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His Dark Materials - Book II



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On Sale: November 13, 2001
Pages: 368 | ISBN: 978-0-440-41861-0
Published by : Knopf Books for Young Readers RH Childrens Books
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on  ..."



"Mrs. Cooper?" she said doubtfully.

what would happen to her if he didn't.


over a year. What do you want, dear?"


noticed. And neither had Will. Something was wrong.


cheekbones, their wide eyes, their straight black brows.


I think you could do that quite easily, probably."

Cooper, and his expression was desperate.

mind sharing."


"No! She's not ill."

someone in the family--"



to do it for long."

say no.

won't be needing it again."






remembering his manners, and held out his hand.




never seen a child so implacable.

He turned away, already thinking about the empty house.




to hear; the house was empty.

quickly. He went upstairs and began to search.

surprising number of places to hide something that size even in any
ordinary modern house; you don't need secret panels and extensive cellars
her underclothes, and then he worked systematically through the rest of
sat and cleaned herself nearby, for company.

But he didn't find it.

look through the downstairs rooms.

As he was finishing his meal, the phone rang.


frightened face always there just out of reach.

hours), he woke up knowing two things simultaneously.

downstairs, opening the kitchen door.


patterns and bobbins were kept.

have been a flashlight at the edge of the door.


listening hard.



"Go on, then. Don't hang about."

along the floor outside. Will saw it through the crack.

intruder's belly.

But neither of them saw the cat.

the stairs and crashed his head brutally against the hall table.

room and stare.


the rush hour started.



Would she try to follow them?



Except that he'd killed someone.

they were safe, because they became invisible.


So when they reached the checkout Will was excited and happy because

be frightened, so as to reassure her.


But sometime during the next few months, Will realized slowly and

remember him. Will was passionately curious about his father,
"Was he a rich man?"

"Where did he go?"

"Why did he go?"

"Is he dead?"

"Will he come back?"

"What was he like?"

invisible companion: he and his father were together hacking through the
their schooner, holding up a torch to decipher mysterious inscriptions in
other's life countless times, they laughed and talked together over
campfires long into the night.




difficult life, if you had a great aim like that.

nothing more than to live with her alone forever.

But then the men came.


felt his breath come more quickly.



had to be worthy of it.

kept her talking downstairs while the other searched the bedrooms. She

most of the drawers and cupboards.

after, and knew he had to do something about it.


And now he'd killed one of them.

So the police would be after him too.


endless road through the suburbs, heading north.

sign of open country.

like children's drawings than like real trees. The streetlights made the
trying to clear his head, he saw a cat.



Will, still watching, saw the cat behave curiously.

the air once more.

another few seconds of sniffing, touching, and whisker twitching,
curiosity overcame wariness.

The cat stepped forward and vanished.

saw it.


other side was in a different world.

profoundly alien.


smell of the sea.

groves of trees and the white gleam of a classical temple.


streets and gardens beyond the cafés whose lights were so inviting.
toward them, moving very carefully in case it all disappeared.

The air of the place had something Mediterranean or maybe Caribbean about
no one here, and the silence was immense.

stale rolls as hard as cardboard.

but he couldn't tell any more than that.

counter before leaving the café and wandering down the street going
away from the boulevard. Little grocery shops and bakeries stood between
jewelers and florists and bead-curtained doors opening into private
houses, where wrought-iron balconies thick with flowers overhung the

underside of their leaves glowing in the streetlights.

On the other side of the avenue was the sea.
stone columns and wide steps and ornate balconies stood floodlit among



entrances and bougainvillea flowering beside them, until he came to the
Will's own footsteps.

out on the calm water was a diving platform.

Will sat on the side of one of the pedal boa
Philip Pullman

About Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman - The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials

Photo © George Reszeter and the Oxford Times
















—Winner of the Carnegie Medal



—An ALA Best Books for Young Adults





—A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age







Praise | Awards







WINNER 1998 Maine Student Book Master List
WINNER 1998 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
Reader's Guide|Discussion Questions|Suggestions|Teachers Guide

About the Book


Discussion Guides

















Suggested Readings

The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
The Wonderful World of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Song of the Lioness and The Immortals by Tamora Pierce
The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton

From the Hardcover edition.

Teacher's Guide



Themes of good vs. evil, betrayal, courage, fear, trust, and love raise important questions, offering students a wonderful opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue. This guide offers questions for discussion and includes activities that connect the language arts, social studies, science, music, and art curriculum.


Philip Pullman’s intriguing and haunting trilogy sends fantasy lovers on an incredible journey through other worlds where they meet mysterious creatures and a brave and extraordinary 12-year-old girl, Lyra Belacqua, who has the power to seek truth.


The Subtle Knife takes Lyra to Cittagàzze, where she meets Will Parry, a fugitive boy from our own universe who becomes her ally and friend. On their journey from world to world, Lyra and Will’s lives become forever intertwined as they uncover
a deadly secret.

And finally, in The Amber Spyglass, Lyra and Will, with the help of two tiny Gallivespian spies and Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear, set out to a world where no other living soul has ever gone, to make their most haunting discovery yet.


Philip Pullman is the highly acclaimed and popular author of novels–from contemporary fiction to Victorian thrillers–plays, and picture books for readers of all ages. He received his degree in English from Oxford University and has taught middle school English for many years. The Golden Compass, the first of Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and is considered one of the best juvenile fantasy novels of the past 20 years. The Amber Spyglass, the trilogy’s astonishing finale, was the first children’s book in history to win the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. It was also nominated for the Booker Prize. Mr. Pullman lives with his family in England.



