Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I thought the subtle knife and Golden Compass were in fact absolutely wonderful. Philp Pullman is one of the few writers (of any genre) in the past two decades who actually knows how to write and tell a story. The writing is lyrical and breathtaking. Having extensively read and analyzed Paradise Lost throughout my college career as an English major, I was nothing short of amazed at how well His Dark Materials Trilogy followed Milton's great work. Due to this, unlike some of the past reviewers however, I was actually expecting many of the controversial themes in the Subtle Knife before I even read teh Golden Compass just by the passage from Paradise Lost at the beginning. I will fully acknowledge that in the Subtle Knife, Pullman discusses a rebellion against God. He seems sympathetic and even at times advocates the actions of Lord Asriel. He questions the judgement of God and the intolerance of the Church, and yes we are to some degree supposed to relate it to the our own society. Though even just picking out these themes is not a strong reading of this work. My recommendation, if you don't see where this is headed...READ PARADISE LOST! Milton does the exact same thing in his magnificient work. Paradise Lost deals with the rebellion against God, and at times Milton shows sympathy to Satan (in fact the most compelling interpretation is that Satan is the hero of the book), and constantly questions the judgement of God and the Church. Even though Milton was a Christian and made that clear throughout his work, he still kept the ambiguity between Good vs. Evil. And 300 years ago, Milton was extremely controversial for his views (in fact, a lot of the same criticisms against His Dark Materials Trilogy were almost the same as they were 300 years ago in the Milton Controversy). In the Golden Compass, Pullman gave the a notion of Good vs. Evil, in the Subtle Knife, he confuses these issuse, in the Amber Spyglass, will he set the record straight? Honestly, if he follows Paradise as well as he had, probably not. I do think, like Milton, Pullman has made it obvious from the Golden Compass that he sides with Lyra (Milton sides with Adam and Eve and mankind) on her quest to stop her parents in mounting the "rebellion against God", but he will still question God's judgement like Milton did. His Dark Materials Trilogy is a story of a possible second Fall of mankind. It is a very beautiful work of fantasy. It also discusses themes as friendship, love and truth and of course it provokes thought on both the part of the reader and the characters -- and that is the point of a book (not to mimic a reader's point of view) I am very curious to see how Pullman deals with these issues in the Amber Spyglass. I wouldn't be surprised if he explores another thought-provoking theme of humility of Lyra, mankind, and the Church for them to regain Paradise...
Rating:
Summary: Again He Does It
Review: Again, Lyra is on an adventure. This time, she stumbles into another world and meets Will Perry. Then they find the subtle knife, which can lead them into any world. This book is filled with tragedy and adventure as Lyra must help Will search for his father. I suggest you read this book and the sequel to this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I could not put the Golden Compass down...
Review: As for my opinion of the book--like many of you, I could not put the Golden Compass down. A friend bought me this and The Subtle Knife for Christmas, so I didn't have to wait for the second book. I dove right in. I kept on loving it... until I understood what Pullman is really saying. You can defend him all you want, saying that this is just a book, the characters are fictional, get a life, and whatever else. But the truth is, Asriel is going to try to kill God, and Pullman approves of it. We know this because the lengthy passage about why the Fall of Man should never have happened is as persuasive as he can make it, lambasting God and the Church for--heaven forbid--imposing rules on people and ostensibly not allowing people to be individuals. Is this based on the actions of the fictional church in the book? Yes. Are we supposed to draw the very obvious connection between the church in Lyra's world and Christianity in ours? Absolutely. In the book, God--the traditional Judeo-Christian God of the Garden of Eden--is evil and must be stopped. And it is no accident that Pullman makes sure this idea comes through loud and clear. Some people seem to think that books somehow just happen, but I'm a writer, and believe me--they don't. They are carefully crafted, and if you're a good writer, you're writing because you have something to say. Pullman has every right to say that God is evil and should (and can) be killed. I also have every right to say that I completely disagree. I only wish there had been a stronger suggestion of this theme in the first novel, so I hadn't been in for such a tremendous disappointment. I thought the novel was a fantasy, with themes about independence, friendship, courage, even feminism--all of which excited me. When I discovered the religious agenda, I was crushed. But I am *not* saying Pullman has no right to include that in his novels. I am also not reading too much into the book--this is truly good fiction, and good fiction is meant to examined closely and not read only on the surface for the value of the story. Yes, this is a very well-written story. But don't mistake Pullman's intentions or miss the message he is trying to send.I am prepared for the barrage of messages decrying me for my "narrow-minded" views, but bring them on. I'm only sorry there this book hasn't sparked more of a real discussion over the themes of this book, rather than glorified name-calling of those who dare to disagree with the popular opinion. By the way, in case it makes a difference to anyone--I am neither a teenager nor a parent; I am 22 and I read these books while in college.
Rating:
Summary: Blasphemous? No way!
Review: I found this book quite slow towards the start, but after a half hour of reading I just couldn't put it down. I ended up completing the book in the lamplight beside my bed one late night. I can't see how anyone could criticize this book for its religious references. Even Christians must accept that Lyra's church is by no means the same as ours. Besides, there is so much suffering in our world, yet priests devote their time to the worship of God and not to the aid of all these unfortunates. I think Pullman does show us a sinister element in God but it's just fiction - it cannot be taken so seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't bring myself to like this book.
