Tings are collapsing in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's magisterial trilogies set in a realm that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and tilted version of our own. Establishments are crumbling, or restructuring themselves along new and troubling lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is shifting from states, and accumulating in the halls of religious leaders, the treasuries of business empires, the hands of crowds. "An element is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says trader Mustafa Bey, keeping a observant eye on the trade routes from his place in an city cafe. "Things we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and failing."
Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey
Exactly what that element might be, and methods to fight it, is the mystery that drives The Rose Field, which resumes where its predecessor ended. This is, reportedly, the author's final venture into the elaborately built, deeply captivating world he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the launch of His Dark Materials. It's a realm whose landscape maps on to that of this world, but whose history tacks and jibes with ours; where the individuals look and reason and act like us, but are paired by animal souls, beings in beast form; where the skies are populated with enchantresses and gryphons, but below, vehicles are caught and tea is consumed, and older professors carry luxury shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first encountered as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in the first volume, the prequel with which the author began The Book of Dust, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and persistent protagonist of the earlier books, but more mature, sadder, more careful, less certain. This restraint is intensified by her separation from her animal guide, Pan – but it was also, ironically, the cause which led him to leave her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
His choice to leave in search of that youthful part of the heroine which she may have forgotten (an trait which he represents as her "creativity"), and her journey to rejoin with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a adventurous journey across Europe and into the mountain region, encountering with wonder and danger on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in motion, and malevolent elements at work. The religious council – the religious ruling body, and the author's masterfully eerie incarnation of rigid, procedural wickedness – is under fresh command, and showing its strength. The antagonist – Lyra's family member, who blames her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of head of the Magisterium's governing body, and is determined on using his newfound influence to expand the religion's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who carried young the heroine to refuge along a overflowing Thames as an child in the prequel, is now an academic with a additional duty in espionage: he is sent to Geneva to find out more about his intentions. And underlying all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and precious botanical extract which manifests somehow to be the source of a social and financial crisis spreading out from that area. The substance is regarded by some as a tradeable commodity, by alternate groups as a empirical or spiritual phenomenon, and by yet others – the extremist "men from the mountains" – as a source of malevolence; an insult that must be destroyed. The issue of where it comes from, its significance, and whether it should be destroyed or protected is escalating in importance.
Like the first series, our protagonist's deeds, and her fate, are demonstrated to be inextricably linked with the fate of the world
In its predecessor, these storylines ran largely in side by side. In The Rose Field, they come together. Similar to the original series, the protagonist's actions and her path are shown to be deeply entwined with the destiny of the world. Her individual journey to rejoin with her companion and regain her creativity becomes the key battleground in a wider battle with an controlling government which, as such authorities often attempt, is attempting to quell independence of thought, creativity and art: all the internal, resistant ways in which individuals can be liberated.
Atmospheric Fissures and Moral Battles
The novel starts with the discovery of a collection of curious fissures in the makeup of the world's sky: windows that seem to lead to alternate realities. One such portal appears to be the origin of the highly contested botanical substance. The authority, with its leader at its helm, classifies these openings as a problem to the institution's orthodoxy and sets out to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to turn away from inflexible reason and back to instinct, however, her certainty that these places must be preserved – that what they stand for and their value is mysteriously vital – strengthens. "The substance, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the field of roses, or no matter what we name it," she says, "it is necessary." The stage for a poetic struggle between innocence and knowledge is set.
Narrative Pacing and Personal Evolution
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
