Things are collapsing in the final volume of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of Philip Pullman's magisterial trilogies set in a universe that appears, now more than ever, as a charged and skewed version of our own. Institutions are failing, or restructuring themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An invisible force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from states, and pooling in the halls of theocrats, the vaults of business empires, the grasp of crowds. "An element is at work, very quietly, imperceptibly", says businessman a trader character, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his place in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were stable and solid are weakening and failing."
Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey
Exactly what that element might be, and methods to fight it, is the inquiry that animates The Rose Field, which picks up where The Secret Commonwealth ended. This is, by all accounts, the author's last foray into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling realm he first introduced in the distant past, with the launch of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose geography aligns with that of our world, but whose history veers and changes with ours; where the people look and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by animal souls, souls in beast form; where the air are filled with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, buses are taken and tea is consumed, and middle-aged scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first met as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in the prequel, the introductory book with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and tenacious main character of the previous installments, but aged, melancholic, warier, less certain. This circumscription is amplified by her split from her animal guide, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which led him to leave her in the first place.
Merging Narratives
Pan's decision to leave in quest of that youthful part of her which she appears to have shed (an aspect which he symbolizes as her "imagination"), and her journey to rejoin with him, were the driving forces of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed the protagonist undertake a wandering journey across the continent and into the Caucasus, facing with marvel and peril on the way. But from the start, underlying forces were in action, and darker forces at work. The religious council – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister embodiment of austere, bureaucratic malice – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's relative, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has positioned himself into the role of president of the Magisterium's governing body, and is intent on using his recently acquired power to expand the religion's dominium. Malcolm Polstead, who saved baby the heroine to safety along a overflowing river as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an academic with a sideline in intelligence work: he is sent to Geneva to discover more about the antagonist's plans. And behind all of this is the enigma surrounding the scarce and precious essential oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a social and financial crisis spreading out from the region. The oil is seen by certain groups as a marketable product, by others as a research-based or mystical phenomenon, and by yet others – the extremist "highland figures" – as a origin of evil; an insult that must be eradicated. The dilemma of its source, its meaning, and if it should be eliminated or protected is coming rapidly to the fore.
Similar to the first series, our protagonist's actions, and her destiny, are demonstrated to be deeply entwined with the future of the universe
In the previous volume, these storylines ran mostly in tandem. In this final book, they come together. As in His Dark Materials, her movements and her destiny are revealed to be inseparably woven with the future of the world. Her personal mission to rejoin with her daemon and regain her imagination becomes the primary struggle in a larger battle with an oppressive system which, as such authorities often attempt, is striving to stifle independence of thought, innovation and culture: all the inner, rebellious ways in which humans can be liberated.
Atmospheric Fissures and Philosophical Struggles
The book starts with the discovery of a series of strange openings in the structure of the world's air: windows that appear to give on to different dimensions. A particular window appears to be the origin of the much debated botanical substance. The church, with Delamare at its leadership, classifies these windows as a challenge to the institution's doctrine and aims to eradicate them. As our protagonist begins to move from rigid rationalism and revert to intuition, nevertheless, her conviction that these sites must be defended – that what they stand for and their value is in some way crucial – strengthens. "Dust, or rose oil, or the imagination, or the botanical realm, or no matter what we label it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a philosophical tussle between naivety and maturity is set.
Story Tempo and Character Development
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
