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yukine-sakamoto · 1 month ago

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The Subtle Knife Review

Okay finally, finally finished The Subtle Knife. Barnes & Nobel, disappointingly, lost my shipment and took months to fix it. Then, once it was in my hands and I was half way through, life got in my way, and I had to take a couple month break to fight with my insurance company. Such a big to-do for a relatively short novel.

Overall I enjoyed it, but I have to say not as much as the first. I liked Will (and feel an incredible depth of sadness for him), and I think he was a good foil for Lyra. It was interesting to see her start to grow up a bit too, see how they approach things differently, see how they learn from each other. I liked learning more about the world and how things work. We’re starting to get much closer to Lyra’s original question about dust, and we get to know more about the witches as well. I was worried about the whole multiple worlds thing getting messy. There’s so many convoluted multiverses in vogue right now. It’s exhausting. But I think it was handled well, and really I should’ve been more prepared. I mean, the different worlds are explained on the very first page of the first book before we even meet Lyra. Overall, we got some answers and plenty more questions. I still feel like things aren’t, let’s say, coming together. Pacing is always an issue with these kinds of big fantasy mystery things where the author has to dole out parts of the answer that are simultaneously foundational parts of the world building. I say this because I’ve been burned before by other series that didn’t quite pull it together in the end, but It’s really too early tell here. Mainly, I think it suffered a bit from classic second-book-in-a-trilogy syndrome, in which the symptomatic novel serves more to connect books one and three rather than stand on its own. In the end, I’m looking forward to the next book, and in many ways that’s what counts.

Okay I’m trying to be more positive upfront with my reviews, but I also feel like there’s more meat in critiquing specifics. So here we go with that.

I’m still disappointed in how un-magical the witches feel. As much as I was happy to learn more about witch society, how they operate, how they view the world, they still barely did any actual magic. They read, to me, more like druidic espionage agents. They live in the woods, use daggers and bows, their society is more or less tribal, they live off the land. All very fitting with classic witch nature connection, but distinctly mundane. To my count we’ve seen three types of magic. First, they can turn invisible. That’s neat except it only sort of works, and it’s functionally the same as being regular stealthy. Second, they can fly. This would otherwise be really cool, but in a world with flying daemons, zeppelins, and where hot air balloons are apparently critical, flight just doesn’t seem that special. This is series that has been about journeys. Most of the characters we follow and struggles they meet are specifically about traveling somewhere, and they seem to get on just fine with walking. Or rather, we haven’t seen that flying really makes things exceptionally easier. In fact, the witches most seem to follow around other people who are walking. Idk doesn’t feel pivotal to me. Third, they tried to use some very dramatic healing magic on Will, and I thought, “finally, they’re casting a spell; real magic.” Except, it didn’t work so…bit underwhelming. The witches’ claim to fame mainly seems to be that they know things other people don’t. However, they are hesitant to reveal this to others, or the reader, and we don’t know how they get this information, so again, a bit lackluster.

I’m always amused, as I am recovering from a christian upbringing, when a story takes christian mythology as its back drop. The classic what if Lucifer wasn’t that bad, free will, rebellious spirit, the good guys aren’t that good, authoritarianism, all that sort of thing. In this case, it seems to be a very literal take on the whole thing. The angels are re-characterized as some kind of cosmic beings (?) that work for a very real and very involved god figure, whom I wonder if we’ll get to meet. It’s always difficult writing a god, especially a supposedly omnipotent/omniscient one, because the more they and their agents are given character, the more they seem human, rather than godly, and then the whole thing is moot really, isn’t it? But maybe that’s the point. I do find it interesting to note how the rebels behave compared to the church officials. They seem perfectly willing to use humans as means to an end, and manipulate/coerce them into to doing so. Not very free will if you ask me. Lyra was said to be destined to end destiny or something like that, so I suppose you could have an ends justify means argument if you wanted to but I really don’t.

Actually, this is quite important because I’m guessing (or maybe hoping) that Lyra and Will are going to have a choice to make, in the end. They’ll be told they have to pick a side. In a certain sense this happened to Will right at end. And I think they don’t really have a good option. Ruta Skadi made a big point about all the atrocities the church has committed throughout history, especially to children (a lot of which is true in the real world, by the way), and it’s completely ignored that Asriel straight up murdered and innocent boy in cold blood, to further his own ambition, and just left the body there in a snow drift. No seriously, no one has talked about what happened with Roger. His body is still there. No one other than Asriel, Lyra, and Mrs. Coulter know what happened to him. No one bothered to tell his family. The other kids come back with the gyptians, and his family is probably losing their minds because Roger’s not with them and no one knows anything for certain. It’s tragic. Not to mention he was working with Bolvengar for a while. He invented the metal that they use for intercision. He seems to be championed as this force of goodness and rightness in his rebellion, but I’m not on board.

