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A review by smart_as_paint
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
5.0
The steampunk fantasy of the Golden Compass takes its first tentative steps into the age of reason. These stumbles are promptly interrupted as Lord Asriel weaponizes the atomic destruction of children to ram through the worlds like an anbaric Kool-aid man.
And so the stage is set for the Subtle Knife. But this time we don't explore the world through our favorite liar, Lyra Silvertongue, a vivid reminder that this book is not titled The Subtle Naming Conventions. Instead we gaze through the eyes of Will Parry, a British millennial with a penchant for deflecting blows in melee combat and a more subtle reminder that this is not titled The Subtle Naming Conventions. Will puts London's stand your ground laws to the test before escaping to the world of Cittàgazze. There he meets Lyra and these star crossed tweens join forces to obtain the titular Subtle Knife.
The purpose of this review is not to summarize the plot but instead to provide my perspective on the book. And the purpose of the previous paragraph is to reinforce my argument: this book is absolute BANANAS. Pullman juggled three worlds, five point of view characters, and the revelation that God is sick and can only be cured by a precocious twelve-year-olds. And by cured, I mean killed by stabbing.
I can't believe this sits in the YA section of the library and I can't believe that it works as well as it does. Pullman's scavenger prose leaves nothing wasted. The quiet moments make you yearn for a time when you didn't have so many worries. And the action filled climaxes charge on forward with an electric current. It's a complex story with complex ideas but never one that talks down to the reader. It assumes that you are paying attention, and rewards every ounce of attention that you give it. It's a short book but one packed with a thousand ideas, dancing on a pin.
It's the perfect book for a profane twelve-year-old. And an electric experience for the twenty-seven-year-old that twelve-year-old will one day become.
And so the stage is set for the Subtle Knife. But this time we don't explore the world through our favorite liar, Lyra Silvertongue, a vivid reminder that this book is not titled The Subtle Naming Conventions. Instead we gaze through the eyes of Will Parry, a British millennial with a penchant for deflecting blows in melee combat and a more subtle reminder that this is not titled The Subtle Naming Conventions. Will puts London's stand your ground laws to the test before escaping to the world of Cittàgazze. There he meets Lyra and these star crossed tweens join forces to obtain the titular Subtle Knife.
The purpose of this review is not to summarize the plot but instead to provide my perspective on the book. And the purpose of the previous paragraph is to reinforce my argument: this book is absolute BANANAS. Pullman juggled three worlds, five point of view characters, and the revelation that God is sick and can only be cured by a precocious twelve-year-olds. And by cured, I mean killed by stabbing.
I can't believe this sits in the YA section of the library and I can't believe that it works as well as it does. Pullman's scavenger prose leaves nothing wasted. The quiet moments make you yearn for a time when you didn't have so many worries. And the action filled climaxes charge on forward with an electric current. It's a complex story with complex ideas but never one that talks down to the reader. It assumes that you are paying attention, and rewards every ounce of attention that you give it. It's a short book but one packed with a thousand ideas, dancing on a pin.
It's the perfect book for a profane twelve-year-old. And an electric experience for the twenty-seven-year-old that twelve-year-old will one day become.