Rating: 
Summary: A reveiw of The Subtle Knife
Review: This book is MAGNIFICENT. I loved The Golden Compass and have been waiting forever for the sequel to come out. It's just as good as the prequel, and in some ways it's even more intense. One thing is for sure: He'd better hurry up with the next one!This book is very suspensful and exciting. Cittagazze is actually a pretty neat world-it you're a child, that is. It was also interesting to note Lyra's reactions to our world, such as the disappearance of Jordan. I also liked the way that the witch culture was described. One thing I was a little surprised about was that there were religious undertones in this book. But it didn't ruin the plot at all-which I really liked. I could never combine religion and fiction like that. I guess that all I can say is this: If you loved The Golden Compass, this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle Knife Cuts Right Through You
Review: Even though the book started out slowly, the reader is soon back into Lyra's world, and what a world it is. Lyra's character is amazing, and her new comrade Will is an equal counterpart. In addition to delightful characters, the story tells more than just a story. I am confused as to why Random House publishes this as a children's book. This is no more a children's book than The Hobbit or Watership Down. It is, however, very intense for adult readers, and has a lot to say. Pullman is the best author i've seen since CS Lewis, and i am more than looking forward to the exciting conclusion of the His Dark Materials trilogy. The Subtle Kinfe is incredible, adding twist after twist; in addition, the development of the character Lee Scoresby is one of the most moving things i've ever read. The only disappointment: the "Empire Strikes Back... Luke, I am your Father" ending that keeps the reader waiting impatiently for the conclusion. Hurry up Phil! I can't wait much longer. pjk
Rating: 
Summary: Not for children
Review: I liked The Golden Compass; I didn't like The Subtle Knife quite as well. But I'm surprised that Random House markets this as a children's/YA title. I can't think that it's an appropriate title for children (by which I mean under 14). The story is, after all, leading up to a war that will be waged against God, just like the one Satan tried to lead, but lost. Also, it's very intense and violent, and what is this business with naming evil institutions after names we use for the church in this world? I work in a children's bookstore and I know I'd get a lot of complaints (and returns) if I sold this to people with out warning them. This should have been marketed as an adult fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: A FASTASTICALLY WRITTEN PIECE
Review: THE SUBTLE KNIFE IS THE SECOND BOOK IN PHILIP PULLMANS SUSPENSEFUL HIS DARK MATERIALS TRILOLGY. THE YOUNG HEROINE, LYRA, IS PULLED EVEN DEEPER INTO THE PLOTS OF HER FATHER AS SHE GOES THROUGH THE BRIDGE BETWEEN WORLDS. AFTER CROSSING THE BRIDGE, SHE ENCOUNTERS ANOTHER CHILD, WILL, WHO IS IN A SIMILAR PERDICUMENT. TOGETHER WILL AND LYRA SET OFF ON A EXCITING JOURNEY AND WHAT THEY DISCOVER CHALLENGES THE WAY WE ALL THINK.WITH STUNNING DETAIL AND CHARACTERS SO REAL THEY SEEM ALMOST FOUR DIMENSIONAL, PHILIP PULLMANS SEQUEL TRULY DOES JUSTICE TO IT'S AWARD WINNING PREDESSOR.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely incredible, page turning suspense!
Review: I'm 12, and was reading this book on a plane, when all of a sudden, it ended. I stood up and shouted,"That's it?" It ended like a chapter in a suspense novel, leaving me waiting not-so-patiently for the conclusion of the trilogy. Despite the 300 and something pages, it still goes by like a flash of lightning, and once again, like The Golden Compass, it never gets boring. It took me 3 days to finish it, because my nose was buried in it due to all the cliffhangers at the end of every chapter (and at the end of the book). You won't be able to put it down, and you will want more after it's over. One word of advice: It will make a lot more sense if Pullman's The Golden Compass is read prior to reading the Subtle Knife.
