The Subtle Knife

by Philip Pullman

Book 2 of His Dark Materials

First published 1997 · 350 pages

About this book

As the boundaries between worlds begin to dissolve, Lyra and her daemon help Will Parry in his search for his father and for a powerful, magical knife.

She had asked: What is he? A friend or an enemy?

The alethiometer answered: He is a murderer.

When she saw the answer, she relaxed at once.

Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld – Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky.

But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm.

On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power.

And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat – and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

  • Fantasy
  • Juvenile literature
  • English Fantasy fiction
  • Fantasy fiction
  • Juvenile fiction
  • Fiction
  • Kidnapping
  • Missing persons

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