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Binding: Mass Market PaperbackEAN: 9780440238140 ISBN: 0440238145 Label: Laurel Leaf Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 304 Publication Date: September 09, 2003 Publisher: Laurel Leaf Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: September 09, 2003 Studio: Laurel Leaf Editorial Review: Amazon.com: With The Golden Compass Philip Pullman garnered every accolade under the sun. Critics lobbed around such superlatives as "elegant," "awe-inspiring," "grand," and "glittering," and used "magnificent" with gay abandon. Each reader had a favorite chapter--or, more likely, several--from the opening tour de force to Lyra's close call at Bolvangar to the great armored-bear battle. And Pullman was no less profligate when it came to intellectual firepower or singular characters. The dæmons alone grant him a place in world literature. Could the second installment of his trilogy keep up this pitch, or had his heroine and her too, too sullied parents consumed him? And what of the belief system that pervaded his alternate universe, not to mention the mystery of Dust? More revelations and an equal number of wonders and new players were definitely in order. The Subtle Knife offers everything we could have wished for, and more. For a start, there's a young hero--from our world--who is a match for Lyra Silvertongue and whose destiny is every bit as shattering. Like Lyra, Will Parry has spent his childhood playing games. Unlike hers, though, his have been deadly serious. This 12-year-old long ago learned the art of invisibility: if he could erase himself, no one would discover his mother's increasing instability and separate them. As the novel opens, Will's enemies will do anything for information about his missing father, a soldier and Arctic explorer who has been very much airbrushed from the official picture. Now Will must get his mother into safe seclusion and make his way toward Oxford, which may hold the key to John Parry's disappearance. But en route and on the lam from both the police and his family's tormentors, he comes upon a cat with more than a mouse on her mind: "She reached out a paw to pat something in the air in front of her, something quite invisible to Will." What seems to him a patch of everyday Oxford conceals far more: "The cat stepped forward and vanished." Will, too, scrambles through and into another oddly deserted landscape--one in which children rule and adults (and felines) are very much at risk. Here in this deathly silent city by the sea, he will soon have a dustup with a fierce, flinty little girl: "Her expression was a mixture of the very young--when she first tasted the cola--and a kind of deep, sad wariness." Soon Will and Lyra (and, of course, her dæmon, Pantalaimon) uneasily embark on a great adventure and head into greater tragedy. As Pullman moves between his young warriors and the witch Serafina Pekkala, the magnetic, ever-manipulative Mrs. Coulter, and Lee Scoresby and his hare dæmon, Hester, there are clear signs of approaching war and earthly chaos. There are new faces as well. The author introduces Oxford dark-matter researcher Mary Malone; the Latvian witch queen Ruta Skadi, who "had trafficked with spirits, and it showed"; Stanislaus Grumman, a shaman in search of a weapon crucial to the cause of Lord Asriel, Lyra's father; and a serpentine old man whom Lyra and Pan can't quite place. Also on hand are the Specters, beings that make cliff-ghasts look like rank amateurs. Throughout, Pullman is in absolute control of his several worlds, his plot and pace equal to his inspiration. Any number of astonishing scenes--small- and large-scale--will have readers on edge, and many are cause for tears. "You think things have to be possible," Will demands. "Things have to be true!" It is Philip Pullman's gift to turn what quotidian minds would term the impossible into a reality that is both heartbreaking and beautiful. --Kerry Fried Product Description: Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted underworld—Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: 12-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another’s, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will discover an object of devastating power. And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat—and the shattering truth of their own destiny. Download Description: The second book of Philip Pullman's epic fantasy trilogy brings Lyra and her daemon and a cast of characters both familiar and new into whole new worlds. Lyra and 12-year-old Will Parry, in a desperate flight for his life, are drawn closer to Will's father and closer to the Subtle Knife, a deadly, magical, ancient tool that cuts windows between worlds. Through it all, the pair are drawn deeper and deeper into a fierce battle that they may not survive. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - good bookthis is a wonderfully read edition of the book. a full cast makes the story come to life. in between there are terrible musical interludes, though. Rating:  - It's like a ride in a supercharged V8This book is one of the best middle books of any trilogy ever written. Northern Lights develops the characters, introduces the reader to the world(s) of this series and then just when the story gains significant momentum, the first part meets its end. The second book is like a ride in a roller coaster and it is action packed from the word go. 1- Characters: Pullman introduces new characters with the blink of an eye and his skill is such that it takes the reader just moments to "imagine" ... Read More Rating: - huge fan of this seriesAnother great installment in this highly acclaimed trilogy. I'm very happy that I've exposed myself to these stories because they keep getting better. The Subtle Knife dives deeper into Lyra's story, exposing the reader to more characters, more worlds, and more details as to what this series is really about. I don't know much else to say about these books since I'm pretty sure most everyone on the planet has read them, but I really am enjoying this series and am looking forward to the third and final ... Read More Rating:  - Good, not outstanding (and the usual comparisons...)Having read at this point the first two volumes, why this trilogy is seen as provocative I can certainly see. Books for children where evil comes from God and the Church are certainly not the most common ones out there. This, however, neither disturbs me (I am not religious) nor particularly excites my brain. Religious fundamentalism is just one kind of fundamentalism. Nazism, Fascism, Communism, even our "beloved" capitalism have produced countless horrors. I can see a bit less how this trilogy ... Read More Rating: - excellentI greatly enjoyed this book. The plot is exciting and engaging, the characters interesting and fun to get to know, and it is very well written. I also enjoyed the performance by Pullman and the cast. That made it a great listening experience. |
