Subtle?  Are you kidding me?

The Subtle Knife
Philip Pullman
Yearling

Part of me wonders if Pullman (or his editors) had his tongue planted firmly in cheek when he came up with the title of this novel.   There is nothing subtle about this book -- it is absolutely over-the-top and choc-a-bloc full of religious imagery and poetic allusion.  Milton, Blake, Calvinistic and Catholic interpretations of doctrine/dogma -- oh yes, this book has it all.  There must be a lot of brainy twelve year olds out there cause that's where I found this in the bookstore.

The Subtle Knife picks right up where The Golden Compass leaves off.  Lyra is introduced to a new character, the aptly named Will, and together, the two of them travel to new worlds in search of Lyra's answers.  While the narrative conforms to the conventions of the fantasy genre, there is so much more going on in this novel.  Part me thinks that the other is writing a response, of sorts, to Milton's Paradise Lost.  Angels figure prominently in this novel and it is clear that Lyra's father, the Lord Asriel, is the new Satan.  Another part thinks that this is no more than a classic bildungsroman and the coming of age of both Lyra and Will is representative of how everyone must grow up.

While I can't say that I really enjoyed this novel as much as the first, it did make me think.  And, I might add, has me seriously considering digging out my Milton textbook from university and turning the pages of Paradise Lost.  The Subtle Knife gets two stardust nights out of five.