Things are unraveling in the concluding book of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of the author's grand trilogies set in a universe that appears, now more than ever, as a intense and skewed version of our own. Institutions are weakening, or reassembling themselves along new and troubling lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from authorities, and pooling in the halls of theocrats, the coffers of conglomerates, the control of mobs. "An element is at work, silently, imperceptibly", says businessman a merchant figure, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his seat in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were stable and durable are deteriorating and failing."
Key Puzzle and Her Quest
Precisely what that element might be, and how to counteract it, is the question that animates the concluding book, which picks up where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, Pullman's final foray into the elaborately built, deeply captivating realm he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the release of His Dark Materials. It's a domain whose landscape corresponds to that of this world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the humans look and think and act like us, but are accompanied by daemons, souls in creature form; where the heavens are populated with witches and mythical beasts, but underneath, vehicles are ridden and drinks is drunk, and middle-aged professors carry luxury shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first met as a child in the first trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in La Belle Sauvage, the introductory book with which Pullman began the series, is now a young woman: still recognisably the sharp and determined protagonist of the previous installments, but aged, sadder, more cautious, less certain. This limitation is heightened by her split from her animal guide, her daemon – but it was also, ironically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
His choice to depart in quest of that innocent part of her which she appears to have shed (an quality which he represents as her "creativity"), and her quest to reconnect with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed the protagonist undertake a wandering voyage across Europe and into the mountain region, facing with marvel and risk on the way. But from the outset, profound shifts were in action, and malevolent elements at work. The Magisterium – the church's governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister embodiment of rigid, procedural wickedness – is under recent guidance, and flexing its muscles. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's family member, who faults her for his sister's death – has positioned himself into the position of head of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is set on using his recently acquired authority to broaden the religion's control. Malcolm Polstead, who rescued infant the heroine to safety along a flooded Thames as an 11-year-old in the first book, is now an university scholar with a secondary role in espionage: he is sent to a key location to discover more about the antagonist's aims. And underlying all of this is the puzzle surrounding the scarce and precious essential oil which seems mysteriously to be the source of a social and economic crisis rippling out from the region. The extract is viewed by some as a tradeable commodity, by others as a empirical or esoteric miracle, and by yet others – the fanatical "men from the mountains" – as a wellspring of evil; an challenge that must be eradicated. The issue of its source, its significance, and if it should be destroyed or protected is coming rapidly to the fore.
Similar to the first series, our protagonist's deeds, and her destiny, are revealed to be inextricably connected with the destiny of the world
In its predecessor, these narratives ran mostly in parallel. In the conclusion, they merge. Like His Dark Materials, Lyra's actions and her destiny are unveiled to be inextricably woven with the destiny of the universe. Her personal quest to reunite with her companion and regain her imagination becomes the key battleground in a broader war with an controlling regime which, as such regimes often attempt, is striving to suppress independence of reason, creativity and culture: all the internal, rebellious ways in which people can be independent.
Dimensional Rifts and Ideological Conflicts
The story starts with the discovery of a series of curious openings in the makeup of the Earth's air: windows that look to lead to different dimensions. One such window manifests to be the origin of the highly contested rose oil. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its leadership, classifies these portals as a challenge to the institution's doctrine and aims to eradicate them. As our protagonist begins to move from rigid logic and revert to instinct, yet, her belief that these places must be protected – that their significance and what they provide is somehow essential – strengthens. "Dust, or the substance, or the vision, or the field of roses, or no matter what we call it," she says, "we require it." The setting for a Blakean struggle between purity and experience is prepared.
Story Tempo and Character Development
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
