Things are falling apart in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the next of the author's masterful trilogies set in a world that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and skewed version of our own. Institutions are failing, or reorganizing themselves along new and disquieting lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; concurrently, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from authorities, and accumulating in the offices of religious leaders, the treasuries of corporations, the hands of crowds. "Some force is at work, silently, imperceptibly", says trader a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his post in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were firm and solid are faltering and giving way."
The Central Mystery and The Protagonist's Path
Precisely what that force might be, and ways to oppose it, is the mystery that propels The Rose Field, which picks up where the previous book ended. This is, reportedly, Pullman's last foray into the elaborately built, endlessly enchanting universe he first introduced in the distant past, with the launch of Northern Lights. It's a realm whose landscape aligns with that of this world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the individuals look and think and act like us, but are joined by animal souls, essences in animal form; where the air are populated with sorceresses and legendary creatures, but beneath those skies, buses are caught and tea is drunk, and older academics carry Harrods 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 origin story with which Pullman began the series, is now a adult: still recognisably the spiky and persistent main character of the prior volumes, but more mature, more sorrowful, more cautious, less sure. This limitation is intensified by her separation from her animal guide, her daemon – but it was also, ironically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
His choice to go off in search of that childlike part of Lyra which she seems to have lost (an trait which he represents as her "creativity"), and her quest to reunite with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which followed the protagonist undertake a adventurous journey across the continent and into the Caucasus, facing with wonder and risk on the way. But from the outset, deeper currents were in action, and sinister powers at work. The church authority – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's deliciously chilling incarnation of austere, administrative wickedness – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – the heroine's family member, who faults her for his sister's death – has worked himself into the role of head of the church's High Council, and is set on using his newfound power to extend the church's control. Another protagonist, who saved infant the heroine to refuge along a swollen Thames as an child in the prequel, is now an academic with a secondary role in espionage: he is sent to Geneva to discover more about the antagonist's plans. And underlying all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and precious essential oil which seems in some way to be the source of a societal and financial crisis emanating out from Central Asia. The oil is viewed by some as a commercial good, by others as a scientific or spiritual wonder, and by others still – the extremist "mountain dwellers" – as a origin of darkness; an insult that must be obliterated. The dilemma of its origins, its significance, and if it should be eliminated or protected is escalating in importance.
Similar to His Dark Materials, our protagonist's actions, and her future, are shown to be deeply entwined with the future of the universe
In the previous volume, these narratives ran broadly in tandem. In The Rose Field, they merge. Similar to the original series, the protagonist's actions and her destiny are shown to be deeply linked with the destiny of the world. Her individual journey to reconnect with her companion and regain her vision becomes the primary battleground in a larger battle with an authoritarian government which, as such authorities often attempt, is seeking to suppress freedom of thought, originality and expression: all the internal, rebellious ways in which people can be liberated.
Dimensional Rifts and Philosophical Struggles
The book begins with the finding of a collection of unusual openings in the structure of the planet's air: windows that look to lead to alternate realities. An example of a portal manifests to be the origin of the much debated mystical extract. The authority, with Delamare at its head, designates these portals as a threat to the church's orthodoxy and aims to eliminate them. As our protagonist begins to turn away from rigid logic and revert to intuition, yet, her certainty that these places must be defended – that their significance and their value is mysteriously vital – grows. "The substance, or the extract, or the imagination, or the botanical realm, or whatever we name it," she says, "we need it." The stage for a poetic struggle between innocence and maturity is prepared.
Narrative Pacing and Character Development
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
