The Subtle Knife
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| 1998 paperback cover | |
| Author | Philip Pullman |
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| Cover Artist | Philip Pullman & David Scutt |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | His Dark Materials |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Scholastic Point |
| Released | 1997 |
| Media Type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-590-11289-9 |
| Preceded by | Northern Lights |
| Followed by | The Amber Spyglass |
For the weapon mentioned in this book, see The Subtle Knife
The Subtle Knife is the second novel in the His Dark Materials series, written by British novelist Philip Pullman, and published in 1997.
The book is the first that starts to properly consider its ideas in a scientific, physical way. Pullman alludes heavily to the study of dark matter and particle physics to further establish his metaphysical saga.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
In the first new world she comes across, Lyra meets a boy named Will Parry, who comes from Oxford in the reader's own universe and is fleeing from the authorities -- he has killed a man to defend his ailing mother.
They travel through the ominously empty and silent world of Cittàgazze to find answers to their many questions, and all the while the feeling grows that there is something special about this world.
[edit] Detailed plot summary
The book begins with a twelve-year-old boy named Will Parry. He is taking his ill mother to the house of Mrs. Cooper, his former piano teacher, and convinces her to look after her while he takes care of some business. At this point, it's revealed that Will's mother had been mentally degenerating for some time, and exhibits obsessive-compulsive tendencies as well as a tendency to be easily persuaded. Will and his mother are being harassed by a group of men looking for a folder that Will's father (whom Will has not seen since infancy) left behind somewhere in the house.
That night, the men break into the house, and Will accidentally knocks one of them down the stairs, killing him. Will runs from his house, and chances to see a strange cat. He follows it through Oxford until it inexplicably disappears in mid-air, at the centre of a roundabout. Inspecting the area, he finds to his life-changing astonishment that, hidden in the middle of the roundabout but clearly visible when looked at correctly, is a window in the air, and beyond it is another world.
Entering this other world—his perfect hideout—he finds it to be a Mediterranean-like deserted city by the sea. It is empty. He finds a place to stay, and here is set upon suddenly by a savage little girl of his age, Lyra Belacqua.
Ascending into the stars at the end of Northern Lights, Lyra had walked through a dense fog and, lost, at last found herself in the deserted city. She is frightened of Will, because he does not have a dæmon. However, he is not a "zombie" like the children who had their dæmons cut away at Bolvangar. Lyra concludes that Will's dæmon must be within him, hidden. Will is equally startled to see that Pantalaimon, Lyra's dæmon, is more than a pet, but is her soul, and can shape-shift and talk. They don't like each other immediately, but Will is more practical than Lyra, and he knows how to cook. Later on, Lyra asks the alethiometer who he is, and it replies, "He is a murderer." "Good," she thinks—she can trust him.
Elsewhere, and back in Lyra's world, which has now been thrown into confusion and chaos because of Lord Asriel's actions, the witch-Queen Serafina Pekkala finds Mrs Coulter. Mrs Coulter is with several important men and women on a ship, protected by many guards. She is in the process of torturing a captured witch.
Serafina makes herself invisible, and watches. Mrs Coulter wants information on why the witches think Lyra, her daughter, is so special. Serafina kills the captured witch before she can give it away, and escapes before she is killed herself. She flies off to Svalbard, where she meets up with Lee Scoresby, the aeronaut. He explains, at a clan-gathering, that he wants to find out more about a certain Stanislaus Grumman. At the beginning of Northern Lights, this man's head was shown to the Jordan College scholars by Lord Asriel, but Lee does not think he is truly dead—he thinks Asriel showed the scholars a different head just to shock them.
The witches decide that they must help Lord Asriel in his task, for he has embarked on something great, and that most of all they must protect Lyra. The witch Ruta Skadi, who is a former lover of Lord Asriel, decides she will go to see him herself.