Review: One the one hand, this book, like its predecessor, delivers an exciting story and an imaginary world that is weirdly compelling. On the other, it's often sloppily written and clumsily plotted. For example, I lost count of how many times in the first two books Pullman puts his characters into some tight spot, only to have them rescued by a deus ex machina arriving at the last possible second. This happened over and over again, to the point of comedy. In addition to its creaky mechanics, the book often seems to revel in suffering and violence, and its tone occasionally verges on the preachy. I was involved in this book while I was reading it, but now that I'm done I don't think I'll have the urge to pick it up again.
Rating:
Summary: Response to Religous Criticism
Review: I snatched up the Subtle Knife from my bookstore the very first day the book was released, eager with anticipation. Almost three years later, at 15, I still have not lost that joyous and excited feeling of delight every time I pick up the book. I originally reviewed the book long ago, but I came back to check what others thought about Philip Pullman's masterpiece. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed. Readers seem to be criticizing Pullman for the religious aspects of his works and their apparent "immorality." The fact that these absurd thoughts completely contradict the ideals of the pluralistic society we're supposed to be living in doesn't even bother me at this point. Readers simply fail to realize that the very nature of Pullman's work forces him to deal with these issues! The Dark Materials Trilogy is based on a single passage from Milton's Paradise Lost, which, as you know, deals with Satan's rebellion, original sin and man's fall from grace. And although Milton in his first two books of Paradise Lost portrays Satan as an almost heroic character, no one accuses *him* of blasphemy. In fact, he was a devout Christian, one of the greatest writers of the seventeenth century and his work is commonly upheld to be a great resource to and extension of the Christian faith. Pullman simply takes a few lines from Paradise Lost and explores the concept within them. What if God had indeed, created other worlds that we are not aware of? Pullman, with his immense genius and imagination decides to explore this question. What if there were thousands of worlds like ours, where every possibility of probability occurs? He manages to answer this question in a magnificent and skillful manner. His work needs not be marred by religious censure. Perhaps most important is the fact that Pullman's various religious viewpoints don't even go against the organized religion established in our world. In Lyra's world, the Church is a completely different entity. For one thing, the Calvinist church has taken over all of Europe. Secondly, the Church there exerts a type of social control that our Church hasn't enjoyed since the 14th or 15th century. Lastly, Lyra's Church is obviously as corrupt and sinful as ours was during the Avignon papacy and before the Counter Reformation. We apparently didn't think it was wrong to go and rebel against the Church and try to cleanse it, so how can we blame anyone in Lyra's world for opposing their Church? And how for one thing do we not know that the Devil himself has corrupted this Church? Pullman never says *our* Church is bad, he only implies that Lyra's is. The next troubling issue is the whole plot line of the fallen angels' rebellion. Again, Pullman is *forced* to write about this - it is, as mentioned before, what Milton's work was about in the first place. What if Satan has finally decided his army has been built up enough for another battle with God? Or, if he sees Asriel (who, as the reader from Pennsylvania so cleverly mentioned, might be an incarnation of Azreal (Death), who is Satan's son) preparing for a battle, and decides to send his support? There are other issues which critics complain about, but they've already been discussed in previous reviews and this is getting a bit too lengthy already =). At this point in the trilogy, we don't know Asriel's true purpose, we don't know what side Lyra is on, we don't know what is good or evil, in short, we can't judge. So please, from now on, try to see it from the viewpoint that Pullman is writing from, or at least reserve your judgement until the last book is published.
Rating:
Summary: The Subtle Knife
Review: I think the novel The Subtle Knife is an interesting read. The troubles of Will and Lara will intrigue the young and old readers of the second book of a fantastic and moving trilogy The Dark Materials. It's an amazing idea put on to paper to create a world of excitement and adventure. It's about a number of worlds put together by Lord Asreil who made a bridge joining the worlds, but he didn't know what or who might be across that bridge but was determined to find out. As Lara crosses the bridge little does she know she's about to join forces with a boy she scarcely knows.
Rating:
Summary: Unstoppable action, but some parts disappointing
Review: The pace of the book is fast, but some parts happened so fast, I had to reread them--especially the death scenes. I was surprised that characters died so quickly after fulfilling their purpose in the story. I would have liked more development or closure. I was disappointed that Lyra wasn't as strong a character as in the first book. I never understood why she had to wait for Will's permission before using the alethiometer. I would like to think that Lyra learns from her mistakes and would only use the alethiometer for good reasons--and how would Will know when to use it or not? There is no clear definition of good and bad. Who is evil? Is God evil? Is Lord Asriel good? What are the boundaries? Overall, the book was a good read, but not as cleanly written as the first. The ending is a cliffhanger, as expected, but unfortunately, this means the book cannot stand alone. It relies on the history of the first book and the conclusion of the third book.
Rating:
Summary: Short Praise
Review: This book was awesome! It deserves five-stars! The details were amazing, and the ending left me wanting more. I can't wait for the third book, Amber Spyglass!
Rating:
Summary: This book is even better then the first!
Review: The Subtle Knife carries on the the tradition of The Golden Compass quite well. Lyra finds herself in a town that is completly deserted, there she meets Will Parry, a boy from earth. In the town they become the owners of the Subtle Knife, a knife which can cut through anything, including universes! Together they go on a quest to find Will's father with the knife and Lyra's alethiometer. This book is even better than the first and leaves you ravenous for more. I suggest the you read The Golden Compass first for otherwise it will be hard to understand.
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