Tings are collapsing in the concluding book of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of Philip Pullman's masterful trilogies set in a realm that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Organizations are failing, or restructuring themselves along unfamiliar and disturbing lines. An unseen force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from states, and pooling in the offices of religious leaders, the treasuries of conglomerates, the hands of crowds. "Some force is at work, silently, gradually", says merchant a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his seat in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and collapsing."
Key Puzzle and Her Quest
Just what that force might be, and ways to oppose it, is the inquiry that animates The Rose Field, which continues where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, the author's concluding excursion into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling world he first revealed 30 years ago, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a world whose geography maps on to that of our world, but whose chronicles diverges and shifts with ours; where the people look and think and behave like us, but are paired by daemons, essences in beast form; where the air are filled with sorceresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, transports are caught and tea is sipped, and older scholars carry luxury shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first met as a 12-year-old in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a toddler in La Belle Sauvage, the origin story with which Pullman began the series, is now a mature individual: still recognisably the spiky and persistent protagonist of the prior volumes, but more mature, sadder, more careful, less certain. This restraint is amplified by her division from her animal guide, her daemon – but it was also, ironically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
Pan's decision to depart in quest of that youthful part of Lyra which she seems to have lost (an quality which he represents as her "imagination"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which followed the protagonist undertake a picaresque voyage across Europe and into the Caucasus, facing with amazement and peril on the way. But from the beginning, profound shifts were in motion, and malevolent elements at work. The church authority – the religious ruling body, and the author's deliciously chilling embodiment of strict, procedural evil – is under new leadership, and asserting its power. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's uncle, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of head of the church's ruling assembly, and is set on using his newfound authority to extend the institution's control. A key character, who saved young the heroine to safety along a swollen Thames as an child in the prequel, is now an Oxford don with a additional duty in spycraft: he is assigned to the city to find out more about his plans. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and precious rose oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a societal and economic crisis emanating out from the region. The extract is regarded by certain groups as a commercial commodity, by alternate groups as a research-based or spiritual wonder, and by further factions – the fanatical "mountain dwellers" – as a wellspring of evil; an insult that must be destroyed. The dilemma of its origins, what it stands for, and whether it should be destroyed or preserved is becoming urgent.
Like the original trilogy, our protagonist's decisions, and her fate, are demonstrated to be deeply entwined with the fate of the universe
In the previous volume, these narratives ran mostly in parallel. In the conclusion, they converge. Similar to His Dark Materials, the protagonist's movements and her destiny are revealed to be deeply woven with the future of the universe. Her individual quest to rejoin with her soul and recover her creativity becomes the primary struggle in a wider conflict with an authoritarian government which, as these systems always have, is seeking to stifle freedom of reason, innovation and culture: all the inner, resistant ways in which people can be free.
Dimensional Rifts and Moral Battles
The story opens with the finding of a collection of curious fissures in the structure of the planet's atmosphere: portals that appear to give on to other worlds. An example of a portal appears to be the origin of the highly contested rose oil. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its head, designates these windows as a threat to the religion's orthodoxy and aims to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to shift from strict rationalism and return to instinct, nevertheless, her belief that these sites must be protected – that what they stand for and their value is mysteriously crucial – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or the substance, or the creativity, or the Rose Field, or whatever we label it," she says, "we require it." The setting for a philosophical tussle between naivety and maturity is established.
Plot Rhythm and Character Development
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
