Tings are falling apart in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the second of the author's masterful trilogies set in a realm that manifests, here more than ever, as a energized and slanted version of our own. Establishments are weakening, or reassembling themselves along new and disturbing lines. An invisible force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from governments, and pooling in the halls of theocrats, the vaults of conglomerates, the control of rioters. "An element is at work, silently, very subtly", says merchant a merchant figure, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his seat in an Aleppo cafe. "Aspects we thought were secure and solid are deteriorating and giving way."
Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey
Exactly what that something might be, and how to counteract it, is the mystery that propels The Rose Field, which picks up where the previous book left off. This is, by all accounts, Pullman's concluding venture into the carefully crafted, endlessly enchanting world he first introduced in the distant past, with the release of Northern Lights. It's a domain whose geography maps on to that of the real world, but whose history veers and changes with ours; where the people appear and reason and act like us, but are paired by animal souls, beings in animal form; where the heavens are filled with sorceresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, transports are caught and drinks is consumed, and older professors carry luxury shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first introduced to as a 12-year-old in the first trilogy, and then saw again as a toddler in the prequel, the introductory book with which the author began the series, is now a young woman: still clearly the sharp and determined protagonist of the previous installments, but more mature, melancholic, more careful, less certain. This limitation is intensified by her separation from her soul companion, Pan – but it was also, paradoxically, the catalyst which led him to leave her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
The daemon's resolve to leave in search of that innocent part of Lyra which she may have forgotten (an trait which he represents as her "creativity"), and her journey to rejoin with him, were the driving forces of the prior book, which followed the protagonist undertake a wandering trek across Europe and into the Caucasus, facing with amazement and peril on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in motion, and sinister powers at work. The Magisterium – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister incarnation of austere, bureaucratic malice – is under recent guidance, and showing its strength. Marcel Delamare – our protagonist's uncle, who blames her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of president of the church's governing body, and is set on using his newfound power to expand the religion's control. A key character, who rescued baby the heroine to safety along a overflowing Thames as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an Oxford don with a additional duty in espionage: he is sent to a key location to find out more about the antagonist's intentions. And beneath all of this is the puzzle surrounding the scarce and valuable rose oil which seems mysteriously to be the source of a societal and economic crisis emanating out from the region. The extract is regarded by various factions as a marketable commodity, by alternate groups as a scientific or mystical phenomenon, and by further factions – the zealous "mountain dwellers" – as a source of evil; an affront that must be eradicated. The issue of its origins, its meaning, and if it should be destroyed or protected is escalating in importance.
Similar to the original trilogy, Lyra's actions, and her destiny, are revealed to be deeply linked with the fate of the world
In the previous volume, these narratives ran largely in side by side. In this final book, they come together. Similar to the first trilogy, her movements and her path are shown to be deeply woven with the future of the world. Her private quest to rejoin with her companion and recover her vision becomes the central conflict in a broader battle with an oppressive system which, as these systems typically do, is attempting to quell independence of reason, originality and art: all the personal, rebellious ways in which humans can be free.
Atmospheric Fissures and Ideological Conflicts
The book begins with the finding of a set of strange cracks in the makeup of the Earth's sky: portals that seem to lead to different dimensions. One such portal appears to be the point of the much debated mystical extract. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its head, labels these portals as a problem to the institution's doctrine and endeavors to eradicate them. As the heroine begins to move from rigid logic and back to instinct, nevertheless, her conviction that these places must be protected – that what they stand for and what they provide is somehow crucial – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or the substance, or the vision, or the field of roses, or whatever we name it," she says, "we need it." The scene for a Blakean conflict between innocence and maturity is established.
Story Tempo and Protagonist Growth
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
