The Subtle Knife facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Philip Pullman |
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| Cover artist | Philip Pullman & David Scutt |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Series | His Dark Materials |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Scholastic Point |
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Publication date
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22 July 1997 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 341 |
| ISBN | 0-590-54243-5 |
| OCLC | 44058512 |
| Preceded by | Northern Lights (The Golden Compass) |
| Followed by | The Amber Spyglass |
The Subtle Knife is the second book in the exciting His Dark Materials series. It's a fantasy novel for young adults, written by Philip Pullman and published in 1997. The story continues the amazing adventures of Lyra Belacqua, who is now known as Lyra Silvertongue. She keeps looking into the strange mystery of Dust. In this book, a new friend named Will Parry joins Lyra. Together, they explore new worlds as they search for Will's father.
Exploring the Worlds
The main places in the story are part of a group of universes. One of these is controlled by the Magisterium, a powerful religious organization. This group tries to stop any ideas they see as wrong or dangerous. In Lyra's world, people's souls live outside their bodies as animal-shaped friends called "dæmons." These dæmons are alive and can think, and they stay with their humans, helping and comforting them.
A very important item in the story is the alethiometer. This special device can tell the truth. Someone skilled in using it can ask questions by moving its hands to different symbols. The alethiometer then answers by moving another hand around its dial. The "Subtle Knife" from the book's title is a magical knife. It can cut openings, like windows, between different worlds.
What Happens in the Story
Twelve-year-old Will Parry lives in Oxford. He takes care of his mother, who is unwell. After a difficult event with an intruder, Will escapes through a secret opening into another world. He finds himself in a city called Locations in His Dark Materials#Cittàgazze. There, he meets Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon. They arrived from Lyra's world through a sky opening made by her father, Lord Asriel, in the first book, Northern Lights.
Meanwhile, Lyra's mother, Mrs. Coulter, tries to force a witch to tell her a secret about Lyra. Before the witch can share everything, she is stopped by another witch named Serafina Pekkala. Serafina realizes how important Lyra is and goes to find her. At the same time, an airship pilot named Lee Scoresby is looking for Stanislaus Grumman. People thought Grumman was dead, but there are rumors he knows about a powerful object that could keep Lyra safe.
Will goes back to his own world to find out about his father. His father disappeared years ago during an expedition. Lyra goes with Will because she wants to learn about Dust. These are mysterious particles linked to how people think and feel. Lyra uses her alethiometer, the truth-telling device. It tells her to visit Dr. Mary Malone, a scientist. Dr. Malone has a computer that can talk to something called dark matter. Lyra realizes that dark matter seems to be the same as what she knows as Dust.
An older man, Sir Charles Latrom, gives Lyra a ride. Lyra soon realizes he has stolen her alethiometer. Sir Charles promises to give it back if he gets a powerful knife he wants. This knife is now in Cittàgazze. Will fights a young person who has taken the knife from its owner, Giacomo Paradisi. Will wins, but he loses two fingers in the fight. Paradisi explains that this is a sign that Will is the knife's new owner. He tells Will about its power: it can cut through anything, even the space between worlds. Will and Lyra also learn that Cittàgazze has scary, soul-eating creatures called spectres. These spectres attack teenagers and adults but leave children alone.
Will uses the knife to cut a window into Sir Charles's house. Inside, he overhears Sir Charles talking with Mrs. Coulter. Lyra realizes that Sir Charles is actually Lord Boreal, who is from her own world. Will also hears news about his father, who vanished after finding a window between worlds. Will and Lyra escape back to Cittàgazze with the alethiometer. Serafina Pekkala saves them from some wild children. She tries to heal Will's injured hand, but it doesn't work.
Sir Charles visits Dr. Malone and offers to pay for her research if she follows his orders. She refuses. Lyra suggests that Dr. Malone use her computer to talk to the consciousness of dark matter. The dark matter tells her to break her computer and travel through the same window Will and Lyra used. It explains that her job is to "play the serpent."
Lee Scoresby finds Grumman living as a shaman named Jopari. Jopari is actually John Parry, Will's father! Grumman asked Scoresby to bring him to the knife's owner and to help Lord Asriel. Lord Asriel is gathering an army to fight an ancient angel called the Authority. They set off in Scoresby's hot air balloon. But soldiers from the Church force them to land. The soldiers attack, and Scoresby calls Serafina for help. She leaves Lyra to go to him, but she arrives too late. Scoresby has died fighting off the soldiers so that Grumman could finish his task.
Mrs. Coulter tricks Sir Charles into telling her the knife's secret, then she poisons him. She uses the spectres, which she has learned to control, to force a witch to reveal a prophecy. The prophecy says that Lyra is the second Eve. Mrs. Coulter plans to stop her daughter to prevent a second Fall.
Will leaves Lyra sleeping at their camp and walks on alone. He finds his father, who stops his bleeding and tells him to join Lord Asriel's forces. Right after this, Grumman is killed by a witch who was angry with him. Will returns to find two angels waiting to guide him to Asriel. He goes to wake Lyra, but she is gone. Her guardian witches' souls have been taken by spectres.
Other Versions of the Story
The Subtle Knife has been made into different forms of entertainment.
Before the movie The Golden Compass came out in 2007, the film company said they would only make a movie of The Subtle Knife if the first film was a big success. The Golden Compass earned a lot of money worldwide, but it didn't do as well in the United States. This made the future of a sequel unclear. Even though a producer wanted to finish the series, Philip Pullman later said in 2011 that there would be no more movies because of the first film's sales in the U.S.
An audiobook version of The Subtle Knife was released in 2000. It had a full cast of actors and was narrated by the author himself.
As the second book in the His Dark Materials series, it was also part of a radio drama on BBC Radio 4. This version starred Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel and Lulu Popplewell as Lyra. The story was also performed as a two-part, six-hour play at London's Royal National Theatre. It ran from December 2003 to March 2004, and again from November 2004 to April 2005. The cast included Anna Maxwell Martin as Lyra, Dominic Cooper as Will, Timothy Dalton as Lord Asriel, and Patricia Hodge as Mrs. Coulter.
In September 2018, a TV show based on His Dark Materials was approved. It's a joint project by BBC and HBO. The second season of this show covers the story of The Subtle Knife. Some of the main characters from this book even start to appear in the first season.
See also
In Spanish: The Knife for kids
