The Subtle Knife Graphic Novel

by Philip Pullman

Overview

This graphic novel adaptation of The Subtle Knife is a great entry for readers new to His Dark Materials and an exciting new look at the classic for existing Pullman fans.

Philip Pullman's world is brought to visual life in The Subtle Knife Graphic Novel, a companion to the successful The Golden Compass Graphic Novel. The stunning full-color art will offer both new and returning readers a chance to experience the story of Lyra, an ordinary girl with an extraordinary role to play in the fates of multiple worlds, in an entirely new way.

In The Subtle Knife, Lyra meets Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.

Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, their destinies are bound together...until they are split apart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593176924
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Series:	His Dark Materials Series
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	181,961
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

PHILIP PULLMAN is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been named one of the top 100 books of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. Pullman was knighted for services to literature in the 2019 New Year Honours.

Philip Pullman is also the author of four volumes related to His Dark Materials: Lyra's Oxford, Once Upon a Time in the North, Serpentine, and The Collectors. And a new trilogy set in the same world, The Book of Dust, which began with La Belle Sauvage and continues with The Secret Commonwealth.

Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit philip-pullman.com or follow him on Facebook at Philip Pullman author, and on Twitter at @PhilipPullman.

STÉPHANE MELCHIOR has worked as a screenwriter for both film and television. Recently, he turned his creative energies toward comics, penning both original stories and adaptations, including Raiju and Raiden with Loïc Sécheresse and an adaptation of The Great Gatsby with Benjamin Bachelier.

THOMAS GILBERT spent a year studying the fine arts in Paris and three more at the Saint-Luc Institute in Brussels, specializing in comics. His primary influences came from L'Association, which taught him the importance of the author's perspective in developing a narrative.

Hometown:

Oxford, England

Date of Birth:

October 19, 1946

Place of Birth:

Norwich, England

Education:

Exeter College, Oxford University

Website:

http://www.philip-pullman.com/

Editorial Reviews

"It’s no small feat to take a story as dense as this one and render it into a graphic novel, but fans of the series will be rewarded with lovingly depicted characters, vivid illustrations, and thrilling adventure. A worthy addition to the series, brought to life with stunning art." —SLJ

"In this graphic adaptation of Pullman’s classic, Will, a boy from our world in search of his father, stumbles upon a window into another world. There, he meets Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, who have traveled from their own world, leaving behind both allies and enemies, in search of answers about the ineffable Dust. The art shines when depicting the fantastical worlds the characters inhabit, including sweeping landscapes and cityscapes." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

03/18/2022

Gr 5 Up—Lyra finds a new companion in this beautifully adapted version of Pullman's The Subtle Knife. Will Parry is a hopeful kid from our world with a missing father and an unwell mother. He accidentally slips into a parallel world through a cut in the fabric of the universe and meets Lyra, sealing their fates. Will takes Lyra and Pantalaimon, her dæmons, back home to Oxford, where they seek information regarding Will's father and Lyra continues her search for Dust. Lyra meets an Oxford professor studying dark matter, which they determine is the same thing as the Dust of her world. Back in Lyra's world, Lee Scoresby tracks down Stanislaus Grumman for details on a weapon that could save her. Serafina Pekkala, the witch, seeks to protect Lyra and soon finds that Will needs her help, too. When the boy comes in possession of a knife that can slice through anything, people in multiple dimensions want to see him destroyed. Gilbert uses Clément Oubrerie's character designs from the previous volume (Lyra's hair remains delightfully disheveled) but brings his own style to the extra fantastical worlds of the witches and angels. His faces for the dæmons are particularly expressive. It's no small feat to take a story as dense as this one and render it into a graphic novel, but fans of the series will be rewarded with lovingly depicted characters, vivid illustrations, and thrilling adventure. VERDICT A worthy addition to the series, brought to life with stunning art.—Gretchen Hardin

School Library Journal

2021-10-26
Lyra and Will meet in a world beyond each of their own and begin a journey that will change all the myriad worlds.

In this graphic adaptation of Pullman’s 1997 classic, Will, a boy from our world in search of his father, stumbles upon a window into another world. There, he meets Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, who have traveled from their own world, leaving behind both allies and enemies, in search of answers about the ineffable Dust. As witches, angels, a scientist, and more gather for an impending confrontation, Will and Lyra form an alliance of their own, moving between worlds and ultimately encountering the titular powerful knife. While this is a faithful adaptation in terms of major plot points and even a good deal of dialogue, some changes will perplex existing fans of the series, including many instances of characters breaking the taboo of touching another’s dæmon and inconsistencies to do with dæmon lore. Other changes, while functionally following events of the original, should have an effect on emotional moments, but these repercussions unfortunately never play out on the page. The art shines when depicting the fantastical worlds the characters inhabit, including sweeping landscapes and cityscapes, but at times lacks subtlety and finesse when depicting the characters themselves. Lyra and Will and most other characters are White.

An offbeat adaptation that glosses over the nuances of the original. (Graphic fantasy. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews