The Subtle Knife
The Subtle Knife is the second book in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. It is a very good book, but it is very hard to understand without first reading The Golden Compass, the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy.
The book starts out with a young boy named Will, who comes from Oxford, England. He is going around on his daily business when he sees something out of the ordinary. He finds a window, which leads to another world. He goes through this window into the world of Cittagazze, a world overrun by Specter creatures that eat the souls of adults.
Meanwhile, a young girl named Lyra has just entered a similar window into Cittagazze. Will and Lyra meet and end up deciding to stick together for their journey. First Lyra goes to Will’s world to met up with a scientist, Mary Malone, to talk about Dust, a mysterious particle that Mary studies.
When Lyra and Will go back to Cittagazze. Will goes into a big building, and comes out with a knife capable of cutting through anything, even the very fabric of space. With this knife, Will and Lyra can travel through all the different worlds. Lyra and Will travel through the world of Cittagazze, trying to find the secret of the Dust, and for Will to find his long-lost father.
Near the end of the book, Lyra is captured, and Will is left to decide his next move.
This book is very good, and so is the whole His Dark Materials trilogy. This book ties the first and third books together nicely, but is very hard to understand without reading the first book.