Some of the main characters have decided to wage war on 'The Authority.' I had heard before I started the series that they were 'about killing God.' This seemed highly unlikely, and was probably a knee-jerk reaction from people who heard it from other people who read a synopsis of the book, etc. Some of these elements are expanded upon in The Amber Spyglass, which I'm currently reading, so forgive me if they don't all apply. It seems like Philip Pullman wanted to reel us in with fantasy before he could preach at us. The Subtle Knife, however decides that most of this is insignificant and takes place almost entirely in different universes.

In The Golden Compass, we were treated to a rich alternate universe that had elements that were similar to our own, like some of the geopolitical structure, and elements that were entirely fantastical, like armored polar bears and witches. Instead of the good stuff, in The Subtle Knife I feel as though we've had a bait and switch pulled on us. Instead, the focus can be on 'the good stuff': elaborating on the story, teasing us more, giving action, chopping off Luke's hand and so on. The author doesn't have to introduce the universe or the characters, as they did in the first installment, but they don't need to worry about wrapping up all the plot points either. In Great Britain, where Philip Pullman lives, it's published as Northern Lights.The second entry in a trilogy is often, in my opinion, the best. It's almost as if the northern lights symbolize all that is magical, mystical, and unknown about the world(s).īrain Snack: The Golden Compass is only the title for this book in North America. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound fiery crimson like the fires of Hell, they swung and shimmered loosely with more grace than the most skillful dancer. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. The sight filled the northern sky the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. The novel characterizes the northern lights as a sublime phenomenon that fill onlookers with both awe and fear: In The Golden Compass, the lights of the aurora illuminate a passage to another world. In our world the lights result from electrically charged particles in the earth's atmosphere. The northern lights, also known as aurora borealis are a glittering part of the sky that exist both in our world and the world of the novel.

Northern lights pullman