Things are collapsing in the concluding book of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's masterful trilogies set in a universe that seems, in this volume especially, as a energized and tilted version of our own. Institutions are crumbling, or restructuring themselves along new and disquieting lines. An unseen force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is shifting from governments, and gathering in the offices of religious leaders, the treasuries of corporations, the control of rioters. "Some force is at work, very quietly, gradually", says merchant Mustafa Bey, keeping a vigilant eye on the ancient paths from his place in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were stable and solid are faltering and giving way."
The Central Mystery and Lyra's Journey
Exactly what that force might be, and how to counteract it, is the inquiry that drives this final volume, which resumes where the previous book ended. This is, by all accounts, Pullman's last foray into the carefully crafted, endlessly enchanting world he first revealed in the distant past, with the launch of the first trilogy. It's a world whose landscape corresponds to that of this world, but whose history veers and changes with ours; where the individuals look and think and behave like us, but are accompanied by daemons, beings in creature form; where the skies are teeming with sorceresses and mythical beasts, but below, transports are ridden and tea is consumed, and mature professors carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a toddler in La Belle Sauvage, the prequel with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a mature individual: still clearly the sharp and determined main character of the previous installments, but older, sadder, warier, less sure. This circumscription is amplified by her split from her soul companion, her daemon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the cause which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Merging Narratives
Pan's decision to go off in quest of that innocent part of the heroine which she appears to have shed (an quality which he symbolizes as her "creativity"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the catalysts of The Secret Commonwealth, which saw Lyra undertake a picaresque trek across Europe and into the Caucasus, encountering with amazement and risk on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in motion, and darker forces at work. The Magisterium – the religious controlling power, and the author's brilliantly sinister representation of rigid, procedural malice – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Marcel Delamare – our protagonist's relative, who holds responsible her for his sibling's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of leader of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is set on using his newfound influence to expand the church's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who carried baby Lyra to safety along a swollen river as an child in La Belle Sauvage, is now an university scholar with a sideline in spycraft: he is assigned to a key location to learn more about his aims. And underlying all of this is the puzzle surrounding the uncommon and costly botanical extract which manifests mysteriously to be the cause of a societal and economic disturbance emanating out from the region. The oil is viewed by various factions as a tradeable good, by different parties as a empirical or spiritual wonder, and by others still – the extremist "men from the mountains" – as a wellspring of malevolence; an insult that must be obliterated. The issue of where it comes from, its significance, and whether it should be destroyed or protected is becoming urgent.
Like His Dark Materials, our protagonist's decisions, and her future, are revealed to be inseparably connected with the fate of the realm
In its predecessor, these plots ran largely in parallel. In The Rose Field, they converge. Similar to the original series, Lyra's movements and her destiny are shown to be inextricably entwined with the future of the world. Her individual journey to reunite with her companion and regain her imagination becomes the primary struggle in a larger war with an controlling government which, as these systems often attempt, is striving to quell independence of thinking, innovation and culture: all the internal, resistant ways in which individuals can be liberated.
Cosmic Openings and Ideological Conflicts
The novel starts with the discovery of a series of curious openings in the fabric of the world's air: portals that look to open into other worlds. One such portal seems to be the origin of the much debated mystical extract. The church, with Delamare at its leadership, designates these windows as a threat to the church's beliefs and endeavors to eradicate them. As our protagonist begins to shift from strict logic and return to instinct, yet, her conviction that these sites must be defended – that their meaning and their value is mysteriously vital – strengthens. "The substance, or rose oil, or the imagination, or the field of roses, or no matter what we label it," she says, "we require it." The scene for a philosophical tussle between naivety and experience is prepared.
Narrative Pacing and Protagonist Growth
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
