The Subtle Knife

A little overview: I read the first book in 2009, two years after watching The Golden Compass for the first time. I was so enthralled by it (as I usually am by almost any fantasy story) that I was getting so impatient about the second movie coming out. You can just imagine my disappointment upon finding out that whatever plans were made about continuing the trilogy all ended up moot; apparently, a huge Christian group in the United States had made sure of that.

The Subtle Knife follows the adventures of Lyra and her daemon Pan after she enters an astral gateway into another world. There she enlists the help, company, and, quite possibly, the friendship of a boy-murderer named Will Parry who has just as much drive and spirit as she believes herself to possess. Together they trek across different worlds inhabited not only by beings much like themselves but also witches and angels and specters and philosophers... And the farther they go, the closer they get to discovering the truth behind their entwined destinies.

Personally, I'm relieved that I didn't push through with reading this immediately after finishing the first one. I'm glad I'd forgotten about it for almost five years, actually. The book hardly shies away from very atheistic themes and for a somewhat self-righteous and close-minded 16 year-old, that would have been too much to handle.

The story is intriguing, to say the least, although Philip Pullman did trade much of the captivating storytelling we encounter in the first book for more direct attacks on religion. And while I like to believe that I've gained a more mature understanding of cultural relativism in the last five years, I still have a knack of getting carried away, thus, there's always that need to be reminded that I'm dealing with a fantasy novel.