Things are unraveling in the concluding book of The Book of Dust, the second of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a universe that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Organizations are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along novel and disturbing lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; concurrently, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from governments, and pooling in the halls of religious leaders, the coffers of conglomerates, the grasp of crowds. "An element is at work, stealthily, imperceptibly", says businessman Mustafa Bey, keeping a vigilant eye on the ancient paths from his place in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were stable and solid are weakening and collapsing."
Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey
Precisely what that force might be, and methods to fight it, is the mystery that animates The Rose Field, which resumes where the previous book concluded. This is, according to many, the author's concluding foray into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling realm he first introduced 30 years ago, with the launch of His Dark Materials. It's a domain whose terrain maps on to that of the real world, but whose past tacks and jibes with ours; where the people appear and reason and act like us, but are joined by animal souls, souls in animal form; where the air are teeming with witches and mythical beasts, but underneath, vehicles are taken and beverages is sipped, and mature academics carry luxury shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first met as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then met once more as a baby in La Belle Sauvage, the origin story with which Pullman began this trilogy, is now a mature individual: still recognisably the sharp and persistent protagonist of the previous installments, but more mature, melancholic, warier, less sure. This restraint is amplified by her split from her soul companion, her daemon – but it was also, ironically, the cause which led him to leave her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
Pan's decision to leave in search of that childlike part of the heroine which she appears to have shed (an trait which he represents as her "vision"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which followed Lyra undertake a wandering journey across Europe and into the mountain region, facing with wonder and risk on the way. But from the start, deeper currents were in motion, and malevolent elements at work. The church authority – the faith's controlling power, and Pullman's masterfully eerie representation of rigid, procedural evil – is under fresh command, and asserting its power. The antagonist – our protagonist's family member, who holds responsible her for his sibling's death – has manoeuvred himself into the position of president of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his newfound authority to extend the church's dominium. Another protagonist, who rescued young the heroine to security along a flooded river as an child in the first book, is now an Oxford don with a additional duty in spycraft: he is sent to a key location to discover more about the antagonist's aims. And underlying all of this is the enigma surrounding the rare and precious essential oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a social and financial disturbance rippling out from the region. The oil is seen by some as a commercial good, by different parties as a empirical or spiritual wonder, and by others still – the fanatical "highland figures" – as a wellspring of malevolence; an insult that must be eradicated. The issue of where it comes from, its significance, and if it should be removed or safeguarded is escalating in importance.
Similar to the original trilogy, Lyra's deeds, and her destiny, are revealed to be inextricably linked with the destiny of the universe
In The Secret Commonwealth, these storylines ran broadly in side by side. In this final book, they come together. Like the original series, Lyra's choices and her destiny are unveiled to be inextricably woven with the fate of the world. Her personal journey to rejoin with her soul and regain her vision becomes the primary battleground in a broader war with an oppressive government which, as such regimes typically do, is attempting to stifle independence of thinking, creativity and culture: all the inner, resistant ways in which individuals can be liberated.
Cosmic Openings and Philosophical Struggles
The story starts with the discovery of a series of strange openings in the fabric of the world's sky: portals that appear to lead to different dimensions. A particular window appears to be the origin of the much debated botanical substance. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its leadership, classifies these openings as a threat to the religion's beliefs and aims to destroy them. As the heroine begins to shift from strict rationalism and return to instinct, nevertheless, her certainty that these sites must be preserved – that their significance and what they provide is mysteriously vital – strengthens. "The substance, or rose oil, or the imagination, or the botanical realm, or whatever we call it," she says, "we require it." The setting for a Blakean struggle between naivety and knowledge is prepared.
Story Tempo and Protagonist Growth
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