Religion plays an important part in many works of fantasy, which often include themes of good versus evil and characters searching to understand the basic foundations of their faiths. Ask students to use the Bible, a storybook, or an encyclopedia to read about the Garden of Eden and the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2, 3). Have students discuss original sin, why God forbade Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and how Adam and Eve’s lives changed once they gained knowledge.


Betrayal–Ask the class to look up the various meanings of the word betrayal. How does Lyra betray Roger in The Golden Compass? Discuss whether she was aware that she was betraying him. How does she try to rectify this betrayal? What is Lyra’s great betrayal in The Amber Spyglass? How do Lyra’s mother and father betray her–and then protect her? Discuss how Lyra deals with these betrayals.


Courage–Have students trace Lyra’s courage as she travels from one dimension to another. At what point does she almost lose her courage? How does Will show courage in The Subtle Knife? Discuss how Lyra and Will help one another sustain their courage throughout their quests in The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. Engage the class in a discussion about whether having possession of the alethiometer and The Subtle Knife either gives Lyra and Will courage or threatens it. How does it take courage to leave one another and return to their own worlds at the end of the trilogy?

Fear–At the end of The Golden Compass, Lyra is afraid of her father, yet admires him. Why does he evoke fear in her? How can she be afraid and admire him at the same time? How is fear the basis of Will’s mother’s illness? Discuss how fear is related to courage. Engage the class in a discussion about how Lyra and Will’s fears contribute to their courage as they face the evil forces.

Trust–In The Subtle Knife, Will accidentally kills an intruder who wants his father’s personal documents and then labels himself a murderer. Why does this enable Lyra to trust him? Which characters do Serafina Pekkala and Lee Scoresby decide to trust? Is their trust warranted? Who are the characters that Lyra once trusted, but in the end finds that she cannot? In what other way does trust play an important role in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy?

Love–In The Amber Spyglass, Will says to Serafina, “Thank you, Serafina Pekkala, for rescuing us at the belvedere and for everything else. Please be kind to Lyra for as long as she lives. I love her more than anyone has ever been loved.” (p. 509) Trace the development of Will and Lyra’s love for one another from the time they first meet in The Subtle Knife until they part in The Amber Spyglass. How does their love affect the fate of the living–and the dead? How does Lyra’s adventure help her to discover a new meaning of love?


Language ArtsThe Golden Compass has been described as a heroic novel. Ask students to identify the qualities of a hero. Who are the heroes in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy? Have students select a hero from one of the novels and write a poem about that hero. Encourage students to share their poems in class.

It is quite common for writers of fantasy to create their own vocabularies. Vocabulary, including the names of characters, is often symbolic of the underlying themes and messages of the story. Make a glossary for Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy that represents the unique vocabulary he created.

Social Studies–At the end of The Amber Spyglass, Will and Mary return to their world and Will accompanies Mary to her flat. Mary explains to Serafina that she can’t just give Will a permanent home because in her world you must follow rules and regulations regarding keeping children. Find out today’s rules regarding foster care. What is the purpose of foster care? Discuss whether Will would qualify for foster care. Would Mary qualify as a foster mother?

Art–Masks have been used through the ages to represent animals, monsters, supernatural spirits, dream creatures, etc. Ask students to think about which animal would most likely be their dæmon and create a mask to represent that animal. Allow students time to share their masks and to explain why they chose that particular animal as their dæmon.

Science/Health–Mary says that Will’s mother sounds like a “classic manic-depressive.” Ask students to research the symptoms and characteristics of manic-depression or bipolar disorder. How is it different from other types of depression? From anxiety? Research the treatments for various types of depression. What type of treatment is Will’s mother likely to need?





The Golden Compass 
The author tells us that The Golden Compass takes place “in a universe like ours, but different in many ways.” How do you think Lyra’s universe relates to ours?

Why do you think Lyra is described as an unimaginative child? Why would imagination be dangerous to her? How would it affect her understanding of the alethiometer?

What do you think is the author’s purpose in inventing– and exploring–the world of the armored bear?


The Subtle Knife 
How has Will learned to make himself unnoticed by others? Relate this to the witches’ ability to make themselves invisible.

How are the Shadows that communicate with Lyra through the computer related to Dark Matter (Dust)? If Lyra can understand the Shadows as she understands the alethiometer, is the computer also acting as a truth-giving device? What is the real origin of the Shadows’ messages?

Giacomo Paradisi tells Will the rules for bearing The Subtle Knife. (p. 188) Why do you think Will must “never open without closing”? What did Paradisi mean by a “base purpose”? Compare these formal guidelines to the instinctive rules Lyra obeys when using the alethiometer.

In what way can a knife that divides pathways between worlds–and can sever bone, rock, and steel–be called “subtle”?

The Amber Spyglass 
Dust, Dark Matter, and Sraf are three different names for the same material. How do these names reflect the different worlds they come from? What kinds of attitudes and feelings does each society have about this material?

Discuss whether Mrs. Coulter is aware that her influence on Will is capable of breaking the knife. What are the connections between Mrs. Coulter and Will’s mother?

Mrs. Coulter goes through a dramatic transformation as her maternal feelings for Lyra break through to the surface. What do you think is the catalyst for this change?

Discuss the significance of human dæmons taking an animal form. Do you think a Mulefa dæmon would take an animal or human form? What does this mean about the nature of dæmons?

By the end of the novel, what similarities can you see between Lyra and Mrs. Coulter? How is Lyra’s storytelling different from Mrs. Coulter’s lying?



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