Things are unraveling in the concluding book of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of the author's magisterial trilogies set in a world that appears, here more than ever, as a energized and tilted version of our own. Institutions are weakening, or reassembling themselves along unfamiliar and disquieting lines. An hidden force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Control is shifting from authorities, and pooling in the halls of theocrats, the vaults of conglomerates, the hands of rioters. "An element is at work, stealthily, very subtly", says trader a trader character, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his post in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and giving way."
The Central Mystery and Her Quest
Just what that force might be, and how to counteract it, is the question that propels the concluding book, which picks up where The Secret Commonwealth concluded. This is, reportedly, the author's last venture into the intricately constructed, deeply captivating realm he first revealed 30 years ago, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose terrain corresponds to that of the real world, but whose chronicles diverges and shifts with ours; where the individuals appear and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by external spirits, souls in beast form; where the air are teeming with sorceresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, buses are caught and tea is sipped, and mature scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a baby in the prequel, the prequel with which Pullman began the series, is now a young woman: still recognisably the prickly and determined heroine of the previous installments, but more mature, melancholic, more cautious, less sure. This circumscription is amplified by her separation from her animal guide, Pantalaimon – but it was also, paradoxically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Merging Narratives
The daemon's resolve to leave in pursuit of that youthful part of Lyra which she may have forgotten (an quality which he symbolizes as her "vision"), and her journey to reunite with him, were the catalysts of The Secret Commonwealth, which chronicled Lyra undertake a adventurous voyage across Europe and into the Caucasus, facing with amazement and danger on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in motion, and sinister powers at work. The religious council – the church's ruling body, and Pullman's masterfully eerie incarnation of strict, bureaucratic wickedness – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – our protagonist's family member, who holds responsible her for his family member's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of leader of the Magisterium's governing body, and is set on using his recently acquired influence to extend the institution's rule. A key character, who rescued young the heroine to refuge along a swollen river as an young boy in the prequel, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in intelligence work: he is assigned to the city to discover more about Delamare's aims. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the rare and costly rose oil which seems mysteriously to be the source of a social and financial crisis rippling out from the region. The extract is viewed by some as a tradeable product, by others as a research-based or spiritual phenomenon, and by others still – the fanatical "mountain dwellers" – as a origin of evil; an affront that must be destroyed. The question of its origins, what it stands for, and if it should be removed or protected is escalating in importance.
Like the first series, Lyra's decisions, and her future, are shown to be inextricably entwined with the future of the realm
In The Secret Commonwealth, these narratives ran largely in parallel. In The Rose Field, they converge. Like His Dark Materials, Lyra's movements and her fate are unveiled to be inseparably linked with the destiny of the universe. Her individual journey to rejoin with her soul and recover her imagination becomes the central struggle in a broader conflict with an oppressive system which, as these systems typically do, is attempting to quell autonomy of reason, innovation and expression: all the inner, resistant ways in which individuals can be independent.
Dimensional Rifts and Ideological Conflicts
The story begins with the discovery of a collection of unusual cracks in the fabric of the world's air: portals that seem to open into other worlds. A particular window seems to be the origin of the fiercely disputed rose oil. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its leadership, labels these portals as a threat to the church's beliefs and sets out to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to shift from strict rationalism and revert to instinct, however, her certainty that these sites must be preserved – that their meaning and their value is in some way vital – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or the substance, or the creativity, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we call it," she says, "we need it." The scene for a poetic tussle between innocence and knowledge is prepared.
Plot Rhythm and Character Development
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
