The Subtle Knife was a massive disappointment. The Golden Compass was very whimsical and fun. It was one of those books where you get to feel like you鈥檙e a kid again and it captures your attention right away. The Subtle Knife, on the contrary, was a slog to get through. It was really slow paced and it鈥檚 main purpose was just to set up the battle in the next book. I was honestly bored through most of this book and I just wanted to get done with it quickly. There was also quite a bit of info-dumping that often went over my head. Some of this was when character鈥檚 dumped the history of the fictional universe or their backstory on characters. At other times, the info-dumping had to do with theological or scientific information that was really confusing.
This book didn鈥檛 really work well as a sequel. Most of the world building from the first book was thrown out the window and most of the characters don鈥檛 even spend time in the world from the first book. This book attempts to introduce the idea of multiple worlds, which had the potential to be interesting, but I kept getting frustrated with how this book felt so disconnected from The Golden Compass. The multiple worlds element was confusing at times, too. It felt like there weren't enough differences between the worlds to help the readers understand which world the characters were in.
I struggled with the two main characters in this book as well. Lyra felt like a completely different person than the Lyra that was introduced in book one. She constantly got on my nerves and her personality became very dull by the end of the story. Will had a dull personality like Lyra, but I didn鈥檛 mind with him as much since we hadn鈥檛 seen him in the first book so I had nothing else to compare his dull personality to. Besides their personalities, there was another major issue with Lyra and Will: their motivations and their desires in the story were very weak. Lyra all of a sudden starts aiming to help Will, a boy who she barely even knows. She asked her alethiometer who he was and it told her that he was a murderer, yet she seems relieved by this fact despite how this should make her fearful of him. There wasn鈥檛 any sort of apparent desire for her to do anything related to the events of the previous book. She just all of a sudden decides that helping Will is her main mission for no apparent reason. Will, on the other hand, spends this whole book looking for his father who just up and left when he was a baby. He can鈥檛 even describe fully why he wants to find his father except for saying that he鈥檚 supposed to 鈥渢ake up his father鈥檚 mantle鈥� as if he has any clue what that means. Just like with Lyra, it seems like Will decided what his mission was with no apparent reason. This book would鈥檝e been a lot better if Will and Lyra had strong motivations behind why they did what they did.
And finally鈥� it seems impossible to review this book without taking a deep dive into the religious stuff. I purposefully saved this for last so that people who don鈥檛 like reading religious stuff can click away from my review while gettting the general gist of what I think of the book.
In case you aren鈥檛 aware, the His Dark Materials series has come under fire by Christians who claim that the series is anti-Christian. Before I dive into my analysis of the religious elements further, please know that I am a Christian. I don鈥檛 mention this online much since I鈥檓 a part of the LGBTQ+ community and I don鈥檛 want to have to constantly defend why my identity can coexist with my religion. Ignoring that whole side tangent though, I have a lot of background with Christianity and it gives me some insight into whether this book is truly anti-Christian or not. The Golden Compass was not anti-Christian, but The Subtle Knife borders on anti-Christian. This book is all about waging a war against both religion and this fantasy world鈥檚 equivalent of God, the Authority. There鈥檚 even mention of angels and Eve, which seems to hint that the supposed religion that everyone hates in this book is Christianity. However, if you actually look at how the church system in the book is laid out, it seems like this book could be a criticism of any organized religion. There鈥檚 the religion controlling most elements of society, tons of people who follow the religion, and those who do terrible things in the name of the Authority. This could be applied to lots of different religions. So this means that I鈥檓 in the middle on my opinion about whether this book is anti-Christian or not: I do believe that this book makes religion appear as the main villain and it makes religion seem evil, but whether it is specifically attacking Christianity is up for interpretation. I鈥檓 also very much pro 鈥渆njoy whatever fictional content you want as long as you are aware that it鈥檚 not real,鈥� so I don鈥檛 believe that enjoying this book inherently makes a person anti-religious or anti-Christian.
I know that this review is very controversial, so I鈥檓 sorry if I offended anyone. I clearly didn鈥檛 like this book, but I think some Christians go too far when they attack this book. Based on other people鈥檚 reviews that I鈥檝e read, I don鈥檛 think The Amber Spyglass will be any better than this one but I will be reading it since I own it and I hope it somehow surprises me.
TW//
Wow. My first two reads of the year are both books that I didn鈥檛 like. I am really not having good luck with the books that I鈥檓 picking up this year.
The Subtle Knife is the sequel to The Golden Compass (known as The Northern Lights in some countries). I had been looking forward to reading this one for a while since The Golden Compass was so enjoyable to me, but The Subtle Knife was a massive disappointment. The Golden Compass was very whimsical and fun. It was one of those books where you get to feel like you鈥檙e a kid again and it captures your attention right away. The Subtle Knife, on the contrary, was a slog to get through. It was really slow paced and it鈥檚 main purpose was just to set up the battle in the next book. I was honestly bored through most of this book and I just wanted to get done with it quickly. There was also quite a bit of info-dumping that often went over my head. Some of this was when character鈥檚 dumped the history of the fictional universe or their backstory on characters. At other times, the info-dumping had to do with theological or scientific information that was really confusing.
This book didn鈥檛 really work well as a sequel. Most of the world building from the first book was thrown out the window and most of the characters don鈥檛 even spend time in the world from the first book. This book attempts to introduce the idea of multiple worlds, which had the potential to be interesting, but I kept getting frustrated with how this book felt so disconnected from The Golden Compass. The multiple worlds element was confusing at times, too. It felt like there weren't enough differences between the worlds to help the readers understand which world the characters were in.
I struggled with the two main characters in this book as well. Lyra felt like a completely different person than the Lyra that was introduced in book one. She constantly got on my nerves and her personality became very dull by the end of the story. Will had a dull personality like Lyra, but I didn鈥檛 mind with him as much since we hadn鈥檛 seen him in the first book so I had nothing else to compare his dull personality to. Besides their personalities, there was another major issue with Lyra and Will: their motivations and their desires in the story were very weak. Lyra all of a sudden starts aiming to help Will, a boy who she barely even knows. She asked her alethiometer who he was and it told her that he was a murderer, yet she seems relieved by this fact despite how this should make her fearful of him. There wasn鈥檛 any sort of apparent desire for her to do anything related to the events of the previous book. She just all of a sudden decides that helping Will is her main mission for no apparent reason. Will, on the other hand, spends this whole book looking for his father who just up and left when he was a baby. He can鈥檛 even describe fully why he wants to find his father except for saying that he鈥檚 supposed to 鈥渢ake up his father鈥檚 mantle鈥� as if he has any clue what that means. Just like with Lyra, it seems like Will decided what his mission was with no apparent reason. This book would鈥檝e been a lot better if Will and Lyra had strong motivations behind why they did what they did.
