Book Review: "The Subtle Knife"

I had blogged earlier about the first book in the "His Dark Materials" series by Phillip Pullman and I had also mentioned wanting to see The Golden Compass in theaters. Well, I decided over the holidays that I would start and finish the second and third books among other things and I finished the second book in the series: The Subtle Knife.

Well, The Subtle Knife starts off in the same fashion as The Golden Compass - the book throws the reader right into the action. This time the perspective begins from Will's point of view (you've got to read the book to get all the details!) and then, almost immediately, his plot line meets up with Lyra's. The rest of the book is an incredible adventure and I had to "step back" to think about some of the more interesting fiction and points that the author makes in the story. It's also amazing to see the parallels between the story and current events.

I don't want to talk too much about the plot, particularly since describing the plot in this book would ruin parts of The Golden Compass, but I must say that so far both books have been incredibly entertaining. And I'm well aware of the religious aspects touched upon in the books but I think those are separate issues that can be acknowledged or ignored, depending on one's perspective or beliefs. The important thing is that the book is entertaining and makes you think. I would rate this book an 8.5 (and by the way I would rate The Golden Compass as an 8); I am looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.

P.S. In the previous book review about The Golden Compass I discussed going to see the movie. Well, I saw the movie a few weeks ago and I was somewhat disappointed by major plot points being flipped around or even changed. I much prefer the Harry Potter movie series because in those movies they stick (almost faithfully) to the original books.