Tings are unraveling in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the second of Philip Pullman's magisterial trilogies set in a world that seems, here more than ever, as a energized and tilted version of our own. Establishments are failing, or reorganizing themselves along new and disquieting lines. An invisible force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from governments, and accumulating in the halls of theocrats, the treasuries of corporations, the grasp of rioters. "An element is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says businessman a merchant figure, keeping a watchful eye on the trade routes from his seat in an Aleppo cafe. "Things we thought were secure and solid are deteriorating and giving way."
The Central Mystery and The Protagonist's Path
Precisely what that something might be, and methods to fight it, is the mystery that animates The Rose Field, which resumes where The Secret Commonwealth ended. This is, according to many, the author's last foray into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting world he first revealed 30 years ago, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose geography corresponds to that of the real world, but whose chronicles veers and changes with ours; where the humans appear and reason and behave like us, but are paired by animal souls, souls in animal form; where the heavens are teeming with witches and gryphons, but below, transports are caught and beverages is sipped, and mature scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first encountered as a child in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a baby in the prequel, the prequel with which Pullman began the series, is now a young woman: still clearly the prickly and determined main character of the previous installments, but more mature, melancholic, more careful, more doubtful. This limitation is amplified by her split from her animal guide, her daemon – but it was also, ironically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Merging Narratives
Pan's decision to go off in search of that youthful part of her which she seems to have lost (an quality which he represents as her "imagination"), and her journey to reunite with him, were the incitements of the prior book, which saw the protagonist undertake a wandering trek across Europe and into the mountain region, meeting with amazement and danger on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in motion, and malevolent elements at work. The church authority – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister embodiment of strict, procedural evil – is under new leadership, and asserting its power. Lyra's uncle – the heroine's uncle, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the position of leader of the church's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his newfound power to extend the church's dominium. Malcolm Polstead, who saved infant Lyra to safety along a flooded river as an 11-year-old in the prequel, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in espionage: he is assigned to Geneva to discover more about his plans. And behind all of this is the puzzle surrounding the uncommon and precious botanical extract which seems mysteriously to be the source of a social and financial upheaval rippling out from that area. The extract is regarded by some as a tradeable good, by different parties as a scientific or spiritual phenomenon, and by yet others – the fanatical "highland figures" – as a origin of darkness; an affront that must be eradicated. The dilemma of where it comes from, its significance, and if it should be destroyed or safeguarded is becoming urgent.
As in the original trilogy, Lyra's actions, and her future, are shown to be deeply linked with the future of the realm
In The Secret Commonwealth, these storylines ran broadly in side by side. In The Rose Field, they converge. Like His Dark Materials, her actions and her fate are unveiled to be deeply linked with the destiny of the world. Her personal mission to reunite with her daemon and recover her vision becomes the central struggle in a broader battle with an controlling government which, as these systems always have, is seeking to suppress freedom of reason, innovation and culture: all the personal, defiant ways in which people can be liberated.
Cosmic Openings and Moral Battles
The story opens with the finding of a series of curious fissures in the fabric of the planet's atmosphere: portals that seem to lead to alternate realities. A particular portal seems to be the origin of the fiercely disputed rose oil. The church, with the antagonist at its leadership, labels these openings as a challenge to the church's doctrine and endeavors to eradicate them. As Lyra begins to turn away from inflexible rationalism and back to intuition, yet, her conviction that these locations must be protected – that what they stand for and their value is somehow vital – increases. "Dust, or rose oil, or the imagination, or the field of roses, or no matter what we label it," she says, "we require it." The stage for a Blakean tussle between purity and knowledge is prepared.
Story Tempo and Character Development
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
