The Subtle Knife, Deluxe Edition (His Dark Materials Series #2)

Takes Up Where The Golden Compass Leaves Off

This isn't quite fair since I've now read the entire trilogy, but The Subtle Knife, while excellent, didn't quite grab me like the first or third parts. The addition of Will was brilliant, and his is obviously a thoroughly drawn character. He seems to be just the right combination of edgy, precocious, and yet still child-like - and a perfect foil for Lyra.

Whatever might be said about the middle third, be sure to read this trilogy in order, or you will find the total effect greatly diminished.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The continuation of a great adventure

A continuation of The Golden Compass. Pullman does well continuing the story with some new characters. Very good series. Highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

awsome read

this book and The Golden Compass gave me a different idea of the world (or worlds?)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

best book ever

loved it

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Love It!

In grade school I couldn't read this enough. Just finished it for the hundreth time in my life and its still mu favorite after all these years:) I definately recommend you read it!!!!!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome Book!

This sequel to The Golden Compass was as fantastic as the first one, if not better. The author does a wonderful job of describing the world of The Subtle Knife, such as the scene in which the titular subtle knife is introduced in the city of Cittágazze. The plot keeps you guessing as new characters are introduced and twists thrown at you from every angle. It follows the continuing story of Lyra Belaqua, as it becomes intertwined with that of Will Parry, who is a boy from our world as opposed to Lyra's. They travel on a quest to find his father, who was lost while on an expedition years ago. Even though it may be somewhat slow at times, it always manages to recapture your attention with an epic scene that makes up for it all. It ends with a very suspenseful conclusion that will leave you begging for the sequel immediately. I would recommend this book to anybody who loves a good, edge-of-your-seat fantasy novel, especially if you've read the prequel, The Golden Compass.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic

I read The Subtle Knife for my second book in summer reading. My first book was the prequel The Golden Compass I absolutely loved it. Wanting to read more I read The Subtle Knife and It did not disappoint It was even better than the first book In The beginning you are introduced to Will and eventually Will and Lyra meet and continue on Lyra's journey on discovering her parents, her self, her demons true form, and her destiny. This book was as good as the first.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Book was great, but ebook is incorrect.

The eBook version I got on my nook was missing entire parts of the books including the parts about the actual sublte knife. Ridiculous.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Love it!

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
I could not put it down.
I love Will.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

awsomeness!!

one of my absolute faveorite books. one of the only books that really worked my brain a great book thru and thru

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

So Much Good, But Falls So Short

I respect Phillip Pullman. I read the first of his Dark Materials trilogy and was impressed by several stylistic elements. First, his plot is excellent. It iw well considered, organized, well thought out and invigorating. The same can be said for The Subtle Knife. The second thing I must still commend him for is his recognization of the audience. At times Pullman writes to his audience as if they are a member of the society he is describing, and in course he lets the audience in on secrets of that society, as if they had been born in to it. It is the way he writes of Lyra's home world. This style, while commendable, also raises a problem. By assuming the reader is a knowledgable audience member, he never describes some elements of the society until they are uncovered by the plot. Fortunatly the plot is good enough to buoy the books along. But plot isn't everything, and by the time I reached The Subtle Knife, I noticed something was lacking. What I truly longed for was a three-dimensional character. One I could empathize with and follow as they moved through thier exploits. I was hoping Pullman would expand upon Lyra, or her new companion, Will would have some emotion attached to them that would connect these characters to the readers. Yet they continue to stumble through this marvelous plot like half broken mannequins, drunk with thier own blandness. I found the wonderful twists and turns of the plot meant less and less as the book wore on. I didn't care if Lyra and Will were attacked, because Pullman hadn't given me enough reason to care about them in the first place. The fantastic plot of the Golden Compass was enough to make me go out and buy The Subtle Knife. The lack of substantial characters in The Subtle Knife has made me throw it across the room upon completion where it lays, unable to prod me to read this series anymmore.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Breathtaking!

This book was made out of pure genius! It is by far the best book I have ever read. Touching,suspenseful,delightfull. You name it, this book had it all!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Couldn't Be Better

The Dark Materials Trilogy is the best Trilogy I have read. It is amazing that someone can come up with all of that stuff. I think that these are the best books in the world. When I started reading these books I fell in love with these books. The way I heard about these books is that my best friend read them and she said they were so good. Now I like them more than her.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Lord Voldemort

Super awsome.

"...I'm excited to read the final installment of this trilo

"...I'm excited to read the final installment of this trilogy, because the momentum hasn't let down once for me with this series so far, and even though I cried through most of the end of this one, I really did think it was a great book. I also think this series is a good start for someone who is interested in fantasy or altiverse but isn't quite ready for the massively epic series yet; Pullman's world(s) are so easy to get drawn into, but the books themselves are pretty short and there is no lack of action.

Oh yeah, and there's a knife. It's kind of a big deal."

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Good book

Good book

Very good.

I liked the part where Lyra was adjusting to all the things she saw in our world.

A little slower than the first one....

But that is understandable - this is the middle of the story. Quite a bit does happen though. We meet Will, we get introduced to the subtle knife and we get things set up for the end of the story. This series is incredible.

Lyra has traveled to a parallel universe, where she meets Will&m

Lyra has traveled to a parallel universe, where she meets Will—another traveler of universes. They team up when they find that Lyra’s quest to find out more about dust and Will’s quest to find his missing father are intertwined. This is a difficult book for me to review. The first time I tried to read this book, I gave up about a quarter of the way through because I didn’t like being beat over the head with an anti-religion Message. It really lacked subtly in this book, and I hear it is even more brutal in the third book. However, I decided to give this book another try because I learned that it was a retelling of Paradise Lost, and I was interested in seeing what he did with that. My final conclusion: I still feel that I was being beat over the head with a Message; however, I think Pullman is a VERY creative author. SPOILER ALERT: I was a little off-put by the pointless waste of lives at the end of the book. But perhaps the third book will elucidate the reasons for these deaths.

Good

I liked it