And finally鈥� it seems impossible to review this book without taking a deep dive into the religious stuff. I purposefully saved this for last so that people who don鈥檛 like reading religious stuff can click away from my review while gettting the general gist of what I think of the book.
In case you aren鈥檛 aware, the His Dark Materials series has come under fire by Christians who claim that the series is anti-Christian. Before I dive into my analysis of the religious elements further, please know that I am a Christian. I don鈥檛 mention this online much since I鈥檓 a part of the LGBTQ+ community and I don鈥檛 want to have to constantly defend why my identity can coexist with my religion. Ignoring that whole side tangent though, I have a lot of background with Christianity and it gives me some insight into whether this book is truly anti-Christian or not. The Golden Compass was not anti-Christian, but The Subtle Knife borders on anti-Christian. This book is all about waging a war against both religion and this fantasy world鈥檚 equivalent of God, the Authority. There鈥檚 even mention of angels and Eve, which seems to hint that the supposed religion that everyone hates in this book is Christianity. However, if you actually look at how the church system in the book is laid out, it seems like this book could be a criticism of any organized religion. There鈥檚 the religion controlling most elements of society, tons of people who follow the religion, and those who do terrible things in the name of the Authority. This could be applied to lots of different religions. So this means that I鈥檓 in the middle on my opinion about whether this book is anti-Christian or not: I do believe that this book makes religion appear as the main villain and it makes religion seem evil, but whether it is specifically attacking Christianity is up for interpretation. I鈥檓 also very much pro 鈥渆njoy whatever fictional content you want as long as you are aware that it鈥檚 not real,鈥� so I don鈥檛 believe that enjoying this book inherently makes a person anti-religious or anti-Christian.
I know that this review is very controversial, so I鈥檓 sorry if I offended anyone. I clearly didn鈥檛 like this book, but I think some Christians go too far when they attack this book. Based on other people鈥檚 reviews that I鈥檝e read, I don鈥檛 think The Amber Spyglass will be any better than this one but I will be reading it since I own it and I hope it somehow surprises me.
March 15, 2023
This series has turn overly religious and lost a lot of it's fictive charm. We go form fighting bears, mysterious dust, single world war. To three worlds one being our own world. Our own world has William perry. If you thought lyra was a privileged criminal get ready for william who also has part to play in the forever war ran by lyra father Asriel v.s the creator or all the world's. My review sound pretty awesome. But the subtle knife is not exciting. The best part was Lee scoresby a side character in the golden compass. This is a set up to a novel I'm not sure I want to read but I'll finish the series.
Read
November 8, 2018Mmmmk. So I rated this 2.5 stars when I read it a few months ago, and I was unsure if I would finish the series... I've since decided I won't be reading book three. I'm honestly pretty disappointed with a tweet the author posted and his subsequent responses to those who replied, especially his trans readers. In this case, I've decided not to separate the author from the work.
May 29, 2008
Way back at the end of November/beginning of December of good ol' 2007, I read Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass. Why? Well, because there was all that talk about how it got made into a movie. I read the book, and found it very thought provoking. As for the movie it's a watered down version of Pullman's work, but not bad for the most part. I mean, I don't think it would go over too well with audiences who haven't read to book to know that Lyra's friend Roger is killed by Lord Asreil and that Mrs. Coulter actually wants to control Lyra and in The Subtle Knife decide that yeah, she has to die.
Just for a quick overview of Phillip Pullman's contraversal work and why it's a contraversy. There are three books in the series called, His Dark Material: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The title of the series comes from a phrase Milton uses in Paradise Lost, which for those who don't know is a 16th century epic poem about Satan's great Fall from Heaven and the mischief he does in getting Adam and Eve to commit Original Sin. The books are about a rebellious girl named Lyra Belacqua, who comes from a world like the one we know, but is also very different. I guess you could say it's a warped version of the Victorian period. In Lyra's world, people have "deamons," which are external forms of people's soul in the form of animals(Lyra's daemon is named Pantalaimon). She gets a hold of a golden compass, a device called an alethiometer, which at first she doesn't know how to use, but soon finds that it allows her to see into the past, present, and future. There is also the issue of a substance called Dust, which surronds all human life. The Church, also called the Magistrium, a very tyrannical and oppressive hand that acts first and questions later, wants to destroy Dust and Lord Asriel (who we think is Lyra's uncle but, da da da!! it's actually her father). Mrs. Coulter, being a very powerful figure in the Church, tries to seduce Lyra in a world of privilge but soon realizes that Mrs. Coulter is trying to control her. Lyra, being a free spirit, doesn't take kindly to this. So she runs away, meeting up with gyptians, where she learns to read the althieometer; gets badass texan named Lee Scoresby (and his daemon Hester)talking armored bear named Iorek Byrnison to work with her; she gets kidnapped by Tarters and sent to Bolvanger discovers the sinister secret of the Church: they cut daemons and children apart in a process known as intercision and finds that Mrs. Coulter (who is da da da!! her mother!) is in charge of the whole operation; plans an escape for all the childern where she mets the witch queen, Serafina Pekkela, and the queen helps Lyra on her quest to find her father; and her friend Roger is killed by her own father Lord Asriel which results in the creatation of a bridge from his world into another. The story ends with a very pissed off Lyra following Lord Asriel into the new world.
So yeah, a lot to take in. I just gave an overview! There are so many carefully thought out details that I have left out. For example: as a child, their daemon's have the ability to change from animal to animal. When the child reaches to adulthood, their daemons settle into one animal. Very cool right?
So, what's the contraversy all about?
One: Phillip Pullman is an out spoken atheist.
Two: His Dark Materials are catagorized as childrens books.
Three: You find out in The Subtle Knife that the big plan is to kill God.
Yeah.
The Subtle Knife introduces Will, who stummbles across a window to city called Citt脿gazze on another world. There he meets Lyra. I would explain more, but you've already put up with me talking about the first book, so let me sum up for you by what the back of the book says:
"In this stunning sequel to The Golden Compass, the intrepid Lyra find herself in the simmering, hauinted otherworld-cittagazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingsbeats of angels sound against the sky. But she in not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, feeling for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devasting power. And with every step,they move closer to an even greater threat-and the shattering truth of their own destiny."
