The Subtle Knife
core novel 1997 His Dark Materials
Record
| First published | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.15 (468,205 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 370 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781405663496 |
Synopsis
Picking up as the first volume ends, the second book introduces Will Parry, a twelve-year-old from our own world who is fleeing after a violent confrontation at his home when he stumbles through a window into another universe. There he meets Lyra, freshly arrived from her own world, in the abandoned city of Cittagazze, whose adult inhabitants have vanished and whose streets hide soul-devouring spectres. Will is searching for his long-missing father, while Lyra continues to pursue answers about Dust with the help of her alethiometer. Their paths converge around an ancient, immensely powerful blade capable of cutting doorways between universes, which multiple factions -- including agents of the Magisterium and Lyra's estranged parents -- want for their own ends, setting Will and Lyra on a shared journey between worlds.
Where it sits
- Universe: His Dark Materials
- Series: His Dark Materials (trilogy) core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Philip Pullman
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series His Dark Materials (trilogy): position 2 of 3: previous Northern Lights (1995) · next The Amber Spyglass (2000)
Sources
← His Dark Materials dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.