The Subtle Knife

　　有兩股巨大的力量，從時間之初就開始作戰。一股力量希望人類聰明睿智；另一股力量則希望人類謙卑順從。最激烈的對戰即將爆發──兩方都需要「奧祕匕首」。

　　喜喀則的奧祕匕首，有人稱之為「最後的匕首」，或「伊瑟艾特」。那是一把可以切斷萬物的匕首，不管是人、物、幽靈、天使、時空，對奧祕匕首而言，沒有摧毀不了的東西。持有匕首的匕首人，即將成為影響未來的關鍵。

　　萊拉穿越了北極光，來到新的世界喜喀則。她遇見身懷祕密的亡命男孩威爾，兩人面臨更為奇異戰慄的情勢：幽靈盤據的死城、奧祕匕首強大的力量、「塵」的性質、天使現身、多方勢力的爾虞我詐……真相逐一浮現，卻更為混亂。萊拉和威爾的使命究竟為何？他們的冒險有什麼意義？
　

　　《奧祕匕首》為「黑暗元素三部曲」第二部。「黑暗元素」全書的創作靈感來自17世紀英國詩人彌爾頓的經典詩作《失樂園》，藉由兒童的眼光探討人類文明最具爭議的主題之一：宗教信仰。格局宏大，層次繁複，童心與陰謀交織對映，熱鬧趣味中流露詭譎陰暗面，無疑是當代奇幻經典。

The spellbinding sequel to The Golden Compass, the modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an ＂All-Time Greatest Novel＂ and Newsweek hailed as a ＂Top 100 Book of All Time,＂ continues the epic adventure, catapulting readers between worlds, and toward a devastating discovery.

Lost in a new world, Lyra finds 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.

A #1 New York Times Bestseller
Published in 40 Countries

＂Just as quick-moving and unputdownable as The Golden Compass. . . . The mysteries deepen and the wonders grow even more extravagant.＂ --The Washington Post

＂Pullman’s imagination soars . . . A literary rollercoaster ride you won’t want to miss.＂--The Boston Globe

＂The story gallops with ferocious momentum . . . Devilishly inventive.＂ --The New York Times Book Review

Don’t miss Philip Pullman’s epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials!
** THE BOOK OF DUST **
La Belle Sauvage
The Secret Commonwealth

PHILIP PULLMAN is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He 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 his services to literature in the 2019 New Years Honours.

The Book of Dust, Pullman’s eagerly anticipated return to the world of His Dark Materials, will also be a book in three parts. It began with La Belle Sauvage and continues with The Secret Commonwealth.

Philip Pullman is the author of many other beloved novels. For younger readers: I Was a Rat!, Count Karlstein, Two Crafty Criminals!, Spring-Heeled Jack, and The Scarecrow and His Servant. For older readers: the Sally Lockhart quartet (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin Princess), The White Mercedes, and The Broken Bridge. He has written a magnificent collection, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, and his essays and lectures on writing and storytelling have been gathered in a volume called Dæmon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling.

Philip Pullman lives in Oxford, England.