callistahogan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
callistahogan) wrote2008-05-18 05:34 pm
callistahogan) wrote2008-05-18 05:34 pm
Entry tags:
Book Review #11
Book: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 326 pp.
Grade: A-
Amazon Summary: The epic adventure continues as the plot thickens in the second riveting book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, which began with the much heralded The Golden Compass, Booklist's Top of the List in youth fiction for 1996. This time, the story begins in our world with Will, a boy who escapes his pursuers by going through a window into another world, a world plagued by soul-sucking specters, where he encounters Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon. The two youngsters join forces, moving between worlds searching for the mysterious phenomenon called Dust and for Will's long-lost father. By losing two fingers in a battle with a madman, Will becomes a warrior and the bearer of the subtle knife, a weapon that, like Lyra's truth-telling alethiometer, is a talisman as well, and, like Lyra, Will proves to be a pivotal figure in the looming battle for the universe. Often the middle book in a trilogy is the weakest; such is not the case here despite some incidences of awkward explanations inserted as asides or as part of the narrative. It's the character development as well as the relentless pace on several fronts—that of Will, Lyra, the witches, Will's father, and others—and a couple of gruesome incidents that make this a resoundingly successful sequel. The cliff-hanger of an ending will leave readers desperate for the next installment.
My Thoughts: I do have to say that the second installment of this series is much better than the first, even though there are some sticking points in terms of religion that really make me want to stop reading right here.
However, this book was... riveting. There's no other word for it—from the first chapter, I was hooked, ensnared with Will and his story. It was just so... engrossing. From the beginning, Will was a character that I knew I was going to adore. I enjoyed the parts with him, especially the parts with the subtle knife. He just seems like an awesome character, and someone I'd want to know in real life (although, of course, I'd have preferred it if he hadn't killed someone at the beginning of the story).
In the first chapter, the action starts right away, and it hardly stops until the end of the book—and then it kept going. From Serafina's adventures to Lee Scoresby's quest to find Stanislaus Grumman to Will and Lyra's frequent journeys from Will's world—our normal London, with no daemons or armored bears—to Cittagazze, the in-between world, the action kept going on. I was never bored reading this book, and even now, I can't wait until I get to school tomorrow so I can pick up The Amber Spyglass.
Like a lot of people said, though, this book focused a lot on all of the different characters and, as such, I think Philip Pullman could have handled the execution a little better. For example, I frequently found myself reading something from Lyra's perspective and then intruding into some of Will's thoughts, sometimes within a paragraph or two of each other. I would have preferred it if Pullman had cleaned up the POVs a bit better, but I understand that it was more of a third-person omniscient sort of thing, where we are very rarely just in one person's head at a time.
That's one of my problems, but I did find it offensive about how Pullman portrayed Christianity. I'm not sure where he got the idea that Christianity was oppressive, because I don't see that anywhere, with the exceptions of the Crusades and things like that. It bothers me, Pullman's perspective on religion. He seems to think that all religion is bad, but nothing is worse than Christianity. He twisted around the Genesis story, and part of me wanted to stop reading then and there, but I kept with it (partly because oflimmenel's suggestion to keep going even if I don't agree with the message), and I just hope that The Amber Spyglass doesn't make me want to scream at the book or throw it across the room.
But anyway, disregarding my issues with the message, I adored this book. I found myself connecting with all of the characters and their adventures, which is something not a lot of writers can achieve without making it too long and bulky. The way Pullman wrote the series was... rich and decadent and full of details—I could see everything clearly, which is, again, something a lot of writers have trouble with.
So, all in all, this book was quite a bit better than the first one and, regardless of its message, it is good enough to make me want to pick up The Amber Spyglass once I get to school tomorrow.
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 326 pp.
Grade: A-
Amazon Summary: The epic adventure continues as the plot thickens in the second riveting book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, which began with the much heralded The Golden Compass, Booklist's Top of the List in youth fiction for 1996. This time, the story begins in our world with Will, a boy who escapes his pursuers by going through a window into another world, a world plagued by soul-sucking specters, where he encounters Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon. The two youngsters join forces, moving between worlds searching for the mysterious phenomenon called Dust and for Will's long-lost father. By losing two fingers in a battle with a madman, Will becomes a warrior and the bearer of the subtle knife, a weapon that, like Lyra's truth-telling alethiometer, is a talisman as well, and, like Lyra, Will proves to be a pivotal figure in the looming battle for the universe. Often the middle book in a trilogy is the weakest; such is not the case here despite some incidences of awkward explanations inserted as asides or as part of the narrative. It's the character development as well as the relentless pace on several fronts—that of Will, Lyra, the witches, Will's father, and others—and a couple of gruesome incidents that make this a resoundingly successful sequel. The cliff-hanger of an ending will leave readers desperate for the next installment.
