Things are collapsing in the final volume of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of the author's grand trilogies set in a universe that manifests, here more than ever, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Institutions are weakening, or reassembling themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is shifting from states, and accumulating in the chambers of religious leaders, the vaults of business empires, the hands of crowds. "An element is at work, stealthily, very subtly", says merchant a merchant figure, keeping a watchful eye on the trade routes from his place in an Aleppo cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and giving way."
Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path
Just what that force might be, and ways to oppose it, is the inquiry that drives The Rose Field, which picks up where The Secret Commonwealth ended. This is, according to many, the author's final venture into the carefully crafted, deeply captivating universe he first introduced three decades past, with the launch of His Dark Materials. It's a realm whose landscape aligns with that of the real world, but whose past diverges and shifts with ours; where the individuals look and reason and act like us, but are paired by daemons, essences in animal form; where the skies are filled with witches and legendary creatures, but underneath, transports are ridden and drinks is sipped, and middle-aged academics carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first encountered as a 12-year-old in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a baby in the prequel, the prequel with which Pullman began this trilogy, is now a mature individual: still distinctly the prickly and tenacious protagonist of the previous installments, but older, sadder, warier, more doubtful. This limitation is heightened by her separation from her soul companion, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the cause which led him to leave her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
The daemon's resolve to go off in search of that innocent part of her which she may have forgotten (an aspect which he symbolizes as her "creativity"), and her quest to reunite with him, were the driving forces of its predecessor, which chronicled Lyra undertake a picaresque voyage across Europe and into the mountain region, encountering with amazement and peril on the way. But from the beginning, deeper currents were in action, and sinister powers at work. The church authority – the religious controlling power, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister embodiment of austere, bureaucratic wickedness – is under fresh command, and flexing its muscles. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's uncle, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has positioned himself into the role of head of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is intent on using his newfound influence to broaden the institution's rule. A key character, who carried infant the heroine to security along a overflowing Thames as an child in the first book, is now an Oxford don with a secondary role in spycraft: he is sent to a key location to learn more about the antagonist's intentions. And underlying all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and precious rose oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a societal and financial crisis rippling out from that area. The extract is seen by certain groups as a commercial commodity, by alternate groups as a research-based or mystical miracle, and by yet others – the fanatical "mountain dwellers" – as a source of darkness; an affront that must be obliterated. The dilemma of its origins, its significance, and if it should be removed or safeguarded is becoming urgent.
As in the original trilogy, Lyra's actions, and her destiny, are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the fate of the universe
In the previous volume, these narratives ran largely in tandem. In the conclusion, they converge. Similar to the original series, her actions and her path are revealed to be inextricably woven with the future of the world. Her private mission to reunite with her companion and regain her creativity becomes the central battleground in a larger battle with an oppressive system which, as these systems often attempt, is attempting to stifle autonomy of reason, originality and culture: all the personal, defiant ways in which individuals can be independent.
Atmospheric Fissures and Philosophical Struggles
The book begins with the discovery of a collection of unusual openings in the makeup of the Earth's atmosphere: portals that look to lead to other worlds. A particular portal appears to be the source of the fiercely disputed botanical substance. The church, with Delamare at its helm, labels these openings as a threat to the institution's doctrine and endeavors to eliminate them. As Lyra begins to move from strict logic and back to feeling, nevertheless, her belief that these locations must be preserved – that their meaning and what they offer is somehow essential – grows. "Dust, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we call it," she says, "it is necessary." The scene for a Blakean tussle between purity and maturity is set.
Plot Rhythm and Personal Evolution
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
