Tings are unraveling in the final volume of The Book of Dust, the next of Philip Pullman's magisterial trilogies set in a world that seems, now more than ever, as a charged and tilted version of our own. Institutions are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along novel and troubling lines. An unseen force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is draining from governments, and pooling in the offices of religious leaders, the treasuries of conglomerates, the control of mobs. "Something is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says trader a merchant figure, keeping a observant eye on the Silk Roads from his post in an city cafe. "Things we thought were secure and strong are deteriorating and collapsing."
Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path
Precisely what that element might be, and ways to oppose it, is the mystery that propels The Rose Field, which continues where the previous book ended. This is, by all accounts, Pullman's concluding foray into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting universe he first introduced 30 years ago, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose terrain corresponds to that of this world, but whose chronicles veers and changes with ours; where the people look and think and act like us, but are paired by animal souls, essences in beast form; where the heavens are populated with enchantresses and mythical beasts, but beneath those skies, buses are caught and drinks is consumed, and older professors carry luxury shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first met as a child in the original trilogy, and then met once more as a toddler in the prequel, the introductory book with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a adult: still distinctly the sharp and tenacious main character of the previous installments, but older, more sorrowful, more careful, more doubtful. This restraint is amplified by her separation from her soul companion, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
His choice to leave in quest of that innocent part of the heroine which she seems to have lost (an aspect which he represents as her "imagination"), and her quest to rejoin with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a wandering journey across the continent and into the Caucasus, facing with wonder and danger on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in action, and sinister powers at work. The church authority – the church's ruling body, and Pullman's deliciously chilling embodiment of strict, procedural malice – is under recent guidance, and showing its strength. Marcel Delamare – our protagonist's relative, who faults her for his sister's death – has worked himself into the office of leader of the church's governing body, and is intent on using his fresh authority to extend the church's rule. A key character, who saved baby Lyra to safety along a flooded Thames as an young boy in La Belle Sauvage, is now an academic with a secondary role in spycraft: he is assigned to the city to find out more about his aims. And beneath all of this is the puzzle surrounding the scarce and valuable rose oil which manifests mysteriously to be the cause of a societal and economic upheaval emanating out from the region. The extract is regarded by certain groups as a marketable good, by alternate groups as a scientific or spiritual miracle, and by further factions – the extremist "highland figures" – as a source of malevolence; an insult that must be eradicated. The issue of its source, what it stands for, and whether it should be destroyed or safeguarded is escalating in importance.
Similar to the original trilogy, Lyra's decisions, and her destiny, are shown to be deeply linked with the fate of the universe
In its predecessor, these storylines ran mostly in parallel. In The Rose Field, they come together. As in the original series, the protagonist's movements and her path are unveiled to be inextricably entwined with the destiny of the universe. Her private journey to reconnect with her companion and rediscover her vision becomes the key conflict in a broader war with an oppressive regime which, as such authorities typically do, is seeking to stifle autonomy of thought, creativity and culture: all the internal, rebellious ways in which humans can be liberated.
Dimensional Rifts and Ideological Conflicts
The book opens with the discovery of a set of unusual openings in the structure of the planet's air: gateways that appear to lead to other worlds. A particular portal appears to be the source of the fiercely disputed mystical extract. The church, with Delamare at its head, labels these windows as a threat to the institution's doctrine and endeavors to destroy them. As Lyra begins to move from inflexible logic and return to feeling, nevertheless, her belief that these locations must be defended – that their meaning and their value is in some way crucial – increases. "The substance, or the substance, or the vision, or the botanical realm, or whatever we label it," she says, "it is necessary." The scene for a poetic conflict between naivety and knowledge is established.
Narrative Pacing and Protagonist Growth
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
