The Subtle Knife ~ Philip Pullman
This time last year, the series His Dark Materials started and I watched every episode on the edge of my seat, completely bewitched by the world that was displayed. I had tried many times to read the first book in the trilogy, Northern Lights, but for some reason couldn’t seem to manage to get past the first couple of chapters. After, watching the first season, I binged the novel.
A year on, and in the lead up to season two, I have devoured The Subtle Knife. My timing was perfect as I finished reading it the morning of the first episode of season two and honestly cannot wait to watch this amazing book be realised with some of my favourite actors.
The Subtle Knife continues on directly from Nothern Lights and introduces the character of Will Parry who comes from our world. Will and Lyra meet in another world, Cittagazze, where there are no adults. Their quests slot together without them realising it.
It’s interesting to read how wild Lyra changes and starts to become tamer when matched with Will’s maturity and steadfastness and vice versa. The two characters complement each other so well. I also love that despite the fact that we as readers know that they are going to become friends, there is no insta-friendship. There is hesitance and distrust on both their parts and it feels true to the fact that they both have gone through so much before getting to Cittagazze.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of narratives which switch back and forth between the main characters and everybody else, but Pullman writes such interesting characters that I am just as invested in the others as I am Lyra and Will.
Lee Scoresby is a firm favourite (helped by the fact that he is portrayed by Lin Manuel Miranda) and his story arc is well written and so very different from most of the other adults in Lyra’s life. The Texan aeronaut sets out on his own quest in this book, a development from the man who only joined Lyra’s quest for the reward. His quest is to aid Lyra in her quest even though he does not know where she is, just knows that he has to help her.
The witches also play a larger role in this book, which, unfortunately, was not as interesting or as developed as I had hoped, but it seems like could be continued over to the next book.
My only real problem with this novel was that the early chapters felt so long. I was sitting down to read with a cup of tea and the tea would be gone before I finished one chapter. IT made starting this story drag a little, but once I got past the first few chapters, I was devouring every word on the page.
I can’t wait to see how this five-star book is adapted into season two; from the trailers I have seen, it looks very promising. For those wondering: His Dark Materials is on BBC One at 8:10 pm tonight (8th November).
C🌙
