Philip Pullman "The Subttle Knife"

Philip Pullman - The Subtle Knife

Lyra Belacqua: the next level (The Subtle Knife)

Good books for girls age 12.

"The Subttle Knife" is the second part of the trilogy "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman. The book was released in 1997.

Lyra travels from her world into Cittagazze, a strange place, inhabited, at first glance, only by children. According to the stories of Сitagazze’s children, adults are devoured by mysterious ghosts whom children can not see. In Cittagazze Lyra meets Will Parry, the second main character of "His Dark Materials", who came to Cittagazze from his world. From this moment the life of Lyra changes significantly again. Meeting Will determines Lyra's fate, being one of the prophecies that come true as referred to in the trilogy.

In contrast to the "Northern Lights", where Lyra is still a child even if she goes through a lot of difficulties and losses, "The Subttle Knife" is written in a slightly different way. The narrative becomes more serious, the sadness which passes throughout the entire trilogy feels even more strongly. And Lyra continues to grow, learning more about the worlds, Dust and life in general.

The subtle knife is a subject with which you can transport yourself from one world to another, it chooses Will as its owner. Will with a help of the knife looks for his long-lost father and Lyra joins him, hoping to find the source of Dust. During their travels through different worlds the girl and the boy tie to each other, although at first they often quarrel due to their complex characters and different perceptions of the world.

When Lyra lived in a medieval Oxford she had many friends, among whom she enjoyed unlimited authority. With Will everything is different, he has much better orientation in a variety of situations, he knows more, and Lyra must learn to listen and trust him. In addition, it is difficult to impress Will, a boy of modern Britain, and Lyra is a bit shocked by that, because so far it was easy for her to get respect of other children.

"The Subttle Knife" is a kind of transitional stage in Lyra's life - she has already gone through a lot of things, her perception of the world has changed dramatically, she is not a little girl, but her experience and knowledge so far are not enough for the mysterious prophecy be realized.