Will is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel – by the command of his dying father.
But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and and intrigues that beset him.
The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead…
You probably know by now how much I loved The Golden Compass and how I still liked The Subtle Knife but wasn’t a huge fan of the religious overtones. Well, this book was mostly religious overtones with some of the action from the first book, and a lot the drag from the second. I hate to say this, given how much some people liked this book, but I did not like the conclusion to Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.I already talked about how I don’t love religious overtones, but the final battle with angels had me wanting to throw my book. I loved this series for daemons, dust, and adventure. Also, battling against the Magisterium (which is what got this book banned by the Church). But to then have the final book be a new Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe where the whole fantasy is really just a veiled Bible story annoyed me to no end.
Another strike against this book was the amount of time spent on Mrs. Coulter. If you’ve read the first book, you know why I probably don’t like her. And here, I didn’t like her because I felt like she totally sold out Lord Asriel and Lyra (again), and then did an out-of-character, 180 turn that gave me whiplash.
Some nice things about the book: Lyra became more like her Golden Compass self (rather than the whiny version of The Subtle Knife), Will was still cool, and I really liked Dr. Mary Malone.
All in all, if you’re like me and have to finish what you start, read it. There is some good stuff in it, but if you’re as non-religious as I am, you might not enjoy it.