Things are unraveling in the concluding book of The Dust Trilogy, the next of the author's magisterial trilogies set in a world that appears, in this volume especially, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Institutions are failing, or reorganizing themselves along new and disquieting lines. An unseen force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Authority is shifting from authorities, and accumulating in the chambers of religious leaders, the coffers of corporations, the control of mobs. "Something is at work, very quietly, imperceptibly", says trader Mustafa Bey, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his seat in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were firm and solid are deteriorating and giving way."
Core Enigma and Lyra's Journey
Exactly what that element might be, and how to counteract it, is the mystery that drives the concluding book, which resumes where its predecessor left off. This is, reportedly, the author's last foray into the intricately constructed, deeply captivating realm he first revealed in the distant past, with the launch of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose landscape maps on to that of this world, but whose history veers and changes with ours; where the people appear and reason and behave like us, but are joined by daemons, souls in beast form; where the air are filled with enchantresses and gryphons, but beneath those skies, transports are caught and tea is sipped, and mature academics carry Harrods shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a baby in the prequel, the origin story with which Pullman began the series, is now a young woman: still clearly the spiky and tenacious heroine of the prior volumes, but aged, sadder, more cautious, less sure. This limitation is amplified by her division from her animal guide, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
His choice to leave in quest of that youthful part of her which she appears to have shed (an quality which he epitomises as her "vision"), and her quest to reconnect with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed Lyra undertake a wandering voyage across Europe and into the mountain region, meeting with marvel and peril on the way. But from the beginning, deeper currents were in play, and darker forces at work. The religious council – the religious governing authority, and the author's brilliantly sinister incarnation of rigid, bureaucratic malice – is under fresh command, and asserting its power. Lyra's uncle – the heroine's family member, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has positioned himself into the role of head of the Magisterium's governing body, and is set on using his newfound influence to expand the religion's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who carried baby Lyra to refuge along a swollen Thames as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an Oxford don with a secondary role in intelligence work: he is dispatched to a key location to learn more about Delamare's intentions. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and costly essential oil which manifests mysteriously to be the source of a societal and financial upheaval emanating out from that area. The substance is seen by some as a tradeable good, by others as a research-based or mystical miracle, and by others still – the zealous "highland figures" – as a origin of darkness; an affront that must be obliterated. The question of its origins, its significance, and whether it should be removed or protected is becoming urgent.
As in His Dark Materials, Lyra's actions, and her fate, are revealed to be deeply entwined with the fate of the world
In the previous volume, these plots ran broadly in side by side. In The Rose Field, they merge. Like the original series, Lyra's choices and her path are revealed to be deeply entwined with the destiny of the universe. Her private journey to reconnect with her companion and rediscover her creativity becomes the key battleground in a broader conflict with an authoritarian system which, as such authorities always have, is attempting to stifle independence of reason, originality and art: all the inner, resistant ways in which humans can be independent.
Cosmic Openings and Ideological Conflicts
The book starts with the discovery of a series of unusual openings in the fabric of the world's atmosphere: gateways that look to give on to other worlds. A particular portal seems to be the origin of the highly contested mystical extract. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its leadership, labels these portals as a challenge to the church's doctrine and endeavors to eradicate them. As the heroine begins to shift from strict reason and back to intuition, yet, her certainty that these locations must be protected – that their meaning and what they provide is somehow vital – increases. "Dust, or rose oil, or the vision, or the field of roses, or whatever we call it," she says, "we require it." The stage for a poetic struggle between naivety and maturity is prepared.
Story Tempo and Character Development
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
