The Subtle Knife

Executive Summary: I liked this better than the first one, but I still don't seem to love this series like so many others.

Audiobook: The audio book was fantastic again. Not only the story narration but all of the voice readers make this a great choice in audio.

Full Review
So this book adds a second protagonist named Will whose seemingly from our world. I find him more likable than most of the other characters, including Lyra, but that's not saying very much. I just don't like most of the characters. I still also don't get how this is a book for children. It seems to value lying and murder among other questionable attributes. It's one thing not to pull punches with children, but this is something else.

Maybe I'm just too old or cynical. I also could have done without the mini-rant about religion. It just seemed unnecessary. I get that some of the characters are anti-religion. The rant really took me out of the story and I feel like it could have been left out without losing anything.

That aside, I found this one better than the first. I liked the stuff with multiple worlds a lot. Also, while the subtle knife seems like yet another plot device (may as well be a sonic screwdriver), it does add an interesting element to the story. When combined with the Alethiometer, it helps to add to the sense of fantasy to what could almost be a science fiction novel otherwise.

I wish I enjoyed this series more than I do. I was hoping this would be in the realm of Harry Potter. A lot of people seem to really enjoy this series. I just think it's OK. I liked it enough to pick up the final book to see how it all ends, but I'm not optimistic I'll be blown away.