I know you want to read it now just see what happens. Anyway, it's very amazing and disturbing and fantasic and all those things.
I just finished reading The Subtle Knife today so I have yet to read The Amber Spyglass. When I do, I'll let you know.
But why are these books good and why is Pullman on my Influential Writers list along with Donne, Plath, and Hemingway? Because he wrote a children's book version of Milton's Paradise Lost! Have you ever read it? Holy Crap! I had to read it twice while I was in college. Don't get me wrong. It's awesome. It is awe inspiring. Everyone should read it. But damnit, it's long and can be a little hard to read if you don't have someone there explaining it or Cliff Notes. In Milton's poem, Satan leads an army of rebellious angels in an attempt to overthrow God. The attempt fails, and Satan and his followers are cast out of heaven. Satan, seeking revenge, convinces God's creations, Adam and Eve, to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, thus causing their fall from grace. In Pullman's take on Paradise Lost, God is an oppressive, senile old man, and Satan is a dashing heroic figure. But the real hero and centerpiece of Pullman's story is the Eve figure, Lyra Belacqua, on whom the salvation of the universe depends.
Really? A children's book? Wow! That's what I said. So I raise my glass of Cranberry-Pomagrante Crystal Lite and vodka to Phillip Pullman for being the writer I want to be: original, brave, and honest.
And to go off an a rant real quick:
How can people protest and get all up in arms when they haven't even read/watched what they are getting upset about? Understandably, if you read Pullman's His Dark Materials, and you are against it, awesome. You know what are you talking about. I got really upset when people started attacking the movie without having read the book or even seen the movie. How do I know? Well, because I asked. Are people so afraid to have their ideology put into question? Do they not want to think critically, analyze what they believe in? I love being challenged. Good lord, what else do I have to do intellectualy until I light a fire under my ass and get my teaching certificate? It's okay to question what your faith and your beliefs. It allows you to see how strong you are in the decisions you have made.
Sorry about that last rant there...but that had been building up for a while. Not just from Pullman's work, but also from a few other things that I would talk about but this blog is already long enough.
Well, I hope you enjoyed me getting my nerd on. It was a blast!
Ciao, darlings!!
Just for a quick overview of Phillip Pullman's contraversal work and why it's a contraversy. There are three books in the series called, His Dark Material: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The title of the series comes from a phrase Milton uses in Paradise Lost, which for those who don't know is a 16th century epic poem about Satan's great Fall from Heaven and the mischief he does in getting Adam and Eve to commit Original Sin. The books are about a rebellious girl named Lyra Belacqua, who comes from a world like the one we know, but is also very different. I guess you could say it's a warped version of the Victorian period. In Lyra's world, people have "deamons," which are external forms of people's soul in the form of animals(Lyra's daemon is named Pantalaimon). She gets a hold of a golden compass, a device called an alethiometer, which at first she doesn't know how to use, but soon finds that it allows her to see into the past, present, and future. There is also the issue of a substance called Dust, which surronds all human life. The Church, also called the Magistrium, a very tyrannical and oppressive hand that acts first and questions later, wants to destroy Dust and Lord Asriel (who we think is Lyra's uncle but, da da da!! it's actually her father). Mrs. Coulter, being a very powerful figure in the Church, tries to seduce Lyra in a world of privilge but soon realizes that Mrs. Coulter is trying to control her. Lyra, being a free spirit, doesn't take kindly to this. So she runs away, meeting up with gyptians, where she learns to read the althieometer; gets badass texan named Lee Scoresby (and his daemon Hester)talking armored bear named Iorek Byrnison to work with her; she gets kidnapped by Tarters and sent to Bolvanger discovers the sinister secret of the Church: they cut daemons and children apart in a process known as intercision and finds that Mrs. Coulter (who is da da da!! her mother!) is in charge of the whole operation; plans an escape for all the childern where she mets the witch queen, Serafina Pekkela, and the queen helps Lyra on her quest to find her father; and her friend Roger is killed by her own father Lord Asriel which results in the creatation of a bridge from his world into another. The story ends with a very pissed off Lyra following Lord Asriel into the new world.
So yeah, a lot to take in. I just gave an overview! There are so many carefully thought out details that I have left out. For example: as a child, their daemon's have the ability to change from animal to animal. When the child reaches to adulthood, their daemons settle into one animal. Very cool right?
So, what's the contraversy all about?
One: Phillip Pullman is an out spoken atheist.
Two: His Dark Materials are catagorized as childrens books.
Three: You find out in The Subtle Knife that the big plan is to kill God.
Yeah.
The Subtle Knife introduces Will, who stummbles across a window to city called Citt脿gazze on another world. There he meets Lyra. I would explain more, but you've already put up with me talking about the first book, so let me sum up for you by what the back of the book says:
"In this stunning sequel to The Golden Compass, the intrepid Lyra find herself in the simmering, hauinted otherworld-cittagazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingsbeats of angels sound against the sky. But she in not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, feeling for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devasting power. And with every step,they move closer to an even greater threat-and the shattering truth of their own destiny."
I know you want to read it now just see what happens. Anyway, it's very amazing and disturbing and fantasic and all those things.
I just finished reading The Subtle Knife today so I have yet to read The Amber Spyglass. When I do, I'll let you know.
But why are these books good and why is Pullman on my Influential Writers list along with Donne, Plath, and Hemingway? Because he wrote a children's book version of Milton's Paradise Lost! Have you ever read it? Holy Crap! I had to read it twice while I was in college. Don't get me wrong. It's awesome. It is awe inspiring. Everyone should read it. But damnit, it's long and can be a little hard to read if you don't have someone there explaining it or Cliff Notes. In Milton's poem, Satan leads an army of rebellious angels in an attempt to overthrow God. The attempt fails, and Satan and his followers are cast out of heaven. Satan, seeking revenge, convinces God's creations, Adam and Eve, to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, thus causing their fall from grace. In Pullman's take on Paradise Lost, God is an oppressive, senile old man, and Satan is a dashing heroic figure. But the real hero and centerpiece of Pullman's story is the Eve figure, Lyra Belacqua, on whom the salvation of the universe depends.
Really? A children's book? Wow! That's what I said. So I raise my glass of Cranberry-Pomagrante Crystal Lite and vodka to Phillip Pullman for being the writer I want to be: original, brave, and honest.
