Things are falling apart in the final volume of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a world that manifests, now more than ever, as a energized and slanted version of our own. Establishments are weakening, or reassembling themselves along unfamiliar and disturbing lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is draining from authorities, and pooling in the halls of religious leaders, the vaults of conglomerates, the hands of crowds. "Some force is at work, very quietly, gradually", says trader a merchant figure, keeping a vigilant eye on the ancient paths from his post in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were secure and solid are faltering and failing."
Core Enigma and Lyra's Journey
Exactly what that force might be, and ways to oppose it, is the question that drives The Rose Field, which resumes where the previous book ended. This is, by all accounts, Pullman's last excursion into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting realm he first introduced in the distant past, with the launch of the first trilogy. It's a world whose terrain aligns with that of our world, but whose history tacks and jibes with ours; where the humans look and reason and behave like us, but are paired by animal souls, beings in creature form; where the air are populated with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, transports are caught and tea is drunk, and older academics carry Harrods shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in the prequel, the prequel with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and tenacious protagonist of the previous installments, but aged, sadder, warier, less certain. This restraint is heightened by her separation from her daemon, her daemon – but it was also, paradoxically, the catalyst which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Merging Narratives
The daemon's resolve to go off in pursuit of that youthful part of her which she seems to have lost (an aspect which he symbolizes as her "creativity"), and her quest to reunite with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which saw Lyra undertake a adventurous journey across the continent and into the Caucasus, encountering with wonder and danger on the way. But from the outset, profound shifts were in play, and malevolent elements at work. The Magisterium – the religious ruling body, and the author's brilliantly sinister representation of austere, bureaucratic evil – is under new leadership, and showing its strength. The antagonist – our protagonist's relative, who blames her for his sibling's death – has manoeuvred himself into the position of leader of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his fresh power to broaden the institution's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who saved baby Lyra to refuge along a overflowing river as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an academic with a additional duty in intelligence work: he is assigned to the city to learn more about his aims. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and precious botanical extract which manifests in some way to be the origin of a societal and financial upheaval rippling out from the region. The substance is seen by various factions as a tradeable commodity, by different parties as a scientific or spiritual wonder, and by further factions – the extremist "men from the mountains" – as a wellspring of malevolence; an challenge that must be eradicated. The issue of its origins, its significance, and if it should be destroyed or safeguarded is coming rapidly to the fore.
As in the first series, the heroine's deeds, and her destiny, are shown to be inseparably linked with the future of the realm
In its predecessor, these storylines ran mostly in tandem. In the conclusion, they come together. Like the original series, Lyra's movements and her fate are unveiled to be inseparably woven with the fate of the universe. Her personal quest to reunite with her soul and rediscover her vision becomes the key conflict in a larger battle with an authoritarian system which, as these systems always have, is seeking to quell independence of thinking, originality and art: all the inner, resistant ways in which humans can be free.
Dimensional Rifts and Ideological Conflicts
The book opens with the discovery of a collection of curious openings in the fabric of the planet's atmosphere: windows that seem to open into different dimensions. A particular portal manifests to be the origin of the fiercely disputed mystical extract. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its leadership, designates these windows as a challenge to the institution's beliefs and aims to eradicate them. As Lyra begins to turn away from strict logic and return to instinct, however, her certainty that these sites must be protected – that what they stand for and what they offer is in some way crucial – grows. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the botanical realm, or no matter what we name it," she says, "it is necessary." The setting for a poetic conflict between innocence and maturity is established.
Story Tempo and Character Development
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
