Things are unraveling in the last installment of The Dust Trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a realm that manifests, now more than ever, as a charged and slanted version of our own. Institutions are failing, or reassembling themselves along unfamiliar and troubling lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is shifting from states, and gathering in the halls of religious leaders, the vaults of conglomerates, the hands of rioters. "Something is at work, stealthily, very subtly", says businessman a merchant figure, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his post in an Aleppo cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and durable are weakening and failing."
Core Enigma and The Protagonist's Path
Just what that something might be, and how to counteract it, is the inquiry that drives The Rose Field, which continues where the previous book left off. This is, reportedly, Pullman's last foray into the elaborately built, infinitely beguiling universe he first unveiled in the distant past, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a world whose geography maps on to that of this world, but whose history tacks and jibes with ours; where the people appear and reason and behave like us, but are paired by animal souls, essences in creature form; where the air are populated with enchantresses and gryphons, but underneath, transports are ridden and tea is sipped, and older academics carry luxury shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then saw again as a baby in the prequel, the introductory book with which the author began The Book of Dust, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and tenacious protagonist of the previous installments, but older, melancholic, more cautious, more doubtful. This restraint is heightened by her division from her soul companion, her daemon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the cause which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
His choice to go off in quest of that youthful part of her which she may have forgotten (an quality which he represents as her "creativity"), and her quest to reunite with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a adventurous trek across the continent and into the mountain region, facing with wonder and peril on the way. But from the start, profound shifts were in motion, and sinister powers at work. The Magisterium – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister representation of austere, procedural evil – is under recent guidance, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – Lyra's family member, who faults her for his sister's death – has positioned himself into the office of president of the authority's governing body, and is intent on using his fresh influence to expand the church's rule. Another protagonist, who carried infant the heroine to refuge along a flooded river as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an academic with a sideline in intelligence work: he is sent to Geneva to learn more about the antagonist's plans. And underlying all of this is the puzzle surrounding the scarce and precious rose oil which seems mysteriously to be the source of a societal and financial crisis spreading out from that area. The extract is seen by various factions as a commercial good, by alternate groups as a scientific or spiritual wonder, and by yet others – the extremist "mountain dwellers" – as a source of evil; an affront that must be obliterated. The question of where it comes from, its significance, and whether it should be destroyed or preserved is becoming urgent.
As in the first series, our protagonist's actions, and her destiny, are revealed to be inseparably linked with the future of the realm
In The Secret Commonwealth, these narratives ran largely in side by side. In The Rose Field, they come together. Similar to His Dark Materials, the protagonist's movements and her fate are unveiled to be inextricably entwined with the destiny of the realm. Her personal journey to reunite with her soul and regain her vision becomes the key struggle in a broader battle with an authoritarian regime which, as such authorities typically do, is striving to suppress freedom of reason, innovation and art: all the internal, resistant ways in which humans can be independent.
Cosmic Openings and Philosophical Struggles
The novel opens with the finding of a series of curious cracks in the structure of the planet's air: gateways that appear to open into different dimensions. An example of a opening appears to be the origin of the fiercely disputed mystical extract. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its helm, designates these windows as a challenge to the church's doctrine and sets out to eliminate them. As Lyra begins to turn away from strict reason and return to intuition, nevertheless, her belief that these locations must be protected – that their significance and what they offer is somehow crucial – grows. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the botanical realm, or whatever we label it," she says, "it is necessary." 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
