The Subtle Knife
OCLC 44058512 | | |
Preceded by | Northern Lights (The Golden Compass) | |
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Followed by | The Amber Spyglass |
The Subtle Knife is a
From 2019 to 2020, the novel was adapted as the first and second series of the joint BBC-HBO television series His Dark Materials, the former series additionally adapting Northern Lights.
Setting
The main setting is a universe dominated by the Magisterium, an international theocracy which actively suppresses heresy. In Lyra's world, humans' souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sentient "dæmons" in animal form which accompany, aid, and comfort their humans. An important plot device is the alethiometer, a truth-telling symbol reader. By setting the alethiometer's hands to point to symbols around a dial a skilled practitioner can pose questions, which are answered by the movement round the dial of a further hand. The Subtle Knife of the book's title is a knife called Æsahættr, which can cut windows between worlds.
Plot
Twelve-year-old Will Parry lives in
Mrs Coulter, Lyra's mother, tortures a witch for a prophecy said to concern her daughter. Before the victim can reveal the details she is killed by the witch
Will returns to his world to seek information about his father, who went missing years earlier on an expedition. Lyra, who has come with him, wants to learn about Dust—mysterious particles connected to consciousness. On the advice of her alethiometer Lyra visits the physicist Dr Mary Malone, who has a computer that can communicate with dark matter. Lyra realises that dark matter seems to correspond with what she knows as Dust.
After accepting a lift from an elderly man introducing himself as
Will uses the knife to cut a window into Sir Charles's home where he overhears a conversation with Mrs Coulter. Lyra realises that Sir Charles is
Sir Charles visits Dr Malone and offers to fund her research if she will follow his directions. She refuses. At Lyra's suggestion, she uses her computer to communicate with the consciousness of dark matter. It instructs her to destroy the computer and to travel through the same window between worlds used by Will and Lyra, explaining that her role is to "play the
Lee Scoresby finds Grumman living as a
Mrs Coulter tricks Sir Charles into revealing the secret of the knife, and poisons him. She uses the spectres, which she has learned to control, to torture a witch into revealing the prophecy: that Lyra is the second
Leaving Lyra asleep at their overnight camp, Will walks on alone and finds his father, who staunches his bleeding and tells him to join Lord Asriel's forces. Grumman is killed by a vengeful witch whose love he had once spurned. Will returns to find a pair of angels waiting to guide him to Asriel. He goes to awaken Lyra, but finds that she is missing and that her guardian witches' souls have been drained by spectres.
Critical reception
The Subtle Knife won Parents' Choice Gold Book Award; American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults; Booklist Editors' Choice; Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book; Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book; Book Links Best Book of the Year; and American Bookseller Pick of the Lists.
Adaptations
Before the release of The Golden Compass, a film adaptation of the first book in the series, on 7 December 2007, New Line Cinema said that an adaptation of The Subtle Knife would go into production only if the first film was a success.[1] The Golden Compass made over twice its budget worldwide but was a disappointment in the United States, leaving the fate of its sequel unclear. The international rights were also originally sold to provide financing for the first film, thus amounting to a significant disappointment for New Line Cinema. Producer Deborah Forte, however, was adamant that she would finish the trilogy, saying, "I believe there are enough people who see what a viable and successful franchise we have."[2] However, Philip Pullman later remarked at the British Humanist Association annual conference in 2011 that due to the first film's disappointing sales in the United States, there would not be any sequels made.[3]
An audiobook adaptation, featuring a full cast and narration by the author, was released in 2000.[4]
As the second novel of the His Dark Materials trilogy, the book has also formed part of a radio drama on BBC Radio 4, starring Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel and Lulu Popplewell as Lyra,[5] and as a two-part, six-hour performance for London's Royal National Theatre in December 2003, running until March 2004, and starring Anna Maxwell Martin as Lyra, Dominic Cooper as Will, Timothy Dalton as Lord Asriel and Patricia Hodge as Mrs Coulter, and a second run between November 2004 and April 2005.
The second series of the joint BBC-HBO television adaptation of His Dark Materials, approved in September 2018, covers The Subtle Knife, with introductions to the book's central characters beginning in the first season.[6]
Further reading
- Lenz, Millicent (2005). His Dark Materials Illuminated: Critical Essays on Phillip Pullman's Trilogy. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3207-2.
- Frost, Laurie (2006). The Elements of His Dark Materials. The Fell Press. ISBN 0975943014.
References
- ^ McNary, Dave (4 January 2007). "New Line pulls in pic scribe: Amini to pen second part of Pullman trilogy". Variety. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
- ^ Dawtrey, Adam (13 March 2008). "'Compass' spins foreign frenzy". Variety. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- ^ Philip Pullman receiving the award for services to Humanism, at the BHA Conference 2011. YouTube. 25 July 2011. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ "The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman". AudioFile. 2000. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ "His Dark Materials cast their magic on BBC Radio 4". BBC. 2 December 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ Thomas, Leah (29 November 2019). "What HBO's His Dark Materials Is Doing Is a Book Reader's Dream". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 3 December 2019.