Back in the deserted city, Lyra and Will meet a group of children. The two children have no visible dæmons, like Will. They discover that the city is called Cittàgazze, and that it is in fact full of thousands of invisible beings called spectres. Children (pre-adolescents) cannot see the spectres. However, adults can, and the spectres kill anyone who can see them. This has caused all adults to flee the city, since the spectres cannot be killed.
Lyra wants to find out more about Dust, and the best person to ask is a scholar of Jordan College (that being her home, she thinks it's the best). Will explains he is also from Oxford, and wants to find out more about his father. They both go back through the window Will found, and both come into the reader's universe. Lyra cannot find Jordan College because in Will's world it doesn't exist, so she goes off to a museum. There, she sees some ancient human skulls, and the alethiometer tells her that they are in fact 33,000 years old (a much earlier date than the plaque displays). More interesting is that the older skulls—before humans had fully evolved—have very much less Dust around them than the skulls of more evolved, more recent humans. An overly kind gentleman approaches her, and gives her his card after "befriending" her. She leaves, but not before he notices the alethiometer.
Lyra finds her "scholar", a physicist called Mary Malone, who is out of funding, and is working on exploring dark matter (Dust). She is the only person, apart from a few colleagues, who seems to know a good deal about its true nature. This Dust is apparently omnipresent throughout the multiverse. In Will's world, Mary has christened Dust as "Shadows", or "Shadow-particles".
Mary Malone has a special device that lets her examine Shadows and take readings of how dense they are around certain objects. Her astonishing findings seem to contravene science: Shadows cluster strongly around inanimate objects if they were made by humans, or in some way showed evidence of a conscious worker; the Shadow-particles know what objects are. They are conscious themselves.
Lyra comes to see her, and persuades Mary to hook her up to the machine. Lyra uses her skills as an alethiometrist (which involves communicating with Dust/Shadows) to make the machine's readings change: they are the most fantastic results Mary has ever seen. Lyra also consults the alethiometer, which tells her that the alethiometer itself, Mary's machine, and even an I-Ching decoration that Mary has on her wall, are all no more than elaborate methods of communicating with Dust. Mary is stunned. Lyra leaves, promising to return the next day.
In the meantime, Will has been to a library and has discovered that his father, John Parry, went on an expedition into the Arctic, but never returned. He meets with Lyra, and eventually they return to the hidden world of Cittàgazze.
Will reads his father's letters, in the folder that the men (one of which he killed) had so desperately wanted. The letters document John Parry's expedition. It appears from his notes that John Parry also found a window to another world, and lost its location during a blizzard, becoming stranded there.
Back in Lyra's world, Lee Scoresby is off in search of Stanislaus Grumman, whom he discovers had become a leader, or holy man, among some of the Svalbard tribes; a shaman who went by the tribal name of Jopari. A secret representative of the Magisterium (the Church) tries to kill Lee, but Lee kills him instead.
Meanwhile, Ruta Skadi flies off in search of Lord Asriel and spots some flying angels in the sky. She joins them because they tell her they are going to Lord Asriel. It appears that Lord Asriel has passed through many worlds now, and has found an empty one. He has created a fortress in the empty world, and is calling all beings from all worlds to join into an army under his command. The goal of this army is to destroy God.
Asriel, as well as many races, including the rebel angels, all believe that "God", "The Authority", is a corrupt, oppressive force that the multiverse should be without. He plans to refight the original war in the heavens.
Serafina Pekkala leads her clan of witches through Lord Asriel's hole in the sky—a hole the reader now sees is similar to the windows that John and Will Parry found—and they enter Cittàgazze as well, to search for and protect Lyra.
The alethiometer tells Lyra, when she is alone, that she must help Will find his father. However, the next morning, she returns to Will's Oxford alone, to see Mary Malone. There she is trapped by some police officers who are waiting for her. Lyra accidentally gives away that she knows Will (who clearly they are after, in connection with his highly significant father, John Parry). Lyra escapes with Mary's help and is offered a ride by the man she met at the museum the day before. She gets in his limousine.
