The Subtle Knife

The Subtle Knife
First edition
Author Philip Pullman
Cover artist Philip Pullman & David Scutt
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series His Dark Materials
Genre Fantasy novel
Publisher Scholastic Point
Publication date
 1997
Media type Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages 341
ISBN 0-590-54243-5
OCLC 44058512
Preceded by Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)
Followed by The Amber Spyglass

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.

Plot

Twelve-year-old Will Parry is caring for his mentally ill mother. He accidentally kills an intruder and runs away to Oxford, where he discovers a portal to a parallel universe. In the deserted city of Cittàgazze, he encounters 12-year-old Lyra Silvertongue and her dæmon Pantalaimon, who arrived via a bridge in the sky created by her father, Lord Asriel.

The witch Serafina Pekkala eavesdrops on Mrs. Coulter, Lyra's wicked mother, torturing a witch for the prophecy that concerns Lyra. Serafina and a troop of witches search for Lyra, while aeronaut Lee Scoresby searches for Stanislaus Grumman; Grumman may have knowledge of a powerful object which Scoresby intends to use to protect Lyra.

Will returns to his world through the portal and finds information about his father, who went missing on an expedition. Lyra searches Will's Oxford for information about Dust, mysterious particles connected to consciousness. On the advice of her alethiometer, a truth-telling device, Lyra meets the physicist Dr. Mary Malone, who has a machine that communicates with dark matter. Police question Lyra and her knowledge of Will, and she accidentally gives him away.

After accepting a lift from a gentleman introducing himself as Sir Charles Latrom, Lyra realises he has stolen her alethiometer. Sir Charles forces Will and Lyra into retrieving a mysterious knife from Cittàgazze for the alethiometer's return. They defeat a youth who has taken the knife from its holder, Giacomo Paradisi, but Will loses two fingers in the fight. Giacomo explains that this is the sign of the knife's next bearer, and explains its power: the ability to cut through any material, even the fabric between worlds. He also explains that their world is haunted by soul-eating Spectres, which prey on older children and adults but are invisible to children.

Will uses the knife to cut a hole from Cittàgazze into Charles's home. They overhear a conversation with Mrs Coulter; Lyra realises that Charles is Lord Boreal, having gone to Will's world long ago, and Will hears news of his father, who discovered a doorway between the worlds. They escape to Cittàgazze with the alethiometer and are rescued from marauding children by Serafina Pekkala, who attempts unsuccessfully to heal Will's wound with a spell.

Dr. Malone is visited by Sir Charles, who threatens to use his connections to cut their funding if they do not co-operate with his wishes. Dr. Malone returns at night to follow Lyra's suggestion to communicate with the dark matter using a machine of her invention. The dark matter instructs her to travel through the same window between worlds used by Will and Lyra, and that her role is to "play the serpent".

Lee Scoresby finds Grumman living as a shaman known as Jopari, a corruption of his original name, John Parry, Will's father. Grumman has summoned Scoresby to take him to the bearer of the knife and assist in Lord Asriel's rebellion against the Authority. They set off in Scoresby's hot air balloon but are forced to land by Magisterium soldiers. Scoresby dies holding off the soldiers so that Grumman can complete his task.

Mrs. Coulter tricks Charles into revealing the secret of the knife and kills him. She uses the spectres, which she has learned to control, to torture a witch into revealing the prophecy: Lyra is the second Eve. Mrs. Coulter plans to destroy Lyra rather than risk a second Fall.

Serafina goes to aid Scoresby, having heard his last plea for help. Will encounters Grumman, who staunches the bleeding in his hand and instructs him in his task. Grumman is killed by a vengeful witch whose love he once spurned. Will returns to camp to find a pair of angels, Balthamos and Baruch, waiting to guide him to Lord Asriel. He goes to awaken Lyra, but discovers she is missing and her guardian witches have been killed by spectres. Will finds her alethiometer and refuses to go with the angels until he finds Lyra.

Critical reception

Parents' Choice Gold Book Award; American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults; Booklist Editors' Choice; Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book; Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book; Book Links Best Book of the Year; American Bookseller Pick of the Lists

Adaptations

Before the release of The Golden Compass, a film adaptation of the first book in the series, on 7 December 2007, New Line Cinema said that an adaptation of The Subtle Knife would go into production only if the first film was a success.[1] The Golden Compass made over twice its budget worldwide but was a disappointment in the United States, leaving the fate of its sequel unclear. The international rights were also originally sold to provide financing for the first film, thus amounting to a significant disappointment for New Line Cinema. Producer Deborah Forte, however, was adamant that she would finish the trilogy, saying, "I believe there are enough people who see what a viable and successful franchise we have."[2] However, Philip Pullman later remarked at the British Humanist Association annual conference in 2011 that due to the first film's disappointing sales in the United States, there would not be any sequels made.

An audiobook adaptation, featuring a full cast and narration by the author, was released in 2002.

As the second novel of the His Dark Materials trilogy, the book has also formed part of a radio drama on BBC Radio 4, starring Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel and Lulu Popplewell as Lyra, and as a two-part, six-hour performance for London's Royal National Theatre in December 2003, running until March 2004, and starring Anna Maxwell Martin as Lyra, Dominic Cooper as Will, Timothy Dalton as Lord Asriel and Patricia Hodge as Mrs Coulter, and a second run between November 2004 and April 2005.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Mcnary, Dave (4 January 2007). "New Line pulls in pic scribe: Amini to pen second part of Pullman trilogy". Variety, Los Angeles. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
  2. ↑ Dawtrey, Adam (13 March 2008). "'Compass' spins foreign frenzy". Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2008.

References

  • Lenz, Millicent (2005). His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3207-2.
  • Frost, Laurie (2006). The Elements of His Dark Materials. The Fell Press.
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