Rating:
Summary: Matches The Golden Compass; Exellent!
Review: Both Spellbinding and mindgriping,The Subtle Knife glued to my copy and on the edge of my seat. I got so attched to the characters, I cried when Lee Scorsby died, and I'm not usually the one to cry
Rating:
Summary: It's definatly worth reading
Review: The Subtle Knife ia a great sequel. The search for Dust started in The Golden Compass continues, with fascinating results. I simply love that there were people that believed in the conscious elementary particles in Will's world.
I also enjoyed the fact that they did not abandon Lyra's world. By this I mean that you still hear about Serafina Pekkala and Lee Scoresbee. I found each person's part well thought up, but I am sad to not hear of Iorek.
What I found incredible is how evil Mrs. Coulter really is, and how in the sequel, you begin to like Lord Asriel again.
I like the angles, and I adore Will. He's a bit like Lyra, and has led a tough life like she.
Just this: it is still a sequel, and cannot be expected to as good as the prequel. It is almost as good, but people sometimes hope for something a million times better. If you do this, the book will not be as appreciated as much as if you had set resonnable standards
Rating: 
Summary: While it was exciting, this book needs work.
Review: The Subtle Knife was a good book, with wonderfully
put together fantasy. Pullman's characters are charming, with bold and daring unmatched.
This time though, The Subtle Knife did not come
close to living up to it's sister book, The Golden
Compass. The plot was too stretched, and it did
not capture the attention it should.
Rating:
Summary: TRULY OUTSTANDING
Review: Having read (and reread, and reread, and reread...) "The Golden Compass", I anxiously counted down the days until the release of the sequel, "The Subtle Knife". Although I knew that I might be disappointed -- for not many books could measure up to the standard set by "The Golden Compass" -- I kept faith in Mr. Pullman. And he has not disappointed me! "The Subtle Knife" is every bit as good as the first novel in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. The worlds depicted are every bit as believable and finely drawn, the characters as absorbing, and the plot as intricate and magical. Any aspiring fantasy writers should read this trilogy to see how to create some of the finest fantasy novels ever written. A must read
Rating:
Summary: Dust in the Garden of Eden, or How to slice a winner!
Review: After five months of sitting on my floor with the rest of my recent book purchases, I picked up and began to devour the The Golden Compass. It had been nearly a decade since I'd basically given up on fantasy as a genre, getting bored with myth-adventures and Xanthian repetitiveness.
Philip Pullman has brought me back. Yesterday, I read The Subtle Knife, the sequel to The Golden Compass, in one sitting, unable to draw myself away from the rush of themes and ambiguities and sacrifices that Pullman unravels. Here, Pullman releases the full power of the forces that he so carefully built up in the first novel. The knife itself is more than a tool of untold power, but an instrument to rip away the veil of comfort that the reader feels for the worlds of Lyra and Will and their still unclear destiny. By revealing more about the nature of Dust and daemons and the connections between worlds and the twisted fates of Lyra and Will, The Subtle Knife creates as many questions as it answers and is just the kind of bridge any good trilogy needs.
Pullman has a wonderful talent for catapulting the reader at a rollercoaster pace with vivid scenery and continuous action. And the protagonist children suck you in like Orson Scott Card's Ender. But, what draws me in so completely is that this is not a mere chldren's story, but a morality tale which speaks about the real world. The moral ambiguity and religious tensions, which you can only hint at in the first book, hits you as powerfully as Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant did. Pullman lets Lyra and Will guide you as to who is right and who is wrong, which exacts an undisguised attack on the power and hypocrisy of organized religion in our own world. The classic fantasy struggle between good and evil has greyed considerably, showing us the true subtlety of the knife.
The only regret that I have now is that I have to wait for the final installment to see how Eve sprinkles Dust in the Garden of Eden as the forces of many worlds gather for war. Maybe, it's time to read The Lord of the Rings for a seventh time. But then, I know how that one ends...
|