The man introduced himself as Sir Charles Latrom. He benignly takes Lyra where she wants to go, and she leaves him, thinking he might be a nice person after all. However, after he disappears, she quickly discovers that he has stolen her alethiometer.
Devastated and tearful, she returns to Cittàgazze and tells Will. She is also sorrowful because the alethiometer told her to help Will find his father, but she didn't. As soon as she gets it back, she vows, she'll devote herself to doing what it says: to helping Will. Will acknowledges that he is not alone anymore—he and Lyra, though both entirely independent, had by the unfolding events, become a pair. He goes with her to Sir Charles Latrom's house, in his Oxford.
Sir Charles lets them in, but will not give the alethiometer back. Will notices a snake peer out of his sleeve, and at this point it becomes clear that he is Lord Boreal, from Lyra's world. He too must have found a window, and he has been living two lives: one in Lyra's world, and one in Will's, as Lord Boreal and Sir Charles Latrom, respectively. Boreal tells them that they can have the alethiometer back on one condition.
He knows about Cittàgazze. He knows it contains a knife that many men across many worlds would kill to possess: the subtle knife. He cannot enter Cittàgazze because the spectres will kill him. However, Will and Lyra can. If they get him the subtle knife, they may have their alethiometer.
They are told that the knife resides in the Torre degli Angeli. Within, Will defeats a teenager for possession of the knife, but in the process loses the ring and little finger of his left hand. The old man whom the knife originally belonged to, thrown to the ground by the teenage boy, gets up and helps Will bandage the wound.
Whoever holds the knife, the man explains, is impervious to the spectres; however, the bearer continually changes. Will has been chosen by the knife (every bearer is marked out by the "accidental" removal of his two fingers by the knife). The old man explains that the knife has two sides, one side that is sharp enough to cut through any known matter in the universe. The other side of the knife has the ability to cut into other worlds. In other words, it was the knife that created the windows Will and Lyra had been walking through. Careless use of the knife has led to many windows being left open all over the world. The old man teaches Will how to open and close inter-world windows (a skill not unlike how Lyra reads the alethiometer), and then kills himself before the spectres can get to him.
Will and Lyra leave, and realise that they can use the knife to steal back the alethiometer, by cutting a window directly into where Boreal is keeping it. Will hides behind Lord Boreal's sofa, and then Mrs Coulter walks in. Boreal is clearly being seduced and controlled by Mrs Coulter.Will takes the alethiometer and escapes, though he is noticed.
Back in Lyra's world, Lee finds Stanislaus Grumman, or, as he is known to the tribe that he lives with, "Jopari". When they meet, Lee asks Grumman about his tribal name. He replies that "Jopari" is no more than a mispronunciation of his true name, John Parry (Will's father).
Eleven years earlier, Parry had gone through a window and been unable to find it again. He explains to Lee that he desperately needs to find the bearer of the subtle knife (unbeknownst to him that the bearer is Will, his son). Lee agrees to help John Parry on a journey to where the knife-bearer will eventually by fate arrive—John Parry knows this, because of the powers he has gained as a shaman.
In Cittàgazze, Will and Lyra are attacked by a mob of children because of the defeat (and death) of the teenage boy. Will and Lyra run. Serafina Pekkala's witches arrive, and rescue them.
Meanwhile, in Will's world, Mary Malone writes a computer program that makes her Shadow-detecting machine turn its readings into words. She types in a question; instantly, there is an answer. Her session teaches her that the Shadows are angels. Angels are structures, or manifestations, of Dust. As an act of vengeance for the Fall (the original war in heaven) - the rebel angels tempted Adam and Eve, thereby accelerating evolution and birthing human consciousness. The Shadows tell her to find her way to a specific point, and that she must begin an incredible journey. She "will play the serpent".
This is all too much for Mary. But she knows what she must do. She destroys all the equipment and all of her research, gathers up her I-Ching and begins on her journey. She finds the window at the roundabout covered with a tent, and tricks the guard into letting her inside.
