Tings are collapsing in the concluding book of The Dust Trilogy, the second of the author's magisterial trilogies set in a universe that manifests, in this volume especially, as a charged and slanted version of our own. Establishments are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along novel and disturbing lines. An unseen force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from authorities, and accumulating in the halls of religious leaders, the coffers of conglomerates, the control of crowds. "An element is at work, very quietly, gradually", says merchant a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the trade routes from his place in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and solid are faltering and giving way."
Core Enigma and Her Quest
Just what that force might be, and ways to oppose it, is the inquiry that drives The Rose Field, which picks up where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, Pullman's final excursion into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting universe he first introduced 30 years ago, with the release of His Dark Materials. It's a realm whose terrain maps on to that of the real world, but whose past diverges and shifts with ours; where the individuals appear and think and behave like us, but are joined by external spirits, beings in animal form; where the skies are teeming with witches and mythical beasts, but underneath, transports are ridden and drinks is consumed, and middle-aged academics carry Harrods shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first met as a 12-year-old in the first trilogy, and then met once more as a toddler in the prequel, the prequel with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a mature individual: still distinctly the spiky and tenacious heroine of the prior volumes, but aged, sadder, more careful, more doubtful. This limitation is heightened by her separation from her daemon, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the cause which made him desert her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
The daemon's resolve to go off in quest of that innocent part of her which she may have forgotten (an trait which he symbolizes as her "imagination"), and her mission to reunite with him, were the catalysts of The Secret Commonwealth, which chronicled the protagonist undertake a adventurous voyage across the continent and into the mountain region, meeting with wonder and danger on the way. But from the beginning, profound shifts were in action, and sinister powers at work. The Magisterium – the church's ruling body, and the author's masterfully eerie representation of rigid, bureaucratic malice – is under fresh command, and asserting its power. The antagonist – Lyra's relative, who faults her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of leader of the Magisterium's governing body, and is intent on using his fresh influence to extend the institution's control. Malcolm Polstead, who carried baby the heroine to safety along a overflowing river as an young boy in the prequel, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in spycraft: he is assigned to a key location to learn more about Delamare's aims. And underlying all of this is the enigma surrounding the scarce and precious botanical extract which seems in some way to be the source of a societal and economic upheaval spreading out from the region. The extract is regarded by some as a marketable product, by different parties as a empirical or spiritual wonder, and by further factions – the zealous "mountain dwellers" – as a source of malevolence; an insult that must be destroyed. The dilemma of its source, its meaning, and whether it should be removed or preserved is coming rapidly to the fore.
Similar to the original trilogy, the heroine's deeds, and her destiny, are shown to be inextricably linked with the future of the universe
In The Secret Commonwealth, these storylines ran broadly in side by side. In The Rose Field, they come together. Similar to the original series, her choices and her fate are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the future of the world. Her personal mission to reconnect with her daemon and recover her vision becomes the central struggle in a broader battle with an authoritarian government which, as such regimes often attempt, is attempting to stifle autonomy of thinking, creativity and culture: all the inner, defiant ways in which individuals can be liberated.
Atmospheric Fissures and Ideological Conflicts
The book starts with the finding of a series of strange openings in the fabric of the planet's air: gateways that look to give on to different dimensions. One such portal manifests to be the origin of the highly contested mystical extract. The church, with the antagonist at its leadership, designates these windows as a challenge to the institution's doctrine and sets out to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to move from inflexible reason and back to feeling, nevertheless, her belief that these locations must be protected – that what they stand for and what they offer is mysteriously crucial – strengthens. "The substance, or rose oil, or the imagination, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we call it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a philosophical struggle between naivety and experience is prepared.
Narrative Pacing and Character Development
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
