The Subtle Knife

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The Subtle Knife

First edition cover
Author Philip Pullman
Cover artist Philip Pullman & David Scutt
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series His Dark Materials
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Scholastic Point
Publication date 1997
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 341 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-590-11289-9
Preceded by Northern Lights
Followed by The Amber Spyglass
For the weapon mentioned in this book, see Æsahættr.

The Subtle Knife is the second novel in the His Dark Materials series, written by British novelist Philip Pullman, and published in 1997.

Pullman alludes heavily to the study of dark matter (or "Dust") and particle physics to further establish his metaphysical saga.

In the book, Lyra Silvertongue's adventure continues as she travels from her own world similar to our own into other worlds; one which is our own, and another which is very different. Will Parry, a boy from our world, meets Lyra and together they search for the boy's lost father.

The book focuses more on the characters and their own individual plots, rather than just on Lyra's father, Lord Asriel, and his war against the Magisterium. It describes not only Lyra and Will's journey, but also the journeys of Lee Scoresby and Serafina Pekkala.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The Subtle Knife initially follows the story of Will Parry, a twelve-year-old boy on the run from unknown men looking for letters from his long lost explorer father that had been sent to his now ailing mother. He leaves his mother with his old piano teacher and returns home to recover the letters, killing one of his pursuers in the process. Fearing that he will be labelled a murderer, he flees. As he crosses a road, he sees a cat disappear through a gateway into another world. Perplexed he follows the cat through and enters another world.

He finds himself in Cittàgazze, an otherworldly city whose denizens have discovered a clean path between worlds but their reckless use of the technology has released soul-eating Spectres, rendering the world incapable of transit by post-adolescents. Here Will meets Lyra Silvertongue who travelled there by passing through the aurora in The Northern Lights.

The pair team up, travelling back and forth between the two worlds as Lyra tries to uncover more about the nature of Dust in Oxford University from Dr. Mary Malone. Meanwhile Will unravels the mystery of what happened to his father, who he discovers was also looking for a gateway between worlds in Alaska. When Lyra and Will are spotted, Lyra is questioned about her companion by the Police. While trying to deny all knowledge of Will, she unwittingly reveals that she knows him and the Police attempt to detain her. However, the quick thinking of Dr. Malone allows her to escape.

Distressed, Lyra is rescued by Sir Charles Latrom, who escorts her back (near to) the portal to Cittàgazze. While appearing sincere, Lyra soon discovers that Latrom stole her alethiometer and she pleads to Will to help her retrieve it.

When Lyra and Will confront Sir Charles Latrom, he admits that he has stolen the alethiometer and is intrigued by it, but makes an agreement with the pair; if they will retrieve a knife from Cittàgazze, where Latrom cannot go because of the Spectres, then he will return the alethiometer to Lyra.

They return to Cittàgazze and climb the tower to find a man attempting to "cut through" to another world, after having disarmed the latest bearer. They learn that the man had stolen the knife from the bearer, however he cannot use it. In a fierce fight, Will manages to seize the knife, however he loses two of his fingers in the process. The thief runs from the tower, only to be attacked by Spectres when he steps outside. The previous bearer, Giacomo Paradisi, instructs Will on the uses of the knife and attempts to stop his bleeding. He warns them not to give the knife to Latrom. He also tells them that the knife has been keeping the Spectres away from the tower, and as soon as they leave, his soul will be consumed by them; so he will take poison, rather than be attacked by the Spectres.

Will uses the Subtle Knife to cut through into this world right into Latrom's house. There, he overhears a conversation between him and Lyra's mother, Mrs. Coulter, who has also come through the Aurora to Will's world. There, he is identified as Lord Boreal, also from Lyra's world, who came to Will's world long ago and established himself in a wealthy position of power. Lyra and Will steal the alethiometer back and return to Cittàgazze.

The thief who stole the Subtle Knife and died at the hands of the Spectre was related to some of the children who inhabit Cittàgazze. Now the children are bloodthirsty and ready to kill Lyra and Will who they have identified as not of their world. They flee across the city and are rescued by Serafina Pekkala and her clan of witches. They fly the two to their camp and attempt to heal Will's wound, but fail because the wound was made by the Subtle Knife. Will continues to weaken due to blood loss.

Meanwhile, Lee Scoresby has been on a quest to locate Stanislaus Grumman. Scoresby believes Grumman may help him uncover Asriel's plans and help Lyra. Through a long process, Scoresby finally finds him and Grumman asks the aeronaut to take him through the aurora into the world of Cittàgazze so Grumman can guide the bearer of the Subtle Knife. Scoresby agrees and guides Grumman through to Cittàgazze, where he ultimately dies at the hand of the Magisterium army while defending Grumman. Before he dies, Scoresby attempts to call Serafina Pekkala by way of a flower she gave him, and she flies to his aid.

Mrs. Coulter, leading her own force through Cittàgazze tortures one of the witches travelling with Lyra and learns of the prophecy that Lyra is to be the next Eve. Mrs. Coulter then gathers her forces to capture Lyra and Will and is able to command the Spectres, ordering them to attack the witches guarding the two children.

Will, still bleeding from his wound, meets Stanislaus Grumman, who heals his fingers and instructs him to take the Subtle Knife to Lyra's father, Lord Asriel, to use as a weapon against The Authority. They suddenly realise that they are father and son but in that instant, a vengeful witch murders Will’s father, as he had not returned her love. Will returns to camp to find that Lyra has been captured and the witches defeated by the Spectres. However, the alethiometer has not been taken. Two angels called Balthamos and Baruch appear, seeking to take him to Lord Asriel.

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

A film of The Subtle Knife will go into production if the first film, The Golden Compass, which was released December 7, 2007, is a success at the box office.[1]

The Golden Compass made over twice its budget worldwide, but flopped in the United States so it is unclear if it is considered a true success or not.

Producer Deborah Forte won't give up the fight. "I will make 'The Subtle Knife' and 'The Amber Spyglass,'" she vows. "I believe there are enough people who see what a viable and successful franchise we have." [2]

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 a second run between November 2004 and April 2005.

[edit] See also

[edit] 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 on 2007-12-13.
  2. ^ 'Compass' spins foreign frenzy. http://www.variety.com/+(March 13, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-13.

[edit] 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. 

[edit] External links

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