To side note back to the witches, I think it’s incredibly strange how they seem to view and talk of love. They seem to think of themselves as above or separate from the humans, but so far they seem to be pretty basic to me. Ruta Skadi is clearly biased by her infatuation with Asriel. I found it hilarious that it was essential we know she went and fucked Asriel, but also essential that we know she didn’t say she did that but that everyone knew anyway, because obviously you would but as obvious as it is it still can’t be said apparently. Very churchy, to be honest. Anyway, not surprising in the least that she’s thrown herself, and the other witches more or less, at Asriel’s feet. Then there’s Juta Kamainen. I wasn’t sure where that was going when it was so specifically brought up early on, but I didn’t expect it at all to go where it did. I mean she basically threw a temper tantrum over a crush like a child, and let it get so bad she murdered someone. Apparently 100 years is not very old at all for witches. She never should’ve been allowed to carry a weapon if she can’t control herself. It was genuinely difficult for me to finish the last couple of chapters because of all the unnecessary death. Tragic.

I actually had a hard time with a lot of Will’s story. He’s had to content with so much for so long and from such a young age. It’s not right for such a young kid. I mean twelve really isn’t that old. They’ve made such a point of this distinction between adults and children, it can’t really be argued he old enough. I think with a lot of YA protagonists, it’s easy to suspend your disbelief at what they deal with because it part of the fantasy world. But not being taken care of, missing your parents, missing home, being lonely…these are all too real, and they hit a little close to home for me. I’ve been on my own mental health journey the past several months and have come more into touch with a part of myself that feels those sadnesses quite powerfully. Anyway, it’s also interesting to compare Lyra’s and Will’s upbringings. They both had unique situations with their parents, but Lyra had other people around to support her even if they didn’t always keep track of her properly. Lyra grew up with too little responsibility, and Will with too much. They’re both very confident and independent, but in very different ways for very different reasons.

When Asriel pulled Grumman’s head out of a vacuum chamber in the very first chapter, I did not in any way expect him to become a major part of the plot. In hindsight, I should have put it together in my head the first time someone mentioned “Jopari,” but I’m bad with names. I’m in love with how every person had a different backstory for him and was also fully convinced he was dead. I aspire to that level of unknowable mystique. Also, how did he end up with a daemon since he came from another world? He seems to actually have some real magic, but it’s very strange to me. I suppose it’s my general distaste for overly soft magic systems. When the village chief said there was a problem with his heart I thought it would be something mystical or at least emotional. Like he sacrificed some of his life force for an important ritual or maybe he’s depressed because he misses his wife and kid. But, no, it seems like he had a literal heart condition. Really sad and serious, but a little bit out of place in magic land. It didn’t really seem to affect him that much either. I mean he took down three zeppelins. Allegedly. Maybe that was dream? He was like a flaming skeleton for some reason briefly and that’s never really connected to anything. He recovered though. Oddly funny that he went on this huge journey, this epic quest, that taxed him physically, mentally, and spiritually, and the result of all that was just: “you have to kill god” *dies* Anyway, I think the main arc of this book, aside from progressing the narrative of the overall series, was Will’s search for his Dad, so it was not only tragic but also underwhelming that they never really got a moment together. Tough way to end the book.

Lee Scorsby continues to exist exclusively to ferry people around and be a conduit for exposition. We could have dug more into the ring he got from his mother, his relationship (or lack thereof) with Lyra, how he ended up as a balloon jockey, sort of anything really about his motives and values. But then he died in a crack in the earth. The thing is I actually liked Lee. I really wanted to know more. He seemed like a regular guy just trying to get through the day that got caught up in something way too big. One of the more relatable characters. I’m deeply offended that Grumman broke his promise, though I don’t really understand what he did (yet).

Something I found very interesting was the similarity between the mental state required for the Compass and for the Knife. There’s actually kind of a big emphasis on this in a lot of little places. It’s the same with the dark matter computer. There’s also many descriptions of how the witches listen to their senses and live in their nerves. Some of it reminded me quite a lot of the things I learn about in ACT. It’s a very roundabout, fantasy way to talk about mindfulness and meditation. I’m very curious where we’re going with that because of my own journey and because it contrasts somewhat with the western and christian backdrop.

The Compass seems to have developed a bit more of a personality this time. I don’t remember that at all from the first book. It seems to offer Lyra things without her asking, and she is newly hesitant to ask certain things because, this felt odd to me, it doesn’t want her to or something. I didn’t realize in the first book, possibly because Lyra was still learning how to use it for most of the time, but the compass is incredibly overpowered. As in, it could ruins the plot of the series completely type overpowered. You could theoretically just ask it what to do to get whatever you want, and it would have to give you a true and accurate answer. Did Lyra ever ask it directly “what is dust?” or “is it good or bad?” or “what the heck is going on around here, generally?” I feel like it had to be awkwardly nerfed by having a personality and by Lyra’s guilt towards Will so that the story could go on.

