The Subtle Knife

Reviewed by Damonetic on March 21st, 2008, 11:57am

by Philip Pullman

Format: Print Books

Series: Other

The second in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Subtle Knife takes Lyra into another world, where she meets Will, a boy on a mission. His mother is ill (her ailment is never named, but she suffers from paranoid delusions), and two men are looking for something in Will's house. He hides his mother with a neighbor and takes off to find a place to hide the green case he knows the men are after. A man is accidentally killed and Will accidentally finds an entrance to an alternate universe. In he goes, beginning another fantastic journey for the reader.

This book was even better than The Golden Compass. Will is a valiant protagonist and we feel how afraid he is to be forced to grow up too soon and protect not only himself but his new friend, Lyra. This book shifts its focus between the characters, where The Golden Compass kept us squarely on Lyra's path. Here we begin to see the many different worlds Pullman has created and the many dangers in all of them. Definitely my favorite of the three books!