My Thoughts: I do have to say that the second installment of this series is much better than the first, even though there are some sticking points in terms of religion that really make me want to stop reading right here.
However, this book was... riveting. There's no other word for it—from the first chapter, I was hooked, ensnared with Will and his story. It was just so... engrossing. From the beginning, Will was a character that I knew I was going to adore. I enjoyed the parts with him, especially the parts with the subtle knife. He just seems like an awesome character, and someone I'd want to know in real life (although, of course, I'd have preferred it if he hadn't killed someone at the beginning of the story).
In the first chapter, the action starts right away, and it hardly stops until the end of the book—and then it kept going. From Serafina's adventures to Lee Scoresby's quest to find Stanislaus Grumman to Will and Lyra's frequent journeys from Will's world—our normal London, with no daemons or armored bears—to Cittagazze, the in-between world, the action kept going on. I was never bored reading this book, and even now, I can't wait until I get to school tomorrow so I can pick up The Amber Spyglass.
Like a lot of people said, though, this book focused a lot on all of the different characters and, as such, I think Philip Pullman could have handled the execution a little better. For example, I frequently found myself reading something from Lyra's perspective and then intruding into some of Will's thoughts, sometimes within a paragraph or two of each other. I would have preferred it if Pullman had cleaned up the POVs a bit better, but I understand that it was more of a third-person omniscient sort of thing, where we are very rarely just in one person's head at a time.
That's one of my problems, but I did find it offensive about how Pullman portrayed Christianity. I'm not sure where he got the idea that Christianity was oppressive, because I don't see that anywhere, with the exceptions of the Crusades and things like that. It bothers me, Pullman's perspective on religion. He seems to think that all religion is bad, but nothing is worse than Christianity. He twisted around the Genesis story, and part of me wanted to stop reading then and there, but I kept with it (partly because of
limmenel's suggestion to keep going even if I don't agree with the message), and I just hope that The Amber Spyglass doesn't make me want to scream at the book or throw it across the room.But anyway, disregarding my issues with the message, I adored this book. I found myself connecting with all of the characters and their adventures, which is something not a lot of writers can achieve without making it too long and bulky. The way Pullman wrote the series was... rich and decadent and full of details—I could see everything clearly, which is, again, something a lot of writers have trouble with.
So, all in all, this book was quite a bit better than the first one and, regardless of its message, it is good enough to make me want to pick up The Amber Spyglass once I get to school tomorrow.
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I'm glad you're ploughing ahead however much you disagree with it :)
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So, yeah, that will most likely happen. But I'm looking forward to it. :)
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I don't know if that makes any sense, though.
But yeah, the Genesis myth is very important to the foundation of Pullman's trilogy, as it ties in with Milton's portrayal of the creation of the world and the Lucifer-vs-God conflic. I almost want to say that Pullman is taking Lucifer's side in the entire conflict, though I know that's not right...
And I think the religion thing will... evolve, let's say, in the third book. As the rest of the plot becomes revealed, it will definitely begin to come together, and maybe a bit more about Pullman's reasons for doing what he does will become clear.
But I definitely hope you enjoy the third book! The second book is, yeah, the typical middle-book-mishmash, throwing together a bunch of different plotlines and trying to bring all of the characters to the point they need to be at, on the brink of the climax of the third novel, so it's definitely a bit confusing at times. But the Amber Spyglass will hopefully resolve all that.
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I do have to say that if The Amber Spyglass is any better than The Subtle Knife, though, I am going to be incredibly surprised, because I couldn't put The Subtle Knife down for more than a couple minutes. But I have no doubt that it will at least be as good as The Subtle Knife. :)
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I'm glad you like Will. He is such a great character. Pullman is really good at writing very strong, passionate characters.