The Subtle Knife
The Subtle Knife continues the story of Lyra and introduces a new character, Will Parry. The book begins in our world with Will taking his mother to the only other adult he knows that he can trust: his piano teacher. She promises to take care of his mother who is mentally ill. Upon deciding to find his missing father who disappeared on an expedition to the Artic, Will journeys to Oxford and finds a window to another world. He enters and emerges in a city, a city that is completely deserted. While exploring a hotel, he meets Lyra and Pan. She tells him that she's looking for Dust, and hopes to find a Scholar like one in her world who can help her. Lyra learns that Will is searching for his father. While exploring the city, they find a building called the Torre de Angeli and enter. There they get into a fight The next day they venture into Will's world, our world, and Lyra meets a woman named Dr. Mary Malone who is researching black matter, who has a computer that can communicate with Shadows, a type of elementary particle that is conscious. Lyra gets hooked up to the computer and communicates with them using it as she would the aleithiometer. To the great suprise of Dr. Malone, Lyra is able to make pictures appear on the screen that she can read. Later, a man who introduces himself as Sir Charles Latrom sees her using the alethiometer and offers her a ride back to the area of town where the window is (she obviously doesn't tell him that her destination is a window to another world). He secretly steals the alethiometer; Lyra realizes this when she meets back up with Will in the other world. Will had been looking for information about his father, and he and Lyra come up with a plan to retrieve the golden compass.
To find out what happens on their quest to get the alethiometer back, and about the great struggle they become involved in afterwards, read The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman.
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