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The Subtle Knife cover art

The Subtle Knife

By: Philip Pullman
Narrated by: Philip Pullman, full cast
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials - now a major critically acclaimed BBC series.

She had asked: what is he? A friend or an enemy?
The alethiometer answered: he is a murderer.
When she saw the answer, she relaxed at once.

Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld - Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Spectres stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky.

But she is not without allies: 12-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm.

On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power.

And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat - and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

Read by Philip Pullman and a full cast of narrators.

©1997 Philip Pullman (P)2021 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about The Subtle Knife

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

poor editing and pointless, annoying music

Philip Pullman's narration is very good. Sadly this is let down by the continued irritating fake child voice of Lyra, ridiculous bursts of music over the top of the narration and Americanisms in the text. There are strange gaps when there is silence for no reason and then other areas when there needed to be breaks and the narration seems to lurch from one topic to another. Bad editing of the audio all round

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So Exciting and Thrilling!

Loved this dramatisation of the full book!
It brought the book alive in new ways, the characters feel so enveloping I was truly gutted when bad things happened to them and over the moon when they thrived!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

As good as the first time.

Loving my revisit of the Dark materials saga since I first read it as a young teenager. The BBC series reminded me of its rich tapestry and I was drawn back.
Loved it even more as I now appreciate the deeper implications, the religion, politics and intrigue way better than I did at first reading.
Masterful Mr Pullman.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

interesting

Having read the 1st bill and now this I do find the story slow building and sometimes Lyra is quite whiney. I read childrens books alot so it's nothing to do with that. I will continue to the end but don't expect to be blown away.

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2 people found this helpful

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brilliant

Well done for bringing to life this fantastic novel. loved every second of it. its very difficult to say anything else, so i won't.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Good but some the casting is irritating

Great story. But the voice of Lyra is deeply irritating. Same with the witch Serafina Pecolla.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, ruined by audible

OK so the book is excellent and it has been read and voiced as in book one. However, now they seem to have added a stupid tune over the start of each chapter. It comes through louder than the speech, with no warning. Has turned what should be a great book into a total farce. I will be checking reviews before I order book 3 as if its like this one I'm keeping my money

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent story, poor voice acting

I adore these books, however the voice acting in areas of this audiobook is so poor as to make it a struggle to listen, which is such a shame.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • 07-12-22

Sad to say …

Philip Pullman has written and narrated a wonderful book. It is totally let down by the ‘full cast’ and dreadful and unnecessary music. Such a disappointment.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Boring

As soon as they went to the world we live in I lost interest.

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1 person found this helpful