And to go off an a rant real quick:
How can people protest and get all up in arms when they haven't even read/watched what they are getting upset about? Understandably, if you read Pullman's His Dark Materials, and you are against it, awesome. You know what are you talking about. I got really upset when people started attacking the movie without having read the book or even seen the movie. How do I know? Well, because I asked. Are people so afraid to have their ideology put into question? Do they not want to think critically, analyze what they believe in? I love being challenged. Good lord, what else do I have to do intellectualy until I light a fire under my ass and get my teaching certificate? It's okay to question what your faith and your beliefs. It allows you to see how strong you are in the decisions you have made.
Sorry about that last rant there...but that had been building up for a while. Not just from Pullman's work, but also from a few other things that I would talk about but this blog is already long enough.
Well, I hope you enjoyed me getting my nerd on. It was a blast!
Ciao, darlings!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2021
This picks up right where The Golden Compass leaves off, so I can't say much in terms of plot because spoilers (though at this point who, besides me, hasn't read this series??). BUT, I can say that this adds in a new perspective of sorts and I really enjoy the way Pullman expands the world with that. Again, I've seen, at this point, seasons 1-2 of the HBO adaptation, so I knew pretty much everything that happens in this book. It was still really fun to read though!
I absolutely love Lyra, Will and Mary Malone as characters. Also Hester and Lee Scoresby are the best ever. SO many good characters which really makes this series worth reading.
And at the same time, it's quite a complex, fast-paced plot with lots of details. It can almost be overwhelming, but I appreciate that Pullman respects the reader and doesn't dumb things down just because it's intended for young readers. I'm at times even wondering who is on which side and what their motivations are, and then wondering if those are true motivations or a guise. It's complicated and messy but so intriguing and really keeps me turning the page.
I'll absolutely be picking up the 3rd and final book next. I cannot wait to find out how this series ends!
I absolutely love Lyra, Will and Mary Malone as characters. Also Hester and Lee Scoresby are the best ever. SO many good characters which really makes this series worth reading.
And at the same time, it's quite a complex, fast-paced plot with lots of details. It can almost be overwhelming, but I appreciate that Pullman respects the reader and doesn't dumb things down just because it's intended for young readers. I'm at times even wondering who is on which side and what their motivations are, and then wondering if those are true motivations or a guise. It's complicated and messy but so intriguing and really keeps me turning the page.
I'll absolutely be picking up the 3rd and final book next. I cannot wait to find out how this series ends!
November 5, 2019
Re-read, 11/5/19:
I think I still enjoy the emphasis on the extended worldbuilding in this book more than the flavor of the characters. Lyra is somewhat diminished, unable to shine in the Big Happenings of the first book, relegated either to lying (unsuccessfully) to a relative suburbia world, losing her way, and relying an awful lot on Will, her new friend.
Will, on the other hand, is only really interesting when he holds a knife.
*shrug* I found all the villains in our tale much more interesting. And the worldbuilding, of course. Lots of sympathy for the devil stuff going on here.
That being said, I'm not sure I really enjoyed this particular alternate-reality hop's direction. Sure, the place is about as subtle (from our world) as the knife from my kitchen drawer, but I also admit I enjoyed the concept of the knife quite a bit.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book more than anything else.
Original review:
There's less action and a hell of a lot more story-meat in this book. I'm enjoying it immensely, especially for all of the John Milton tones. It also has a beautiful synthesis of anthropology and religion that I can't help but giggle at.
I think I still enjoy the emphasis on the extended worldbuilding in this book more than the flavor of the characters. Lyra is somewhat diminished, unable to shine in the Big Happenings of the first book, relegated either to lying (unsuccessfully) to a relative suburbia world, losing her way, and relying an awful lot on Will, her new friend.
Will, on the other hand, is only really interesting when he holds a knife.
*shrug* I found all the villains in our tale much more interesting. And the worldbuilding, of course. Lots of sympathy for the devil stuff going on here.
That being said, I'm not sure I really enjoyed this particular alternate-reality hop's direction. Sure, the place is about as subtle (from our world) as the knife from my kitchen drawer, but I also admit I enjoyed the concept of the knife quite a bit.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book more than anything else.
Original review:
There's less action and a hell of a lot more story-meat in this book. I'm enjoying it immensely, especially for all of the John Milton tones. It also has a beautiful synthesis of anthropology and religion that I can't help but giggle at.
April 13, 2025
3,5猸愶笍
Anio艂y i demony dla m艂odzie偶y.
Tylko bez demon贸w.
Ale jest za obcinanie paluch贸w.
Fajno.
Recenzja:
Anio艂y i demony dla m艂odzie偶y.
Tylko bez demon贸w.
Ale jest za obcinanie paluch贸w.
Fajno.
Recenzja:
Read
April 25, 2021鈥淓very little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.鈥�
I find it tough to rate this. On the one hand, it started off great. On the other hand, there are now quite a few POVs, some I care about, some I don't, and the world has literally been blown apart and expanded. I think I somehow prefer reading fantasy set in our world, maybe because it lends the reality I live in a touch of magic. And also because a new fantasy world is unknown territory and that can be scary sometimes. Which is not to say I dislike it. I'm a huge (high) fantasy fan. But I remember reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - I never finished reading the final book in the series because most of it was set in the fantasy world whereas the first two books were mainly set in our world. Anyway, all that pondering aside, I liked the beginning and the introduction to the new main character a lot. I liked seeing Lyra in our Oxford and I especially enjoyed the chapters with Mary Malone. Then Will and Lyra found themselves in Cittagazze and I really didn't like that world. The witches and Lee Scoresby got their own chapters and while they obviously added a lot to the story, I preferred reading about Lyra and Will.
Honestly, it's super difficult for me to define what exactly I didn't enjoy in The Subtle Knife. The writing is great, the story is original and imaginative. Maybe it's the fact that Lyra's world was already rich enough without the addition of dozens of alternate universes. I enjoyed Lyra's Oxford, and I love reading about Iorek. Maybe it's one of those cases where you read a story and love it but it takes a completely different turn from what you expected and you're just not satisfied with where the plot is going. And additionally, while I think it's an exciting story, there are few characters that I really care about or find interesting. There's Iorek, there is Dr Malone, there is Mrs Coulter, sometimes there's Lyra. But Will doesn't spark any enthusiasm in me, and neither do most of the other characters. Overall, I feel...detached. Maybe that's the right word.
I also can't get the fact out of my mind that a year ago, Pullman tweeted about the "trans argument" and didn't know what "side" he should be on. That leaves a very bitter aftertaste and while reading I always wonder whether I should be supporting an author who is so utterly confused about the mere existence of trans people.