That being said I feel the opposite was true in certain scenes. The compass providing pivotal information apropos of nothing. Kind of starts to feel cheap. A bit deus ex machina. Oh by the way that skull has more dust. Oh by the way you need to go here and do this. Idk. I was also particularly irked by the scene where the witches rescue Will and Lyra from the citagazze children. It had been established that the witches were searching for Lyra and had decided to help her (although I don’t recall exactly where and how they had decided Lyra was the it girl, the council didn’t quite reach that conclusion), but it still felt convenient that they showed up right then and there. Sort of, we’re done with this part, now we’re going to walk a lot. Idk more of a feeling than anything.

I did like Dr. Maloney. As someone in a STEM field, I feel that the vibe was captured incredibly well. Tired, confused, out of money, unable to avoid military involvement. A lot of fictional scientists are very generic, or mad, so it was nice to have a more relatable portrayal. It is a pet peeve of mine when mystical properties are ascribed to dark matter. I don’t know why people do this. Dark matter is just a name for gravity that we don’t have an explanation for. You can’t find dark matter particles with an EM field. Finding this stuff, if it is even a particle, is actually a big area of research, as I understand it. It makes me laugh thinking of the photos of dust from the first book. As if it would be that easy. And there’s no reason it should be conscious either. All I’m saying is they made an angel detector and nothing else. Dark matter has nothing to do with it. I did note that the way Dr. Maloney was spoken to by the shadows and by Latrom felt very similar to me. Lots of world ending urgency, no other options. Classic manipulation technique. Goes back to what I said earlier about the rebel side feeling off. I’m looking forward to seeing where she ends up in citagazze and what her role will be in all this.

I feel something that hasn’t been addressed is Asriel and Coulters unique abilities. Lord Asriel’s ability to summon things was mentioned directly but never elaborated on. Coulter can apparently see through invisibility. They also both seem to have a supernatural ability to command. Like I’m not giving them credit for just being very willful, determined people. I think there’s more to it. There’s not really a good reason, in my mind, that the specters should listen to Coulter or the Angels should listen to Asriel. Shouldn’t even give them the time of day. I don’t know if anyone had ever talked successfully to either group before them. Still want to know more.

The specters are very interesting actually. Grumman said they feed on attention, and this is something that kids don’t have but adults do. That doesn’t really feel like a full answer to me. And it doesn’t completely connect to daemons and dust either. And where did they come from anyway. They just keep saying the philosophers did it because the knife can cut anything. I really thought this was going to go nuclear for a bit with all the talk of cutting particles.

The portals seem very strange as well. I would have expected that if you leave one dimension from a certain point on the globe, you would appear in the new dimension at the same point. But seems that the window in Oxford and the tear in the North Pole both go to citagazze. It’s unclear to me if citagazze is the name of the world or just that town, but we’ve not really been shown anywhere else. Asriel’s not even in citagazze’s dimension. It’s definitely a special place. The travelers said that angels would cross through even before this catastrophe. Whether that’s because this happens to be the dimension with the knife or if the knife is here because this dimension is a crossroads, it’s hard to say.

We learned Lyra’s prophecy name at the very end, Eve. Not sure where that comes from or why the witches have drawn the conclusions that they have, but I’m very put off. The thing about the fall and original sin, which they talked about in the first book, is that we all supposedly inherited it because we’re all descended from Adam and Eve. That doesn’t really work once humans are already going. It’s just one person falling. Happens all the time. Also weird that this world seems to acknowledge evolution, Dr. Maloney talked about the emergence of consciousness in early humans 30,000 years ago, but also must somehow reconcile that with the genesis stories because they talk of the fall and Lucifer’s rebellion as real events. Anyway, if Lyra’s Eve, I’m guessing Will is Adam. They’re both way too young for that, so that’s weird. I’m normally into romantic side plots, but again, they’re pre-pubescent. Not sure where we’re going here. I found it odd, actually, how they stuck together in the first half of the book. I don’t think it necessarily benefited either one after the got to Oxford. I suppose both of them just needed a friend, but they a lot of time arguing and justifying having to work together without a real satisfying answer. I suppose they’re in it now though.

As I write this, I realize a lot of the characters embody this idea of selfish ambition. Both Asriel and Coulter are very my way or the highway types. And both the rebels and the other angels seem the same way. Ruta and Juta both did a bit of this. Even Grumman pressed his own son into service of his own world view, although I think he thought he was doing what was right. I think Lee is the only one who didn’t have grand ambitions. Perhaps my English education didn’t fail me, and (god forbid) I’m discovering a theme. As I said above, I think Will and Lyra will eventually be expected to pick sides, and I think they will find both sides to have aspects of this selfish ambition, justified in different ways. And I hope that they see neither one is right, and can make the choice that truly sets people free to determine their own way.

Anyway, this a bit long. If you’ve read this far, wow, and also thanks. I’d love to chat if you’re up for it.

#the subtle knife #his dark materials #book review #books #booklr #books and reading #reading #fantasy

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