The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2) by Philip Pullman

★★★½

*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***

The author's anti-religous themes become more apparent in this sequel to The Golden Compass. Keeping in mind that Philip Pullman himself says that his books "are about killing God" and that he was "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief", I'm still trying to approach the series with an open mind. Pullman is a good writer and a gifted storyteller, so despite my apprehension about how he depicts religion, I can't help but be entertained by the story and its characters.

Interestingly, the science-fiction in this book (references to physics, elementary particles, and parallel universes) gradually shifted to what I can only think to call religion-fiction (references to angels and God). As with science-fiction, the fiction part of religion-fiction should be emphasized: Pullman takes familiar concepts of religion and makes up new ways to incorporate them. By using this perspective, I find that for me, the book loses some of its ability to offend.

Leaving behind Lyra's fantastical world, I was afraid this book wouldn't match up to The Golden Compass because much of it is set in our own (dull) world. But Pullman was able to keep the sense of fantasy alive by instilling in Lyra a sense of wonder about all that was unknown to her in our world. He also introduces a third world that I actually found to be the least interesting, but which plays a large part in bringing together the different threads of the story.

Pullman did a great job with Lyra's character development, from a fearless leader in The Golden Compass to a self-doubting and frightened follower in this book. We are led to believe that some of her new-found restraint comes from the nature of maturing and growing up. Could Dust be involved?

Surprisingly, Lee Scoresby was given a greater role in this book, and I grew to like his character quite a bit.

The Subtle Knife answers some of the questions posed in The Golden Compass, but as might be expected, new questions arise, on all levels. What exactly are Specters? If the alethiometer charges Lyra with the task of bringing Will to his father, why wouldn't Lyra simply ask the alethiometer to find out more about Will's father, as Pan suggests at one point? We learn that John Parry became a shaman - but what does that really mean? How does "becoming a shaman" suddenly give him so much power and so much knowledge about so many things, including things in other universes? (I suspect it involves Dust and the holes drilled into his head, but given that John Parry's new-found skills simply come across as being too convenient, I don't think a proper explanation is too much to ask.) And why does he choose to support Lord Asriel in the coming war?

If the war has two sides, clearly one side is God, and Lord Asriel supports the other side. It's unclear what the other side is, but it sounds like it is Knowledge, and not Satan, as one might expect. The book depicts God not as good or loving or in any way supportive of mankind, but controlling and merciless: "Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling." (pg. 50) And if Knowledge is indeed the other side, that implies that knowledge is not a part of God or religion. The book seems to be saying that religion and knowledge can not peacefully coexist, so one must be destroyed.

Even as Pullman sets the stage for a war against God, the book itself doesn't really explain why. God is clearly portrayed as evil, but no real reason is given. We know the Church is an imposing, all-powerful institution in Lyra's world, but we haven't been told what exactly they do that's so bad. (Their research into daemon-cutting was secret, so the hatred of the Church pre-existed that development.) And if John Parry's world is our own world, why is he so against God as well? A reader can imagine what atheists might say to explain why a world without God would be desirable, but the book so far has not provided any such explanations to the reader.

So even as God and religion are lined up as Evil, and Knowledge is portrayed as Good, I am trying not to take that perspective. To limit the offense I might otherwise take, I am trying to think of one side being "an organized institution that doesn't allow people to think for themselves" (NOT my definition of modern religion) and the other side being "knowledge, like science, that helps to advance the human race." Additional questions related to the war include: Why do angels, commonly thought of as God's helpers, support Lord Asriel, too? How can a physical war be waged against God? Will Pullman manifest God in some physical way?

Despite the religious controversy, and all the questions, Pullman has created a compelling story of interesting characters. I'll definitely finish the series to find out what happens next.