I find it tough to rate this. On the one hand, it started off great. On the other hand, there are now quite a few POVs, some I care about, some I don't, and the world has literally been blown apart and expanded. I think I somehow prefer reading fantasy set in our world, maybe because it lends the reality I live in a touch of magic. And also because a new fantasy world is unknown territory and that can be scary sometimes. Which is not to say I dislike it. I'm a huge (high) fantasy fan. But I remember reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - I never finished reading the final book in the series because most of it was set in the fantasy world whereas the first two books were mainly set in our world. Anyway, all that pondering aside, I liked the beginning and the introduction to the new main character a lot. I liked seeing Lyra in our Oxford and I especially enjoyed the chapters with Mary Malone. Then Will and Lyra found themselves in Cittagazze and I really didn't like that world. The witches and Lee Scoresby got their own chapters and while they obviously added a lot to the story, I preferred reading about Lyra and Will.
Honestly, it's super difficult for me to define what exactly I didn't enjoy in The Subtle Knife. The writing is great, the story is original and imaginative. Maybe it's the fact that Lyra's world was already rich enough without the addition of dozens of alternate universes. I enjoyed Lyra's Oxford, and I love reading about Iorek. Maybe it's one of those cases where you read a story and love it but it takes a completely different turn from what you expected and you're just not satisfied with where the plot is going. And additionally, while I think it's an exciting story, there are few characters that I really care about or find interesting. There's Iorek, there is Dr Malone, there is Mrs Coulter, sometimes there's Lyra. But Will doesn't spark any enthusiasm in me, and neither do most of the other characters. Overall, I feel...detached. Maybe that's the right word.
I also can't get the fact out of my mind that a year ago, Pullman tweeted about the "trans argument" and didn't know what "side" he should be on. That leaves a very bitter aftertaste and while reading I always wonder whether I should be supporting an author who is so utterly confused about the mere existence of trans people.
September 13, 2017
The second in the trilogy and possibly my favourite out of the three.
February 5, 2022
A continuation of #1, but starring a magical knife and learning how to use it. Equates to the 2nd season on HBO. 6 of 10 stars
May 9, 2021
Two very strange things happened last week. I gave two stars and am now giving this book five stars. It is strange because the former book鈥檚 protagonist, my dear Flavia De Luce is my favorite obstinate preteen. On the contrary, Lyra, another stubborn, precocious, pre-teen annoyed me in the previous book. Right now though, I can not for the life of me imagine why I did not like the first novel and Lyra. Well, at least I adore her right now.
Philip Pullman is a genius. I loved every aspect of this book, the concept, the characterization, the plot, the pacing, everything. I remember thinking that the last book was rather boring, but this part had me catching my breath. Specters, rebel angels, parallel universe, golden compasses, and subtle knives, daemons, and witches- each chapter keeps you hooked and also provides fodder for the brain to muse about. I love the anti-CS Lewis atmosphere of the book.
The characters were another high point in this novel. Lyra Belacqua reappears with her daemon Pantalaimon and although she doesn鈥檛 play as central a role as the previous novel, she is so charming. I can not wait to find out the form Pantalaimon will finally take. Marisa Coulter and Serafina Pekkala are back and as interesting as ever. Lee Scoresby and his daemon are absolutely heartbreaking. A bandwagon of new and amazing characters like Stanislaus Grumman, Will Parry, Mary Malone is introduced. The friendship between Will and Lyra and Will and Pantalaimon were some of the best parts of the story. I would read the next book just to meet all these characters again.
I am so glad I already have a copy of the next part. After that abrupt ending and the revelation about Lyra towards the end, having to wait for the next part would have been sheer torture. I never thought I would say this, but Flavia really is in grave danger of being dethroned as my favorite.
Philip Pullman is a genius. I loved every aspect of this book, the concept, the characterization, the plot, the pacing, everything. I remember thinking that the last book was rather boring, but this part had me catching my breath. Specters, rebel angels, parallel universe, golden compasses, and subtle knives, daemons, and witches- each chapter keeps you hooked and also provides fodder for the brain to muse about. I love the anti-CS Lewis atmosphere of the book.
The characters were another high point in this novel. Lyra Belacqua reappears with her daemon Pantalaimon and although she doesn鈥檛 play as central a role as the previous novel, she is so charming. I can not wait to find out the form Pantalaimon will finally take. Marisa Coulter and Serafina Pekkala are back and as interesting as ever. Lee Scoresby and his daemon are absolutely heartbreaking. A bandwagon of new and amazing characters like Stanislaus Grumman, Will Parry, Mary Malone is introduced. The friendship between Will and Lyra and Will and Pantalaimon were some of the best parts of the story. I would read the next book just to meet all these characters again.
I am so glad I already have a copy of the next part. After that abrupt ending and the revelation about Lyra towards the end, having to wait for the next part would have been sheer torture. I never thought I would say this, but Flavia really is in grave danger of being dethroned as my favorite.
Read
December 27, 2018It has been a while since a book last left me with the desire to have my head trepanned and to become a shaman. And I suppose these days it is difficult to get on the training course and who knows if the pension scheme will be all that it was cracked out to be?
Reading I thought this business of the human mind and the flow of consciousness through a multiplicity of universes reminded me of something else. As always it takes some days for this kind of thought to percolate down to the answer - I recalled something very similar from !
At first my reaction was how marvellous it was that different authors had read similar things and developed an idea along related lines in parallel book universes, however once I double checked the publication dates I did feel a slight, entirely unwarranted, sourness towards Master Stephenson.
In contrast to the story here rans over a much shorter time period, the cast of characters remained large, the deft reworking of Blake, Milton, and the Bible appeared to give away to Dark Matter, consciousness, and multiple universes, while the pace of the book was not maintained by one desperate fight after another. As much as I enjoy Zeppelins and Armoured Bears I appreciated the deployment of colours from a larger palate by the author.
Continuing the theme of children in children's literature from my previous review the absence of parents from both Will and Lyra's lives is strikingly traditional. For Will he has had to become the adult figure in relation to his mother - and while the role of child carer is contemporary the fight between father and son each ignorant of the other's identity has a long history although here it is presented with a mild twist on the traditional tale . Lyra in a way is a child without parents. Technically there are two people in the story who performed the physical functions both sufficient and necessary for Lyra to exist, but in regard to their behaviour and attitudes terminology such as parent, father, or mother seems cruelly inappropriate.
