Why bears are superior to witches (The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman)

Member Name: brokenangel

Product:	The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
Date:	31/07/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: mostly convincing characters and interaction; engaging storyline

Disadvantages: It's still a fantasy novel so may not appeal to all readers

The second book in the famous 'His Dark Materials' trilogy is certainly darker than the preceding novel. In 'Northern Lights' wild-child and apparent orphan Lyra Belacqua had to struggle against the adults she knew to try to save children who were going missing, and explore the mystery of dust. Now, in 'The Subtle Knife', Lyra moves between three worlds, each of which contains dangerous enemies who view her life - and death? - as crucial in fulfilling an old prophecy. As her pursuers close in, can Lyra discover the truth about dust - and her destiny?

Pullman's series has been compared favourably to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Having read neither of these, I cannot comment on the validity of these comparisons. However, I think it is sufficiently revealing though that while I won't read Rowling and couldn't read Tolkien (I gave up after a mere thirty pages) I have enjoyed both books in this trilogy so far. I'm not usually a fan of fantasy, as it tends to irritate me in its limitless acceptance of boundary pushing. ("It'd be useful if this character could fly. Shall we make them fly?" "Yeah, and let's also make them able to balance a piano on their nose, just for a laugh.") The joy in this series though is that the characters continue to 'ground' the surreal events. Our heroine, Lyra, is astonishingly pleased to discover that her new companion is a murderer - because it means that he is not a coward. A scientist worries that her work is coming dangerously close to 'good' and 'evil' - vague notions that she became a scientist to avoid. Pullman's characters are unquestionably people, regardless of where they keep their souls.

This reality is created from the opening of the novel which, somewhat surprisingly, does not focus on Lyra, but on new character, Will. A young boy with much on his mind, Will's tender but slightly awkward interaction with his mother soon melted my heart and meant that I was fully engaged in his story. This soon meets up with Lyra's and an odd relationship begins, one in which Will's carefully-maintained caution makes him curse Lyra's impetuous solutions. It was interesting to see how two such different characters, almost equally alone in the world, were able to interact and work together in a bid to achieve their own ends. Lyra's aims have already been mentioned; Will's seem slightly more limited as he seeks to discover the truth and destiny of his explorer father, but it quickly becomes apparent that the quests of the children overlap in significant ways. The sections between the two children are convincing and naturalistic, which is probably why I was able to enjoy reading much of this fantastical story.

However, the witches were another story. They fly, they cast spells, and, perhaps most problematically, they have names like Serafina Pekkala. I mean, really? Somehow, this society seemed far less credible than the bear society Pullman created in 'Northern Lights'. Possibly this is because there is so much already written about witches that it seems too obviously clichéd when they have meetings between coven leaders and discuss curses. The fighting bears were perhaps so enjoyable because they were so fresh and therefore vivid. The witch scenes seemed dull and I found myself almost skimming them to move on to other, more engaging parts of the story.

Similarly, the discovery of a magical sword seemed slightly flat and overly-hyped for such a conventional trope of fantasy. The elaborate handing over of the sword and brief training that the destined character receives all felt slightly old-hat, although that may be because I have read King Arthur so often! On the other hand, cutting open windows between worlds, another new idea (to me, at least), was conveyed credibly and used to good effect as a dramatic device.

Gradually, the whole novel took on the feel of a long journey, as all the groups of characters set off on epic missions to find other characters. This is where I often end up getting a bit impatient, because I'm not really interested in all the detailed scenic views this can entail. Pleasingly, Pullman usually keeps the journeying scenes quite fresh because there is still a sense of action and events unfolding. Since this is the second in the trilogy, these journeys are still in progress at the novel's conclusion, although some minor stories have been resolved. These minor stories were all created within the worlds of this novel, which led me to wonder how much I'd miss if I skipped straight from the first to the third novel in the trilogy. Of course, that may be my inner critic just having a grumble because there were no bears in this instalment!

After an engaging start, much of the later novel feels like preparation for the third instalment, which is a shame, given the quality of Pullman's writing. I will read the third instalment to reach the answers - and find out what happened to Will's mother - but I'm not itching to read it. This could be seen as quite positive, since I'm able to view it to some extent as a standalone novel rather than simply part of a trilogy, but also fairly negative, since I'm not so involved in the story that I have to know what happens next. It could just highlight the fact that I was rather tired by the time I finished reading this, as I devoted a couple of days to it almost solidly. This was partly because I had the time for once (or pretended I did) and partly because each chapter ended in a way that meant I wanted to see how events developed (without endings being hideously cliff-hanger-ish). Ultimately, I would recommend this to those who enjoyed 'Northern Lights', but with the caveat that this is slightly more fantastical in nature and ends on a real cliff-hanger that will undoubtedly have most people wondering how to get their hands on volume three.

Summary: An excellent example of the genre for adults and younger readers