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| Cover art by Chris Wormell |
Re-reading the entire series before the new book (The Secret Commonwealth) and BBC - HBO series come out. Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' series continues with book 2, 'The Subtle Knife', with Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon on the search for her father.
It very much feels like the middle book of a series, building upon what happened in 'Northern Lights' and still taking the series forward, which is does really well, but with a noticeable shift in tone too, a sense of darker maturity that almost feels separate from the previous book. Pullman explores the nature of religion here a bit more than what was hinted at in the first book, and doesn't hold back with not so much an attack on religion itself, but more on an exaggerated authority that does seem familiar. There wasn't as much of the action or fast pacing of the first book, as it seemed more of a case of setting up the pieces on the board and getting to where the story needed to be for the conclusion in the next book. But even with that, there was still enough goings on to propel the narrative and keep things interesting, which says a lot about Pullman's expertise at crafting a story.
As well as expanding the story beyond one setting and into travelling to different worlds, the story also moves away from the Lyra centric viewpoint of the first book (which probably also explains the shift in tone), with POVs most notably from Serafina Pekkala, Lee Scoresby, as well as Will Parry, a new protagonist from 'our' world, who we're introduced to straight away, who helps Lyra on her quest. Initially wary of each other when they first meet, they soon develop a friendship and soon their futures become entwined as the beginnings of a rebellion starts to take seed and bloom around them. The introduction of Will, does take away the narrative from Lyra in this book as it's mostly his arc throughout, so if you enjoyed Lyra from the first book and expected more of the same, you might be a bit disappointed with her lack of 'screen time'. We're also introduced to Dr Mary Malone, a scientist who helps Lyra, but it's only a cameo appearance of sorts as she will play a larger role in the next book.
The book is a more slower paced adventure story full of danger, intrigue, a macguffin - the Subtle Knife of the title; a knife so sharp that it can cut through anything including slicing open portals in between worlds, memorable characters and brilliant world building. It has a bit of a cliffhanger ending but sets things up for the conclusion in the next book nicely, and I can't wait to read how the trilogy ends!
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