Sometimes I hear the idea of there being for instance, a Catholic Atheist, told as a joke, admittedly I have had my sense of humour surgically removed, but the concept seems an entirely serious one to me. This trilogy is a strong example of it. The author does not share the faith of his ancestors but this is a work that could not exist without a tradition of religious dissent in England from the Geneva Bible, via Milton, and Blake. The power of their faith, the notions of predestination, free will, sin and grace, energise this trilogy. Fantastically, at this mid-way stage the rights and wrongs of rebellion and authority are still from clear cut, leaving the heroes, as every child is left, with untrustworthy, partisan, or uncertain guides as to their course of action.
Reading I thought this business of the human mind and the flow of consciousness through a multiplicity of universes reminded me of something else. As always it takes some days for this kind of thought to percolate down to the answer - I recalled something very similar from !
At first my reaction was how marvellous it was that different authors had read similar things and developed an idea along related lines in parallel book universes, however once I double checked the publication dates I did feel a slight, entirely unwarranted, sourness towards Master Stephenson.
In contrast to the story here rans over a much shorter time period, the cast of characters remained large, the deft reworking of Blake, Milton, and the Bible appeared to give away to Dark Matter, consciousness, and multiple universes, while the pace of the book was not maintained by one desperate fight after another. As much as I enjoy Zeppelins and Armoured Bears I appreciated the deployment of colours from a larger palate by the author.
Continuing the theme of children in children's literature from my previous review the absence of parents from both Will and Lyra's lives is strikingly traditional. For Will he has had to become the adult figure in relation to his mother - and while the role of child carer is contemporary the fight between father and son each ignorant of the other's identity has a long history although here it is presented with a mild twist on the traditional tale . Lyra in a way is a child without parents. Technically there are two people in the story who performed the physical functions both sufficient and necessary for Lyra to exist, but in regard to their behaviour and attitudes terminology such as parent, father, or mother seems cruelly inappropriate.
Sometimes I hear the idea of there being for instance, a Catholic Atheist, told as a joke, admittedly I have had my sense of humour surgically removed, but the concept seems an entirely serious one to me. This trilogy is a strong example of it. The author does not share the faith of his ancestors but this is a work that could not exist without a tradition of religious dissent in England from the Geneva Bible, via Milton, and Blake. The power of their faith, the notions of predestination, free will, sin and grace, energise this trilogy. Fantastically, at this mid-way stage the rights and wrongs of rebellion and authority are still from clear cut, leaving the heroes, as every child is left, with untrustworthy, partisan, or uncertain guides as to their course of action.
January 30, 2008
What I did like about this book is that it starts with Lyra, a girl we have become acquainted with from another world, meeting Will, a boy from our world. Bringing the fantasy into our own reality was surreal and interesting. But only for a minute and then it became a bore. The story was slow and at some points stopped altogether to allow Pullman his theological preachings of anti-church and anti-god. If the story had been metaphorical I would have enjoyed it more, but it became less fiction and more essay.
In this book, Lyra and Will travel between worlds attempting to find his father and continue on with Lyra's mission. There are a lot of minor characters in too many places spreading the story out too thin to move quickly enough to keep one's attention. Eventually the action picks up as the characters merge, setting the scene for the major battle in book 3, but I was too annoyed with his writing by then to shrug it off. I almost didn't read the third book after this.
In this book, Lyra and Will travel between worlds attempting to find his father and continue on with Lyra's mission. There are a lot of minor characters in too many places spreading the story out too thin to move quickly enough to keep one's attention. Eventually the action picks up as the characters merge, setting the scene for the major battle in book 3, but I was too annoyed with his writing by then to shrug it off. I almost didn't read the third book after this.
January 25, 2024
鈥溾€� every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling.鈥�
If Tolkien鈥檚 LORD OF THE RINGS is the gold standard against which epic fantasy is judged, then Philip Pullman鈥檚 THE SUBTLE KNIFE, the second entry in the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, certainly ticks all of the requisite boxes 鈥� the quest for the understanding of dust and John Parry鈥檚 task to deliver 脝sah忙ttr, the subtle knife, to Lord Asriel; a pending 鈥渦ltimate鈥� battle between Lord Asriel鈥檚 armies and the forces of The Authority; the evil soldiers, ghasts and Specters; Lyra Silvertongue and John Parry as placeholders for Samwise and Frodo; the heroic roles of the supporting members of the 鈥渇ellowship鈥� held down by Serafina Pekkala and Lee Scoresby; Mrs Coulter as the accessible manifestation of the evil represented by The Authority stands in for the wizard Saruman vis-谩-vis Sauron 鈥� well, you get the idea.
There are those who may feel the trilogy is atheist but I would suggest that it doesn鈥檛 matter whether there is or isn鈥檛 a god or what a reader鈥檚 particular perceptions and beliefs of god might or might not be. The theme, I believe, is slightly more subtle than that. Pullman鈥檚 intent, in my opinion at least, was to write an anti-theist diatribe if the result of theism is organized religion and a controlling theocracy. The ultimate evil then is not a god but rather organized religion that would 鈥渃ontrol, destroy and obliterate every good feeling鈥�. When the inevitable war arises, good must be on the side opposed to the Magisterium, the Church or evil made manifest.
THE SUBTLE KNIFE is gripping, evocative, compelling, page-turning, stomach-churning reading that must be considered a meaningful and important metaphor for the world we live in. One need only look at any day鈥檚 headlines to see the unending violence and pain inflicted on the world by today鈥檚 鈥淢agisteria鈥� 鈥� Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the like. I don鈥檛 know how Pullman intends to complete his tale but I certainly plan on reading THE AMBER SPYGLASS to find out.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
If Tolkien鈥檚 LORD OF THE RINGS is the gold standard against which epic fantasy is judged, then Philip Pullman鈥檚 THE SUBTLE KNIFE, the second entry in the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, certainly ticks all of the requisite boxes 鈥� the quest for the understanding of dust and John Parry鈥檚 task to deliver 脝sah忙ttr, the subtle knife, to Lord Asriel; a pending 鈥渦ltimate鈥� battle between Lord Asriel鈥檚 armies and the forces of The Authority; the evil soldiers, ghasts and Specters; Lyra Silvertongue and John Parry as placeholders for Samwise and Frodo; the heroic roles of the supporting members of the 鈥渇ellowship鈥� held down by Serafina Pekkala and Lee Scoresby; Mrs Coulter as the accessible manifestation of the evil represented by The Authority stands in for the wizard Saruman vis-谩-vis Sauron 鈥� well, you get the idea.