Will, Lyra and the witches travel on. Will's hand continues to bleed furiously, and he grows weak. Ruta Skadi returns, and reports that Asriel's fortress and army are so vast as to be beyond comprehension. She also heard a group of cliff-ghasts mention that only "Æsahættr" can defeat God. It is unclear whether Æsahættr is a person or a thing. (Æsahættr in fact refers to the subtle knife.)
Will speaks to Lyra's dæmon when he thinks Lyra is asleep. He confides that he thinks Lyra is the best friend he's ever had.
Late at night, Serafina sees a group of angels floating above them. These angels have made a thousand-mile pilgrimage to see Lyra, who will change the fate of the multiverse.
Lee Scoresby and John Parry arrive in Cittàgazze. They are travelling to the mountaintop that Will, Lyra and the witches are headed for. They are also being chased by the Magisterium—soldiers of the Church; among other things, Lee's murder of his Magisterial attacker earlier on drew attention to him. They speed ahead.
They are forced to abandon the balloon, and the Church's guardsmen close in on them. Scoresby agrees to let John Parry go on ahead while he stays behind to fend them off. Parry leaves, and Scoresby is killed.
A witch resting with Lyra and Will sees that there are people nearby. Upon investigation, she finds that it is none other than Mrs Coulter and Lord Boreal. Coulter has found a way of controlling the spectres: she lets them know that if they do not kill her, she will lead them to an even greater number to feed on, so she and Boreal walk freely. The witch makes herself invisible and goes into Lord Boreal and Mrs Coulter's tent, where Boreal is being seduced beyond his control. However, Coulter slips him poison as soon as she gets the information that she wants about the subtle knife. She uses a spectre to capture the invisible witch (who she can in fact see) and tortures the witch into telling her that Lyra is destined to become a second Eve. She will fall from grace, commit another original sin and will bring unending sin to the world. Mrs Coulter realises that Lyra must be destroyed. She kills the witch and leaves.
Will cannot sleep, so he ventures up the mountain. In the impenetrable blackness three other things are happening: his father is also ascending the mountain, a witch who hates his father is flying toward it, and behind them all, Mrs Coulter is approaching with an army of spectres.
At the top of the mountain, Will fights with the man he encounters. The man is fact old and sick, and soon stops struggling. He realises he is talking to the knife-bearer when he feels Will's missing fingers. He heals them with bloodmoss.
The man tells Will that he must take the knife to Lord Asriel. It will be the only thing that can destroy God. Before he leaves, he lights a lamp so that he can see the face of the knife-bearer. For one second, both of them—boy and man—know they are father and son. A second later, the hateful witch looses an arrow and kills John Parry.
Will grabs the witch's dæmon. When he lets her go, she kills herself. Will is too shocked to feel anything. He climbs back down the mountain.
When he arrives, he finds that Mrs Coulter has been and gone. The spectres have killed all the witches, and Lyra has been taken. There are only three things left: Lyra's bag in which the alethiometer is kept, and a pair of angels, who tell him that he must follow them to Lord Asriel.
Will looks from Lyra's backpack to the angels and back again, and does not know what to do.
[edit] See also
| Part of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series |
|---|
| Books |
| Northern Lights/The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass Lyra's Oxford - The Book of Dust |
| Films |
| His Dark Materials: Northern Lights |
| Characters |
| Lyra Belacqua - Will Parry - Lord Asriel - Marisa Coulter - Iorek Byrnison - John Faa - Farder Coram - Serafina Pekkala - Lee Scoresby - Iofur Raknison - The Authority - Balthamos - Baruch - Mary Malone - Xaphania - Roger Parslow |
[edit] Further reading
- Lenz, Millicent (2005). His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3207-2.
[edit] External links
- BridgetotheStars.Net
- HisDarkMaterials.org
- ISBN 0-440-41833-X (American paperback edition)
