Tings are falling apart in the last installment of The Dust Trilogy, the second of the author's magisterial trilogies set in a world that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Organizations are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along unfamiliar and troubling lines. An unseen force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from states, and accumulating in the halls of religious leaders, the treasuries of corporations, the grasp of mobs. "Some force is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says trader Mustafa Bey, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his seat in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were secure and solid are weakening and collapsing."
Core Enigma and Her Quest
Just what that force might be, and how to counteract it, is the mystery that drives The Rose Field, which picks up where its predecessor left off. This is, reportedly, Pullman's concluding excursion into the intricately constructed, deeply captivating universe he first unveiled three decades past, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a world whose landscape aligns with that of our world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the humans appear and reason and act like us, but are paired by animal souls, beings in animal form; where the air are teeming with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but below, transports are taken and drinks is sipped, and mature academics carry luxury shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first introduced to as a young girl in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then met once more as a infant in the prequel, the introductory book with which the author began this trilogy, is now a young woman: still recognisably the sharp and determined protagonist of the previous installments, but aged, melancholic, more cautious, more doubtful. This limitation is intensified by her split from her daemon, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the cause which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Merging Narratives
Pan's decision to depart in search of that childlike part of her which she appears to have shed (an quality which he symbolizes as her "creativity"), and her journey to reunite with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed the protagonist undertake a picaresque trek across Europe and into the Caucasus, meeting with marvel and risk on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in action, and sinister powers at work. The religious council – the faith's controlling power, and Pullman's masterfully eerie embodiment of rigid, bureaucratic wickedness – is under fresh command, and showing its strength. Lyra's uncle – Lyra's relative, who blames her for his family member's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of president of the Magisterium's High Council, and is determined on using his recently acquired authority to broaden the church's dominium. Malcolm Polstead, who saved baby the heroine to safety along a flooded Thames as an 11-year-old in the first book, is now an academic with a additional duty in spycraft: he is sent to Geneva to learn more about Delamare's intentions. And underlying all of this is the puzzle surrounding the uncommon and precious rose oil which appears mysteriously to be the origin of a societal and financial upheaval spreading out from the region. The extract is regarded by certain groups as a marketable product, by alternate groups as a empirical or mystical miracle, and by others still – the extremist "highland figures" – as a source of malevolence; an insult that must be eradicated. The issue of its origins, what it stands for, and if it should be eliminated or protected is escalating in importance.
As in His Dark Materials, Lyra's deeds, and her future, are shown to be inseparably connected with the fate of the realm
In The Secret Commonwealth, these narratives ran broadly in tandem. In this final book, they converge. As in His Dark Materials, the protagonist's movements and her path are revealed to be inextricably entwined with the future of the world. Her personal quest to reconnect with her soul and regain her creativity becomes the central struggle in a broader conflict with an oppressive government which, as such regimes always have, is seeking to stifle autonomy of thought, creativity and culture: all the inner, defiant ways in which individuals can be free.
Cosmic Openings and Moral Battles
The story opens with the finding of a collection of strange fissures in the makeup of the Earth's atmosphere: gateways that seem to give on to different dimensions. One such portal appears to be the origin of the much debated botanical substance. The church, with its leader at its leadership, classifies these openings as a problem to the religion's orthodoxy and endeavors to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to turn away from strict logic and revert to instinct, nevertheless, her belief that these locations must be protected – that their significance and what they provide is mysteriously crucial – strengthens. "Dust, or the substance, or the vision, or the field of roses, or no matter what we label it," she says, "it is necessary." The stage for a philosophical struggle between innocence and maturity is established.
Narrative Pacing and Personal Evolution
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