There are those who may feel the trilogy is atheist but I would suggest that it doesn鈥檛 matter whether there is or isn鈥檛 a god or what a reader鈥檚 particular perceptions and beliefs of god might or might not be. The theme, I believe, is slightly more subtle than that. Pullman鈥檚 intent, in my opinion at least, was to write an anti-theist diatribe if the result of theism is organized religion and a controlling theocracy. The ultimate evil then is not a god but rather organized religion that would 鈥渃ontrol, destroy and obliterate every good feeling鈥�. When the inevitable war arises, good must be on the side opposed to the Magisterium, the Church or evil made manifest.
THE SUBTLE KNIFE is gripping, evocative, compelling, page-turning, stomach-churning reading that must be considered a meaningful and important metaphor for the world we live in. One need only look at any day鈥檚 headlines to see the unending violence and pain inflicted on the world by today鈥檚 鈥淢agisteria鈥� 鈥� Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the like. I don鈥檛 know how Pullman intends to complete his tale but I certainly plan on reading THE AMBER SPYGLASS to find out.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
July 25, 2020
This is the second instalment in the His Dark Materials series.
Windows can be opened leading from one world to another and fearless Lyra has no qualms about venturing there. On the hunt for answers about the science of dust, and justice for those who would abuse it, Lyra is joined by Will. Will comes from another world and another Oxford, both like and unlike her own, and has his own secrets to protect and his own enemies he has sworn vengeance against. The unlikely duo traverse these worlds together, to both escape their pasts but also to find a way to return to it.
Just as in the first series instalment, Lyra stole the show for me. Her fierce ways and her loyal heart ensured I was both always immersed in her adventures and eager to see her returned to safety. I also appreciated the multitude of other perspectives which opened up both the worlds and the complexity of the central story-line. Much of this seemed to meander in a very different direction from that which was set up in book one, but I enjoyed the diverging narratives all the same.
Windows can be opened leading from one world to another and fearless Lyra has no qualms about venturing there. On the hunt for answers about the science of dust, and justice for those who would abuse it, Lyra is joined by Will. Will comes from another world and another Oxford, both like and unlike her own, and has his own secrets to protect and his own enemies he has sworn vengeance against. The unlikely duo traverse these worlds together, to both escape their pasts but also to find a way to return to it.
Just as in the first series instalment, Lyra stole the show for me. Her fierce ways and her loyal heart ensured I was both always immersed in her adventures and eager to see her returned to safety. I also appreciated the multitude of other perspectives which opened up both the worlds and the complexity of the central story-line. Much of this seemed to meander in a very different direction from that which was set up in book one, but I enjoyed the diverging narratives all the same.
August 10, 2022
[May 21, 2019]
Reading my original review from seven years ago is wild. I came back to this story and found something completely different here; I found myself completely different. There are still quibbles-- yes, some of the messaging is heavy handed and yes, Pullman's story style and world building is just slow-- but I was so focused on what this story wasn't that I couldn't appreciate what it was.
I'll have full thoughts after we cover this on , but for now, I'll say that I'm bumping this up to a 4.5 stars.
[October 25, 2012]
3 stars
This was hard.
I think I should mention a couple of things: I'm reading HDM for the first time as an adult. I really, very much enjoyed The Golden Compass. I come from a religious background, which makes me sympathetic to the faults of organized religion, but I also still firmly believe in God. I started reading the books not because of the "controversy" per se, but more because I have a few dear, dear friends who call this their favorite. I was only vaguely aware of certain anti-religious elements of the story.
For me, The Subtle Knife was not as good. The fact that I made it through the end is mostly a testament to my love for Lyra and Pan, and my (small)(but growing)(new) love for Will. I was interested in these characters and kept reading for a chance to know what might happen to them.
Pullman, however, made it difficult for me. It wasn't even so much about the religious metaphors per se, but more about the fact that they stopped being metaphors somewhere along the line and became hammers. Anvils. I was in the middle of a sermon before I knew what happened.
In book 2, we lose the intrigue of Lyra's world. We lose a lot of possibilities. Yes answers are good, in some cases, but here as we learn for certain what Dust is and what Asriel's mission is and what Lyra's part in it all is, you get tied down and suffocated by Pullman's big ideas which you! must! believe!
Even though I was reading about her, I missed Lyra. I missed my brave girl on grand adventures, who cried yes, but was as courageous as any armoured bear. She became something lesser in this book, and I was sorry to see it. I really, really, really missed Pan. He was so absent here, and the beautiful and intricate relationship between Lyra and Pan was mostly gone, perhaps for a reason I'll discover in book 3, but it's absence was felt here.
I missed being able to take my own interpretations and apply them to the book. Pullman abandons his clever and well thought out position of communicating his stance on the church through his fantasy world and the Magesterium. He abandons that and the head pounding begins:
"That is what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling. So if a war comes, and the Church is on one side of it, we must be on the other, no matter what strange allies we find ourselves bound to."
It was just all a bit too heavy handed for me and it weighed the story down, a story that already missed the high mark set in The Golden Compass.
I'll keep reading. Mostly for Lyra.
Reading my original review from seven years ago is wild. I came back to this story and found something completely different here; I found myself completely different. There are still quibbles-- yes, some of the messaging is heavy handed and yes, Pullman's story style and world building is just slow-- but I was so focused on what this story wasn't that I couldn't appreciate what it was.
I'll have full thoughts after we cover this on , but for now, I'll say that I'm bumping this up to a 4.5 stars.
[October 25, 2012]
3 stars
This was hard.
I think I should mention a couple of things: I'm reading HDM for the first time as an adult. I really, very much enjoyed The Golden Compass. I come from a religious background, which makes me sympathetic to the faults of organized religion, but I also still firmly believe in God. I started reading the books not because of the "controversy" per se, but more because I have a few dear, dear friends who call this their favorite. I was only vaguely aware of certain anti-religious elements of the story.
For me, The Subtle Knife was not as good. The fact that I made it through the end is mostly a testament to my love for Lyra and Pan, and my (small)(but growing)(new) love for Will. I was interested in these characters and kept reading for a chance to know what might happen to them.
Pullman, however, made it difficult for me. It wasn't even so much about the religious metaphors per se, but more about the fact that they stopped being metaphors somewhere along the line and became hammers. Anvils. I was in the middle of a sermon before I knew what happened.
In book 2, we lose the intrigue of Lyra's world. We lose a lot of possibilities. Yes answers are good, in some cases, but here as we learn for certain what Dust is and what Asriel's mission is and what Lyra's part in it all is, you get tied down and suffocated by Pullman's big ideas which you! must! believe!
Even though I was reading about her, I missed Lyra. I missed my brave girl on grand adventures, who cried yes, but was as courageous as any armoured bear. She became something lesser in this book, and I was sorry to see it. I really, really, really missed Pan. He was so absent here, and the beautiful and intricate relationship between Lyra and Pan was mostly gone, perhaps for a reason I'll discover in book 3, but it's absence was felt here.
I missed being able to take my own interpretations and apply them to the book. Pullman abandons his clever and well thought out position of communicating his stance on the church through his fantasy world and the Magesterium. He abandons that and the head pounding begins:
"That is what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling. So if a war comes, and the Church is on one side of it, we must be on the other, no matter what strange allies we find ourselves bound to."
It was just all a bit too heavy handed for me and it weighed the story down, a story that already missed the high mark set in The Golden Compass.
I'll keep reading. Mostly for Lyra.
July 22, 2019
See this review and more like it on !
_____
Last month I read and reviewed The Golden Compass, so I could prepare myself for the HBO/BBC adaptation that will be coming out next year. This was a series that I鈥檇 missed out on as a kid, and truth be told I was a little bit wary about starting them as an adult. Luckily, the first book in this series knocked my socks off, and this sequel followed in its footsteps and actually improved upon the original 鈥� in my opinion!
The Subtle Knife picked up immediately where the first book ended, with Lyra waltzing out of one plane of reality and into another. From page one, Pullman packs this book with near nonstop wonder, intrigue, danger and excitement!
It was actually quite surprising to see the ways in which this series has evolved from book one to two. Who knew that a book following a child鈥檚 exploration into the arctic alongside her polar bear guardian to find her uncle would turn the tables so many times and end up becoming a universe-hopping fairytale filled with so many memorable characters?
One of my absolutely favorite types of fantasy staples is the idea of portal fantasy 鈥� a function which allows one character to step from a familiar world into ones that are mysterious, dangerous and filled with wonder.
Pullman takes that premise and expands upon it 鈥� and no, there鈥檚 no blue box required for interdimensional travel. Lyra鈥檚 universe has become a multiverse, one in which multiple worlds are converging on top of each other 鈥� basically meaning that anything is possible now in terms of where this story is headed.
As much as I liked the adventure in the first book, I found this one even more exciting! My main issue with the first book was the way it starts. The reader is dropped right in the middle of a very important scene, given no context for anything and no idea what to consider important or not. It made for a really confusing start.
Because the basics have already been told, this book was much clearer and more exciting from page one. The action and plotting felt tighter here, and I was overjoyed at the inclusion of Will 鈥� a new character to this book. He was a perfect foil for Lyra. I loved the way that they played off of one another, and how close they became as the result of actions within the plot.
The one aspect of this book that I struggled with from time to time is the dialogue. I just don鈥檛 really care for the way Pullman has his character鈥檚 speak to one another. They鈥檙e not so much engaging in dialogue as they are speechifying in long monologues said without pause, and then the next character picks it up right afterwards with a dramatic speech of their own.
It seems to be less a fault of the writing than it is a stylistic choice of the narrative though, so I can鈥檛 fault it greatly. There are just a few moments during these exchanges that I felt a bit pulled out of things, wondering when the next character was going to speak.
Like the last book, this one is surprisingly dark considering it鈥檚 marketed for children and teens. There was one surprisingly affecting scene that moved me way more than I expected it to, so good one for you there Mr. Pullman. I鈥檒l guard my heart a bit more carefully going in to book 3!
This was a great read. It taught me to expect nothing and absolutely everything in the final book of this series. Can鈥檛 wait to start it next month!
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鉁� = 4.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up for 欧宝娱乐
______
Follow me on Instagram @bookbastion
_____
Last month I read and reviewed The Golden Compass, so I could prepare myself for the HBO/BBC adaptation that will be coming out next year. This was a series that I鈥檇 missed out on as a kid, and truth be told I was a little bit wary about starting them as an adult. Luckily, the first book in this series knocked my socks off, and this sequel followed in its footsteps and actually improved upon the original 鈥� in my opinion!
The Subtle Knife picked up immediately where the first book ended, with Lyra waltzing out of one plane of reality and into another. From page one, Pullman packs this book with near nonstop wonder, intrigue, danger and excitement!
It was actually quite surprising to see the ways in which this series has evolved from book one to two. Who knew that a book following a child鈥檚 exploration into the arctic alongside her polar bear guardian to find her uncle would turn the tables so many times and end up becoming a universe-hopping fairytale filled with so many memorable characters?
One of my absolutely favorite types of fantasy staples is the idea of portal fantasy 鈥� a function which allows one character to step from a familiar world into ones that are mysterious, dangerous and filled with wonder.
Pullman takes that premise and expands upon it 鈥� and no, there鈥檚 no blue box required for interdimensional travel. Lyra鈥檚 universe has become a multiverse, one in which multiple worlds are converging on top of each other 鈥� basically meaning that anything is possible now in terms of where this story is headed.
As much as I liked the adventure in the first book, I found this one even more exciting! My main issue with the first book was the way it starts. The reader is dropped right in the middle of a very important scene, given no context for anything and no idea what to consider important or not. It made for a really confusing start.
Because the basics have already been told, this book was much clearer and more exciting from page one. The action and plotting felt tighter here, and I was overjoyed at the inclusion of Will 鈥� a new character to this book. He was a perfect foil for Lyra. I loved the way that they played off of one another, and how close they became as the result of actions within the plot.
The one aspect of this book that I struggled with from time to time is the dialogue. I just don鈥檛 really care for the way Pullman has his character鈥檚 speak to one another. They鈥檙e not so much engaging in dialogue as they are speechifying in long monologues said without pause, and then the next character picks it up right afterwards with a dramatic speech of their own.
It seems to be less a fault of the writing than it is a stylistic choice of the narrative though, so I can鈥檛 fault it greatly. There are just a few moments during these exchanges that I felt a bit pulled out of things, wondering when the next character was going to speak.
Like the last book, this one is surprisingly dark considering it鈥檚 marketed for children and teens. There was one surprisingly affecting scene that moved me way more than I expected it to, so good one for you there Mr. Pullman. I鈥檒l guard my heart a bit more carefully going in to book 3!
This was a great read. It taught me to expect nothing and absolutely everything in the final book of this series. Can鈥檛 wait to start it next month!
鈽呪槄鈽呪槄鉁� = 4.5 out of 5 stars, rounded up for 欧宝娱乐
______
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